SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO

I enjoyed the first SICARIO as it was a very interesting story, suspenseful, with a fantastic trio of leading actors (Emily Blunt, John Brolin and Benicio Del Toro). However, I was quite surprised when a second film was announced. This film continues the story of Matt Graver's (Brolin's) and Alejandro's (Del Toro's) relationship. The story is the Mexican drug cartels are helping terrorists cross the border illegally. As a result, the US government uses this as an excuse to manufacture a war between rival drug cartels by kidnapping the daughter of one of the heads of said cartels. Brolin and Del Toro are their normal badass selves, showing no emotion as these 2 heartless characters, who are nothing more than mercenaries. I was quite impressed with young Isabela Moner, who plays the kidnapped daughter of a cartel kingpin. She's able to hold her own and even push back against the likes of Del Toro in every scene she's in. Overall, it felt like a much longer film than it was, and while it wasn't bad, I enjoyed the first one more. Rumors are, depending on how this does at the box office, there's chatter of a third film and this film leaves the door open nicely to satisfy that need. 6/10