Yeah, Sicario 2 is the easier target for this because of the later attempts to humanize Brolin and ultimately pass the buck.
Sicario is much more nihilistic and unflinching.
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Sicario Day of the Soldado
- Thread starter nhlducks35
- Start date
Yeah, Sicario 2 is the easier target for this because of the later attempts to humanize Brolin and ultimately pass the buck.
Sicario is much more nihilistic and unflinching.
The opening made me wonder how well this movie is gonna do in the box office with the current political climate of America.
Yeah, I can't speak to Soldado yet (going on Sunday) and I don't even particularly have any faith to be clear, but the whole point of Sicario is that the very nature of the border has been corrupted by the US and getting further involved, even with good intentions (Kate) only makes things worse.
The writing felt so much slacker this time. Playing constant hot potato with the young girl was more irritating than entertaining and it got increasingly convoluted towards the end -
- and just felt nowhere near as tight as the first.
having the boy bump into Benicio in the car park only for it to pay off later
How the fuck would the movie directors know that the film would release on the day of a shooting?
And the terrorists were literally cartel members dressed to look like terrorists to change how they looked to the US.
Hell, I'm partly middle eastern myself and I, nor anyone in my family (who are more middle eastern than me), were offended by it.
And how the hell would the film know that they would release in the same time as Trump's camps? Do you think people can tell the future or something?
Finally, why are you so angry about the bombers killing white people in the store? There were other Latino people in it too in the background. How the hell does it matter if the last person they killed was white?
Your whole logic is so terrible that it makes my head legitimately hurt.
Also, man, the film is so anti-US govt. that it's painfully obvious. Did you even watch the movie, or did you just read every single line literally as the film progressed?
The bombing took place in Kansas. A predominantly white state so what's the problem with that?
I liked the movie. I don't think it hits the highs of part 1 and the border crossing scene (but what does). I loved that they gave Josh Brolin's character a bit more characterization and background in this one. And more background they gave into Benicio's character. Also that ending shot man that set up a bunch of stuff that I hope they go through with.
Edit: And yeah this was not kind to the US. Just look at Brolin's conversation with the Secretary of Defense and Katherine Keener.
I liked the movie. I don't think it hits the highs of part 1 and the border crossing scene (but what does). I loved that they gave Josh Brolin's character a bit more characterization and background in this one. And more background they gave into Benicio's character. Also that ending shot man that set up a bunch of stuff that I hope they go through with.
Edit: And yeah this was not kind to the US. Just look at Brolin's conversation with the Secretary of Defense and Katherine Keener.
I caught a lot of trailers for this film during the NBA Finals and thought it looked like the dumbest thing I had seen a long time; I'm surprised at how positive most people feel about it, and the comments here make the story seem a million times more nuanced than the trailer implied. I'll keep an eye out for this one.
i liked it even if it wasn't as good as the first. would have been better if the last scene was cut, although i guess it sets up #3 well.
I liked it alot.
Was just me and my girlfriend. We had the whole room to ourself, opening night.
Was just me and my girlfriend. We had the whole room to ourself, opening night.
Part of why the marketing calling it "the next chapter in the Sicario saga" and renaming it to "Sicario: Subtitle" was such a bad studio exec idea
The movie was written as just "Soldado", a stand-alone story from Sicario that isnt a continuation of that movie's plot or themes, but the title change creates the expectations that it is.
Basically imagine if the next movie after Alien decided to shed the industrial/gothic horror tones and became an action movie focused on marines fighting hordes of aliens. If you were looking for another slow-burn horror movie after Alien, that might be disappointing
It's a good time but it's also definitely not too much like the first Sicario. Definitely feels like Sony wanted to turn this into a franchise but decided to make the last half of this one be all the sequel bait.
If nothing else it's about as good looking of a flick considering Deakins and Villeneuve aren't behind the camera. Score was good too but I think it reused a lot from the OG?
7/10
+ still don't get what stoked the desire for Alejandro to wanna protect Reyes daughter. They never really have a bonding moment and we basically only see her under stress from being kidnapped or being a brat at her school lol.
+ Mercer's change of heart and proving him to be in a little over his head was kinda strange too. Dude is presented as a super cynical but prepared spook and the first 3 hours of this franchise can be described as GRIM so I can see where the "Hollywood ending" complaints come from.
+ that ending lol. SO U WANNA BE A SICARIOOOOOO. Okkk haha. Alejandro even surviving was some booty, I know if Dennis did this flick it definitely would have had Mercer and Alejandro kill eachother in a macho death match but Sony needs that R rated franchise I guess.
+ action direction for the big shootout was kinda eh. The federal police are like 10 feet from these Tier 1 operators who are normally portrayed as super competent and they still shoot at eachother for what felt like a good minute before everyone is dead lmao.
+ Alejandro also got nothing cool to do or say outside of when he killed the lawyer working for Reyes and that got spoiled in the trailers! We needed another badass "QUIERES MORIR?!", "It was personal for me." or land of wolves monologue from him again.
