"You've got no reason to trust me. But trusting me is the only way you're going to say alive."
In many ways 2015’s ‘Sicario’ was elevated by the sum of its
parts, which is not to take any credit away from Taylor Sheridan’s efficient
and affecting screenplay. But I think the real distinctive qualities of the movie
come from the likes of Roger Deakins amazing cinematography, the late Johann
Johannsson’s breath taking score, Emily Blunt’s compelling performance and the
always mesmerising direction of Denis Villeneuve. It’s sequel has lost all of
these elements, retaining only Sheridan as its writer, which forces me to
exercise a degree of caution in my expectations.
FBI agent Matt Graver
(Josh Brolin) calls on mysterious operative Alejandro Gillick (Benicio Del
Toro) when Mexican drug cartels start to smuggle terrorists across the U.S.
border. The war escalates even further when Alejandro kidnaps a top kingpin's
daughter to deliberately increase the tensions. When the young girl is seen as
collateral damage, the two men will determine her fate as they question
everything that they are fighting for.
Given that it is missing so many key elements which made the
first film remarkable, ‘Day of the Soldado’ is unlikely to ever replicate the
greatness of its predecessor but at the same time it could easily morph into
something different but distinctive in its own right. Unfortunately ‘Day of the
Soldado’ finds itself wedged awkwardly in between to two scenarios, never quite
fulfilling either role. Too often the film tries to mimic its predecessor
through surface level elements only, copying its aesthetic elements without
ever seeming to fully understand why those elements were originally put in
place.
Perhaps the most striking example is how ‘Day of the Soldado’
seems at ease with depicting violence and scenes that are disturbingly brutal
on both a visceral and moral level. Though this is effective in conveying the
ugliness of the world it wants to depict, there’s no craft to justify the
shocking nature of what the film is depicting, no thematic undercurrent for it
to serve. Instead it’s just an unnecessary parade of unpleasantness with no
compelling features or intriguing narrative.
You can find this distinction in how rarely the film employs
any sense of restraint. ‘Sicario’ featured its fair share of horrific scenes,
but was often ambiguous in depicting said horrors to their full extent. This
was because Villeneuve was aware that the violence itself was not the point as
much as what the mere presence or knowledge of that violence meant for the film’s
narrative. It would be pointless to waste time depicting it since it’s so clearly
not what the movie is concerned with. The same cannot be said for the sequel
which seems to use this violence as a crux in such a way that it just feels
pointless. Ironically in focussing more on the brutality they rob it of its
weight. It’s more exploitative than meaningful.
It may be unfair to a certain degree to repeatedly compare ‘Day
of the Soldado’ to it’s predecessor but then again the movie itself repeatedly
draws that comparison itself. There are so many visual cues and stylistic
choices lifted straight from the first film to such a degree that it creates
this sense that the movie is frightened of ever trying to deviate from the aesthetic
of its predecessor. It constantly reminds you of the elements that were done
better elsewhere.
All of this weighs down a film which, at times is strikingly
competent in how it goes about staging its action. There are certain set pieces
littered across the film that contain an effective amount of tension and visual
flair. Director Stefano Sellima keeps the events clear and cohesive, framing
his characters as the focus of each set piece and making their state of mind a
priority as they are two fascinating subjects. Brolin and Del Toro also portray
a great dynamic in their ensuing conflict over the course of the film. Their
performances here are definitely worthy of their previous efforts of bringing
Sheridan’s script to life.
I wonder if even Sheridan himself seemed to realise within
this story the characters themselves were far more worthy for intrigue than any
thematic arc. While the characters themselves have a decent amount of depth
bestowed upon them, there’s little to no expansion on theme or purpose. Even
the character work isn’t enough on its own to justify the film’s runtime, let
alone the parade of heavy subject matter that it treats with absolute severity.
As well as that though, the screenplay is structured heavily
around the characters. Ultimately though this creates a plot that feels
awkwardly weighted in the third act, while dragging for the two that came
before it. In fact the third act of ‘Day of Soldado’ feels so rushed and
contrived that it almost breaks the suspension of disbelief within the film as
a whole. At the very least the movie was attempting to be measured on some
level, only to then depart from that approach completely and create a severe
case of cognitive dissonance.
At its best ‘Da of the Soldado’ is a hollow imitation of ‘Sicario’.
At its worst the film is a shallow and exploitative throwaway.
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