Sicario: Day Of The Soldado

FIRST it was drugs. Sicario captured that threat as few movies have, depicting the brutality with which cartels control the flow of illegal substances across the US-Mexico border, and imagining a no-nonsense response by a shadowy group of American enforcers every bit as corrupt as the criminals they’re attempting to extinguish.

Now, the cartels are dealing in human traffic, introducing a toxic dimension to what may once have seemed a simple refugee issue.

That’s the dynamic screenwriter Taylor Sheridan wanted to explore in his cold-blooded follow-up, Sicario: Day Of The Soldado, addressing not only the ultra-violent Mexican gangs who control which people cross the border but also the notion that outlaws and potential terrorists may be able to enter the country with their blessing.

Tense, tough, and shockingly ruthless at times, Soldado doesn’t show much interest in the individuals who dream of a better life in the US, any more than Rambo: First Blood Part II cared about the victims of the My Lai Massacre. Rather, Soldado is a grim, serious-minded look at what America can do to disrupt this system – one that’s much too smart to think that a border wall will solve anything, but downright risible in its own might-makes-right politics, which reduce to a single, terse catchphrase: “No rules this time.” – Peter Debruge/Reuters