ReelBob: ‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ ★½

By Bob Bloom

“Sicario: Day of the Soldado” stumbles along, clueless of what this depressing sequel seeks to achieve, jettisoning its original plot point as soon as possible and wading into a swampy landscape of cynicism and moral darkness.

The sequel returns Josh Brolin as federal agent Matt Graver and Benicio del Toro as the mysterious Alejandro, whose family was killed by soldiers of a Mexican cartel leader.

After U.S. officials discover that those responsible for a terrorist bombing in Kansas City were smuggled across the border by cartel members who business is people, the secretary of defense assigns Graver to strike back — and by any means necessary.

Graver devises a plan to set the cartels against each other by kidnapping the teen daughter of one cartel boss and making it appear she was taken by a rival cartel.

So far, so good. It’s a plot device used in countless other movies — from Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo,” its spaghetti-Western remake, “A Fistful of Dollars,” which introduced Sergio Leone’s Man with No Name, played by Clint Eastwood, and Walter Hill’s “Last Man Standing,” with Bruce Willis.

But, in “Day of the Soldado,” as soon as the teenage girl, Isabel, played by Isabela Moner, is grabbed by Graver, Alejandro and their crew and whisked away, the original plot seems to evaporate with them.

From that moment on, we only hear talk about the cartels possibly fighting, but see no evidence of it.

Instead, the Americans battle corrupt Mexican police and federal soldiers and divert from their original course.

Frankly, Mexican authorities do not come off well in this film. In fact, with few exceptions, the major Mexican characters displayed in the movie are either coyotes who smuggle fellow Mexicans across the border, or dishonest cops trying to kill their American counterparts.

The movie then devolves into something — I can’t really explain what — as Isabel escapes during a gun battle and is rescued by Alejandro.

Then, because of public pressure, Graver’s mission is abandoned, and he is ordered to “clean up” and eliminate any loose ends, which include his friend and the girl.

What happens next? It’s really not worth discussing. The movie is slow and dull in many spots. What’s surprising is that Taylor Sheridan, wrote the script. Sheridan also wrote such decent scripts as “Hell and High Water,” the original “Sicario” and “Wind River.”

“Sicario: Day of the Soldado” is elephantine and cliché-ridden. Plus, like most of today’s movies, it seems more interested in creating potential for a sequel than telling a coherent story.

The original “Sicario” had its flaws. Its biggest message was that the drug war to stem the flow of illegal narcotics from coming across the border was a battle in futility.

This sequel, though, is violent, dark and dreary. It presses down on you, nearly sucking the light from your soul.

I am a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO
1½ stars out of 4
(R), graphic and bloody images and violence, language