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2018 will henceforth be known as the Year of the Brolin. First was the indomitable Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, then the badass antihero Cable in Deadpool 2, and now Josh Brolin returns to his morally shady CIA operative Matt Graver in the follow-up to 2015 masterpiece Sicario. Continuing the war on drugs using any and all methods available, while smashing ethical and legal boundaries every step of the way, Graver and his team (including Benicio del Toro's scene-stealing hitman Alejandro) kidnap the daughter of a drug kingpin in the hope of starting a Cartel war. Less of a direct sequel and more of a new chapter with familiar faces, filmmaker Stefano Sollima and returning screenwriter Taylor Sheridan concoct a hard-hitting tale existing within the murky fog of war. Heroes and villains blur, good and bad weave in and out of each other, and right and wrong are concepts that simply add no value to understanding the dilemma. It's rare for a movie to be this intellectually and morally uncomfortable, but that's what makes it so damn riveting. Italian director Sollima steps into Denis Villenueve's shoes without missing a beat, allowing the dread to simmer underneath the surface and the tension to build to unbearable levels through meticulous pacing and unnervingly long shots. Yet when it explodes, it does so with gritty aplomb. The set pieces are crafted with a tough and uncompromising realism, the businesslike choreography and thundering sound design reminiscent of Michael Mann's classic Heat. Taking over from composer Johann Johannsson (who sadly passed away earlier this year), Hildur Guðnadóttir delivers an atmospheric score that not only supplements proceedings but imbues it with next-level suspense and heft. A powerhouse leading duo, expert direction and a provocatively complex narrative, Sicario: Day of the Soldado is an action-thriller firing on all cylinders.
score 9/10
Troy_Campbell 1 July 2018
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4221777/ |
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30-11-2019 04:39:58
