(Photo by Richard Foreman Jr./Columbia)
Denis Villeneuve’s drug war drama Sicario didn’t make a ton of money when it opened in the fall of 2015, but the serious action movie was a huge hit with critics, garnering a Certified Fresh 93% on the Tomatometer and a bunch of accolades, including three Oscar nominations.
The sequel now arrives with a lot of anticipation from fans of the original, despite its change in director and cinematographer and loss of Emily Blunt’s main character. Does the follow-up live up to its predecessor? Not quite — it’s currently at 70%, with just 27 reviews counted — but many critics are recommending it.
Here’s a breakdown of the first reviews of Sicario: Day of the Soldado and why, for some, it’s a worthy continuation of the series:
It needs to be said that Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a great movie that doesn’t even feel like a sequel.
– Conner Schwerdtfeger, CinemaBlend
Feels less like a sequel and more like a stand-alone film that you never signed up for.
– Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies
[It’s] a sequel that’s every bit its predecessor’s match.
– Jacob Stolworthy, The Independent
Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a different, leaner animal than the first film.
– David Crow, Den of Geek
Day of the Soldado strips away the meaning and the hypnotic visual style from the original, and reveals that there’s not much more underneath.
– William Bibbiani, The Wrap
It’s almost like screenwriter Taylor Sheridan misunderstood the appeal of the first movie (which he also wrote).”
– Matt Goldberg, Collider
Day of the Soldado is our generation’s Rambo: First Blood, Part 2, a half-mad sequel transforming a traumatized political parable into a fantasy of all-American murder gods.
– Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly
A truly twisted update of that most cynical of John Ford movies, The Searchers.
– Peter DeBruge, Variety
(Photo by Richard Foreman, Jr./Columbia)
[Sollima’s] execution is nearly flawless.
– Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly
Sollima demonstrates a flair for gut-punch action.
– Tim Grierson, Screen International
He inherits the reins of this series with confidence, mounting action scenes involving car chases, shootouts, and helicopter showdowns that feel startlingly real.
– Todd Gilchrist, MovieFone
Taylor Sheridan reconfirms he is one of the best screenwriters working today.
– David Crow, Den of Geek
He doesn’t necessarily have a compelling story, though.
– Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
The new film desperately needs a character like Emily Blunt’s Kate Mercer, someone with a firm point of view to help navigate the chaos created by Matt and Alejandro.
– Matt Goldberg, Collider
Eerily topical.
– Jimi Famurewa, Empire
A political thriller about illegal immigration and the kidnapping of a Mexican child by American agents sounds more topical than it actually is.
– William Bibbiani, The Wrap
Considering recent events…this movie hits a dissonant chord.
– Dwight Brown, National Newspaper Publishers Association
While the separation of kids from their parents may have sparked an international human rights debate, this is not the film to settle it.
– Peter DeBruge, Variety
Recent developments in the real world make Sicario: Day of the Soldado feel instantly dated.
– Witney Seibold, IGN Movies
Sicario 2: Soldado begins with one of the year’s most scintillating, pin-you-to-your-seat opening sequences and only cranks things up from there.
– Jimi Famurewa, Empire
So much of the action feels real and avoids a lot of stylistic trickery — or at least makes the trickery subtle enough to ignore.
– Todd Gilchrist, MovieFone
[The action doesn’t] come close to matching Denis Villeneuve’s; there’s really only one set-piece, a convoy on a dirt road, that approaches anything in the original Sicario.
– Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
The bloody violence has no sting or resonance — it is well executed, but in a mechanical, superficially rousing manner.
– Tim Grierson, Screen International
(Photo by Richard Foreman, Jr./Columbia)
Both Brolin and especially Del Toro register more strongly in their roles here than they did in the original… Together, they carry the film prodigiously.
– Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
Both actors explore their newfound space in exciting ways and find new dimensions to their characters.
– Conner Schwerdtfeger, CinemaBlend
Brolin may coast capably on autopilot but, in Gillick, del Toro has found the role of his career.
– Jacob Stolworthy, The Independent
Brolin is again having a ball.
– Jacob Knight, Birth.Movies.Death.
Moner is revelatory.
– Todd Gilchrist, MovieFone
She gets a spiky introduction, but her character’s reduced to a symbol of Alejandro’s moral code, a Plot Thing That Must Be Rescued.
– Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly
[Sicario’s] successor digs in its dramatic claws from the outset and keeps the tension high and dramatic twists coming.
– Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
Sicario 2 is junk, but it’s stylish junk.
– Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly
If you want to see Del Toro and Brolin inflict carnage again, without the pesky straight-laced Emily Blunt character in the way, then Sicario: Day of the Soldado is probably your kind of movie.
– Kyle Anderson, Nerdist
The film ends in a way that totally sets up a third film, which I’d happily watch.
– Mike Ryan, Uproxx
The way things are left here, there is certainly potential for much more from the intrinsic material and surviving characters if Sheridan cares to pursue it.
– Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
A wallop of a closing scene…sets up a third installment in the Sicario saga. Buckle up and let’s go.
– Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly
Bring on the third film, where those left standing just kill everything in their paths.
– Jacob Knight, Birth.Movies.Death.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado opens everywhere on Friday, June 29. Read all the reviews for it here.
