Sicario 2: Soldado (2018)
Director: Stefano Sollima
Screenwriter: Taylor Sheridan
Starring: Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Catherine Keener, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Matthew Modine, Shea Whigham, Elijah Rodriguez
Stefano Sollima’s follow-up to Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 thriller Sicario arrives with high expectations and a distinct change in tone. While Taylor Sheridan returns on screenplay duty, the sequel pivots from the moral ambiguity and subtle tension that defined the original, toward a more confrontational and politically charged narrative. The result is a film that looks and feels like its predecessor in places, but which often substitutes nuance for blunt-force rhetoric.
At its core, Sicario 2: Soldado trades the original’s investigative, slow-burn approach for an escalation into hard-edged action and a simplified portrayal of cross-border violence. Josh Brolin’s character, cast in a role that demands decisive action, is drawn into a world where the film frequently reduces complex social issues into stark us-versus-them terms. That storytelling choice shifts the movie away from the ethical gray areas that made Sicario compelling and toward a more one-dimensional depiction of the conflicts along the U.S.–Mexico border.
Benicio Del Toro returns as Alejandro, and his presence offers continuity with the first film. However, Soldado reconfigures both his motivations and backstory in ways that feel inconsistent with the character we met earlier. Those changes undermine some of the emotional investment built in the original, creating a sense that the sequel is reshaping characters to service a narrower, more sensational plot.
The film’s portrayal of Mexicans, Mexican institutions, and border communities is heavy-handed. Rather than probing the structural causes and moral complexities surrounding drug trafficking and violence, the script too often resorts to broad brushstrokes that can read as reductive and insensitive. This approach risks alienating viewers looking for a thoughtful exploration of these issues, and it diminishes the moral complexity that fueled the first film’s power.
From a production standpoint, Soldado attempts to emulate the visual language established by Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins. Many sequences are framed and lit to recall the original’s aesthetic, and the film benefits from competent production design and atmospheric direction. Still, with a new cinematographer and a different directorial sensibility, several scenes lack the taut editing and textural restraint that made Sicario so gripping. At times the sequel feels like a pastiche—adopting the style of the earlier film without fully reproducing its tension and precision.
Performances are generally solid. Brolin and Del Toro commit fully to their roles and deliver believable intensity; supporting actors, including Isabela Moner and Jeffrey Donovan, add depth where the script allows. Yet strong acting cannot entirely compensate for plotting choices that simplify characters and motives, nor for dialogue that occasionally leans into rhetoric rather than revelation.
Where the original Sicario asked difficult questions about justice, intervention, and moral compromise, Soldado frequently opts for spectacle over inquiry. That shift makes the sequel more immediately visceral, but also less satisfying for audiences seeking a layered, morally ambiguous thriller. Viewers who appreciated the brooding ethics and meticulous pacing of the first film may find the sequel’s tone and message frustrating or regressive.
Ultimately, Sicario 2: Soldado is a mixed effort. It delivers competent action, committed performances, and moments that recall the original’s cinematic strengths, but it is hampered by a narrative that flattens complex issues into simplified antagonisms. As a piece of entertainment it will satisfy viewers who favor direct, action-driven storytelling. As a thoughtful continuation of Sicario’s themes, however, it falls short.
Rating: 5/24