Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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First, we had “Sicario,” movie about an idealistic FBI agent assigned to a task force fighting drug smuggling between the US and Mexico. Emily Blunt filled the boots of that agent in the dangerous drug war.

Now, we have a sequel, “Sicario: Day of the Soldado.”

“Sicario” is a Spanish word that translates as hitman. “Soldado” means soldier.

This is the second installment of a trilogy. However, Emily Blunt did not return for this one, leaving the heavy lifting to her former co-stars Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro.

This time around, the escalating drug war brings back CIA operative Matt Graver (Brolin) to reteam with Alejandro Gillick (Del Toro).

Alejandro’s off-the-books mission is to kidnap the teenage daughter of a drug kingpin in order to start a war between dueling cartels that will “hopefully wipe both of them off the map.” When the plan falls apart, Alejandro is ordered to execute the girl (Isabela Moner), but even a brutally efficient hitman like him has problems with that. In the first movie, he was still grieving over the death of his wife and daughter.

“He has the chance for an eye for an eye, but sees a young girl going through what his executed daughter went through,” says Del Toro. “He has to decide to follow orders or protect the girl. It’s just one thing about this screenplay that makes it interesting.”

“Sicario: Day of the Soldado” is currently making its assault on audiences at Tropic Cinema.

Josh Brolin describes this sequel as “extremely tense.” He adds, “I think the characters are more severe. I think the movie is more severe.”

Director Stefano Sollima has turned the violence up a notch in this sequel. Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan confirms that the film will be “ten times more unsentimental” and “more vicious” than its predecessor, “leaving audiences in decidedly amoral territory.”

Del Toro agrees that it’s “an emotional ride.” He adds, “I liked the script and just hope that people take to it like I did. It had a lot of turns. It was original and unpredictable.”

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com