+ Mercer's change of heart and proving him to be in a little over his head was kinda strange too. Dude is presented as a super cynical but prepared spook and the first 3 hours of this franchise can be described as GRIM so I can see where the "Hollywood ending" complaints come from.
+ that ending lol. SO U WANNA BE A SICARIOOOOOO. Okkk haha. Alejandro even surviving was some booty, I know if Dennis did this flick it definitely would have had Mercer and Alejandro kill eachother in a macho death match but Sony needs that R rated franchise I guess.
+ action direction for the big shootout was kinda eh. The federal police are like 10 feet from these Tier 1 operators who are normally portrayed as super competent and they still shoot at eachother for what felt like a good minute before everyone is dead lmao.
+ Alejandro also got nothing cool to do or say outside of when he killed the lawyer working for Reyes and that got spoiled in the trailers! We needed another badass "QUIERES MORIR?!", "It was personal for me." or land of wolves monologue from him again.
If nothing else it's about as good looking of a flick considering Deakins and Villeneuve aren't behind the camera. Score was good too but I think it reused a lot from the OG?
7/10
Yeah, when I first heard they were making a spin-off/sequel, I felt it was unnecessary but was optimistic that they could make an interesting set of stories based off it. The reviews have made it sound more unnecessary than I expected and missing the point of the first film. Part of me still wants to see it because I liked the first and I think I might be able to like it for what it is, but something about this film is just rubbing me the wrong way and feels like cynical filmmaking by Sony trying to milk a franchise again with subject matter that really shouldn't be exploited to turn the franchise into some sort of action/thriller.
Add to that Villeneuve not returning and the weak critical reception to the sequel, especially compared to the first and I just can't shake the feeling that I shouldn't go see it despite having movie pass, and I've seen some middling movies in the last month that I felt were wasting my time. I think I'd be more disappointed in this being poor than I was by even JW:FK and how dumb that was, just because my expectations are higher based off the first than the Jurassic franchise which has been dragged through the schlocky mud for years now.
As mixed as I am on the film, the way Benicio fires that pistol when he executes the boss guy was fucking DOPE.
Just got back from seeing it. Some questions regarding the plot:
Why did the Mexican Federal police turn their guns on the extraction team when they were crossing the border with Isabel?
Why did Miguel (the kid) jump off the truck towards the end of the movie? His transition from that to the 'One Year Later' scene threw me off.
Why did Miguel (the kid) jump off the truck towards the end of the movie? His transition from that to the 'One Year Later' scene threw me off.
I'm not sure that was completely studio driven given the ending.
They clearly expect a part 3, and unlike the first one, the two kid characters aren't written out.
What, seriously? Jeez that sounds worse than I thought it was going to be.
I like to go to the movies to form my own opinion.
With that said, you guys should give it a shot.
With that said, you guys should give it a shot.
Yes it was quite jarring.
Why would he bring that kid in under his wing? Not only did the kid try to murder him, he's like the cartels that murdered Alejandro's family. They don't share any similar circumstances that would lead to the ending.
Felt like it was a letdown. There Is no payoff after taking half the movie to build up. Then the ending is fucking garbage. Movie felt innecesary and closer to a spinoff. Easily the worst written Sheridan film/show.
Nope, that's nothing like how the movie is.
He doesn't even address the movie's real flaws, rather he focuses on some made up logic and crazy coincidences. Don't listen to him.
we dont really know what Alejandro plans to do with that kid tho, so Im ok with that ending
the part where Alejandro tries to get up after being shot and pieces of his brain start to fall off his head had the whole audience wincing. Worth seeing in theaters to experience that crowd reaction imo
the part where Alejandro tries to get up after being shot and pieces of his brain start to fall off his head had the whole audience wincing. Worth seeing in theaters to experience that crowd reaction imo
Saw it on Friday, seeing it again today. So brutal and raw and I think it has a lot of subtle elements that I haven't seen many people discuss.
I'm going to shop some pitches for an editorial/analysis on the film to some movie sites this week, I already wrote a review but our site isn't super movie centric so I don't wanna bog it down.
I like how it removes Blunt's character and uses it as a strength, it doesn't tell you how to feel and gives more moral ambiguity. Probably one of my favorites of 2018.
I'm going to shop some pitches for an editorial/analysis on the film to some movie sites this week, I already wrote a review but our site isn't super movie centric so I don't wanna bog it down.
I like how it removes Blunt's character and uses it as a strength, it doesn't tell you how to feel and gives more moral ambiguity. Probably one of my favorites of 2018.
My Dad said that wasn't his brain and was the side of his head since he gets shot though the cheek. I disagreed but I'm going to see it again today and I gusss I'll find out.
I didn't read the ending that way at all.
First of all the kid presumably shot him in the jaw to try and maximise his chance of survival, he didn't want to kill him. He only shot the gun at all because he just saw some other kid get murdered before him for refusing. And I figured Alejandro was gonna kill the kid, not recruit him.
I initially assumed he was going to kill him but he says he wants to "talk about his future". I think he is definitely doing something with the kid beyond just killing him in a mall.
The movie couldn't predict this is where we'd be when they set out to make it starting way back in 2015. That's not a flaw of the movie, that's a flaw of the world we live in.
