Sicario was one of the biggest surprises of 2015 because of its intense storyline and incredible characters. So it’s only natural to create a sequel featuring these incredible characters. Unfortunately, Sicario: Day of the Soldado doesn’t build upon the mythology and momentum of the original film. Alejandro and Matt Graver are characters we know from the original film, yet Soldado seems to ignore what happened in that film. Whether or not, this film was set up that way to make it as its own standalone film remains to be seen. Regardless, the characters seem to mostly start from scratch in this.
Unfortunately, this time around there’s something that seems to be wholly missing from the sequel. Taylor Sheridan’s story doesn’t have the same impact as all of his other scripts. There just isn’t anything in the film that keeps us at the edge of our seat. It’s simply a generic action thriller with a lot of far-fetched plot points. This is something we’ve never seen from Sheridan before.
Soldado does successfully bring an emotional element into the story by adding the Isabel character into the film. This softens up Alejandro, who was a hard-nosed assassin from the first film. At the same time, it shows us Alejandro’s paternal side that was teased in the first film.
As a result, there a slight caring nuance to Benicio Del Toro’s performance. He isn’t just an emotionless assassin anymore but he’s able to show a bit of emotion here. At the same time, he also brings that same cold intensity to the role too. Similarly, Josh Brolin brings a cold intensity to his role. In other words, he may look calm but there’s a silent intensity in there that’s waiting to come out.
For a young actress, Isabela Moner gives such a fantastic performance as she’s able to display a wide range of emotion in her role. She’s able to act on the same level as Del Toro and Brolin and that’s quite an accomplishment.
Overall, Sicario: Day of the Soldado is simply an ordinary action sequel to a film that’s truly extraordinary. The film is missing that gripping element that Taylor Sheridan’s screenplays are known for. Nevertheless, it’s nice to be in this crazy and dangerous world of drug cartels once again.
Movie Rating: 3/5 atoms
Video
Sicario: Day of the Soldado hits Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG-4 AVC video with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The contrast is at a slightly high level resulting in some nice picture depth. However, this depth causes a good amount of crush in the shadow details during the night scenes. Regardless, there’s still a nice richness to the black levels. As far as the brightness is concerned, the bright areas jump from the screen. Thankfully, there isn’t any bloom at all.
The detail clarity is incredibly crisp as the small number of details can be seen. In addition, you can faintly see some of the film grain. The colors have a naturalistic look to them as the colors don’t look too saturated or desaturated. The skin tones also look natural as well. Overall, the video transfer looks great.
Video Rating: 4.5/5 atoms
Audio
Sicario: Day of the Soldado hits Blu-ray with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. The music booms throughout the soundstage with the bass from the score’s drums. In addition, the sound effects also fill up the soundstage which immerses you within the film. As for the atmospheric effects, they seamlessly pan through the soundstage but unfortunately, this doesn’t quite happen as much as you think. It only seems to occur whenever helicopters are involved. The LFE rumbles with authority through the score and various action scenes. Thankfully, the heavy action doesn’t drown out any of the dialogue. Even the helicopter headset dialogue comes through clearly. Overall, this is a banging audio mix.
Audio Rating: 5/5 atoms
Special Features
Sicario: Day of the Soldado‘s Blu-ray disc has the following special features on it:
- From Film to Franchise: Continuing the Story
- An Act of War: Making Sicario: Day of the Soldado
- The Assassin and the Soldier: The Cast and Characters
As you can see, you won’t find a lot of special features on this release. “Continuing the Story” is essentially what it sounds like. The featurette takes a look at the reasoning behind the creation of the second film. After all, Sicario didn’t seem like a film that would get a sequel. The featurette goes in-depth and breaks it all down for you.
On the surface, “Act of War” is like a typical EPK featurette. However, the “Act of War” provides a lot of in-depth information about the making of the film. It covers a lot of topics that aren’t typically found in behind-the-scenes featurettes. “The Assassin and the Soldier” is another in-depth featurette which breaks down Matt and Alejandro’s character arcs. It definitely gives you more insight as to where the characters have been and where they’re going.
Special Features Rating: 3.5/5 atoms
Overall, Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a disappointing follow-up to the incredible Sicario. The film doesn’t have the same tension and intensity that made the original so good. The video transfer, audio mix, and special features are all great.
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
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