I personally think you totally misunderstood what the film was going for. It's not supposed to make you cheer and go "HELL YEAH!" This isn't a bro movie, this is a horrific, raw film. This isn't about putting down people who aren't American (the director isn't American) or of another ethnicity, it's about the moral code of our country and how we do some messed up shit and maybe, we should be questioning it more. I don't think that part of the movie was remotely subtle, it uses children as pawns in a political game and much more.
I'm kind of confused at what you expected as the first one was incredibly grim and real, this one is too. It's not about escapism or anything.
Yeah visually the movie really felt flat. There was some good camera work such as the 360 degree camera inside the humvee during the convoy sequence and stuff but outside of that, it wasn't as popping as the first film thanks to no Deakins.
I think this film is still very insightful and has a point to make. I might like this more than the first film tbh
Whatever point it's trying to make is clumsy and hidden beneath the standard shallow tropes that most will happily accept.
Just compared to the first film it just goes down a tangent with the characters (well BdT was already established) that tries to paint them as good guys when really they are bad guys doing anything they can for whatever they think is the greater good.
Brolins character just isn't recognisable. And the less said about how the plot unfolds the better - a mess because of poor writers rather than something complicated that needs some thought.
I just find it hard to critique the film in isolation.
ps3ud0 8)
I find that it's totally NOT trying to paint them as the good guys and I keep scratching my head when I see people say that. Yeah, they're the protagonists. That doesn't mean they're good, they're just the vessel for the story that's being told.
Everything they do is despicable and you're supposed to be like "Ok, yeah the bad guys did some awful stuff but we may be going way overboard here..."
Oh, unrelated note to the rest of this post: I saw two parents bring their kid to this movie. Kid was like no older than 10. I saw R-rated movies and played M rated games when I was younger but most of them were in the context of ridiculous action movies and stuff or not painted in such a real way.
Was incredibly jarring for me and I hope the kid didn't interpret the message of excessive violence wrong. Some adults seem to have missed the message so... I can only imagine what a 10 year old takes away from that.
Some guy on Twitter told me to mind my own business when I made a joke about it but... given the way people grow up nowadays, I don't think it's ridiculous to feel concerned about it.
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This is what happens when you don't have an Emily Blunt character
I think I liked it. The last 10 minutes are fucking terrible.
I think I liked it. The last 10 minutes are fucking terrible.
Question about plot
So after they kidnapped the girl from school and Josh Brolin's character is examining the camera footage after the incident and see's the cop killing the cartel.
Who or what did that scene represent as they made a big deal about it? They made it assume the cop is the leader of the cartel???
Who or what did that scene represent as they made a big deal about it? They made it assume the cop is the leader of the cartel???
I enjoyed the movie but thought it was weaker than the first movie. First I liked how the movie wasn't afraid to shy away from reality but also upended the viewers about it wrt the opening Islamic terrorist plot, unfortunately the "reversal" was just a 20 second dialogue scene and I imagine a lot of people missed it. There was definitely some brutality and a deep, deep vein of cynicism running through the movie. I wish we had delved more into the cartels, they felt even more faceless and pervasive than the first movie.
I really hated the ending though, and thought that dropped the movie from great to just average. Re: your spoiler, and the ending
Brolin was excited about the cop because that was his lead to the head of the cartel (Isabel's father), the cop was calling him to let him know that his daughter was kidnapped and he killed the two security guys still alive. He also immediately told everyone in the room to start tracking that guy and keep active on him always. Brolin had said earlier that they haven't been able to locate the head of the cartel and don't know where he is, this was the start of the bread crumb.
Unfortunately they don't do anything with it, it is a bit weird since their goal is to get the cartels to fight each other and explicitly NOT to assassinate leaders since that would just "create 50 more cartels" (Del Toro's words) so it is weird that suddenly they cared so much where 1 guy was. Maybe they would have fed that info to a rival cartel, then told the target that a squad was after him, etc. They definitely could have told the audience more about how exactly they planned to destabilize the Mexican Cartels and why that would make things better for America.
I really, really, really hated the fact that Del Toro got up at the end. Him dying at the hands of a kid sicario would have been a perfect wrap up to his character, in a Omar from the Wire sort of way. The cycle of life in the drug war, how both cartels and the American government uses up people without giving two shits about them, etc. Instead he becomes a superhuman terminator and its just silly.
Unfortunately they don't do anything with it, it is a bit weird since their goal is to get the cartels to fight each other and explicitly NOT to assassinate leaders since that would just "create 50 more cartels" (Del Toro's words) so it is weird that suddenly they cared so much where 1 guy was. Maybe they would have fed that info to a rival cartel, then told the target that a squad was after him, etc. They definitely could have told the audience more about how exactly they planned to destabilize the Mexican Cartels and why that would make things better for America.
I really, really, really hated the fact that Del Toro got up at the end. Him dying at the hands of a kid sicario would have been a perfect wrap up to his character, in a Omar from the Wire sort of way. The cycle of life in the drug war, how both cartels and the American government uses up people without giving two shits about them, etc. Instead he becomes a superhuman terminator and its just silly.