Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado (2018)

[SamT]

Title: Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

Tagline: No rules this time

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Director: Stefano Sollima

Cast: Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Catherine Keener, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Matthew Modine, Shea Whigham, Elijah Rodriguez, Howard Ferguson Jr., David Castañeda, Jacqueline Torres, Raoul Max Trujillo, Bruno Bichir, Jake Picking, Tenzin Marco-Taylor, Faysal Ahmed, Dan Davidson, Graham Beckel, Sherman Allen, Lourdes Del Rio Garcia, Christopher Heyerdahl, Ian Bohen, J.D. Garfield, Ryan Begay, Diane Villegas, Ibrahim Renno, Alejandro de la Peña, Brian Reynolds, Frédéric North, Joseph A. Garcia, J.D. Marmion, Hector Dez, Jon Kristian Moore, Thang Khan Gin, Mang Khai, Zaw Tan, Mickey Dolan, Alex Cacho, Rick Vargas, Lloyd Voights, Rob Franco, Oscar Avila, Arturo Maese Bernal, Billy R. Sanchez, Gary Anthony Castro, Iliana Donatlán, Beth Bailey, Stafford Douglas, Nick Shakoour, Sakariya Ali, Alfredo Quiroz, Fernando Urquides, Tasha Ames, David Manzanares, Connor Skific, Jackamoe Buzzell, Christian Pedersen, Ryan Jason Cook, James Devoti, Chris Adams, Catherine Haun, Gregory Paul Valdez, Barrett James, Gonzalo Robles, Cassandra Rochelle Fetters, Michael Love Toliver

Release: 2018-06-27

Runtime: 122

Plot: FBI agent Matt Graver teams up with operative Alejandro Gillick to prevent Mexican drug cartels from smuggling terrorists across the U.S. border.

Benicio Del Toro returns in first Sicario 2: Soldado trailer

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

Villeneuve isn't the director this time (and the trailer doesn't mention who is), but the actors are there, as is the writer, and it sounds like the same music, so I am interested, although Villeneuve's absence worries me a little.
Looks good, though.

 

[TravisR]

Seems like an odd one to make a sequel to (especially since the average moviegoer will say "What was Sicario 1?") but Taylor Sheridan hasn't steered me wrong yet so I'll see it.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Woohoo!

 

[dpippel]

Villeneuve isn't the director this time (and the trailer doesn't mention who is), but the actors are there, as is the writer, and it sounds like the same music, so I am interested, although Villeneuve's absence worries me a little.
Looks good, though.

"Replacing Villeneuve in the director’s chair is Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima, best known for directing the “Gomorrah” television series."

 

[Jake Lipson]

It would have been nice to have Villeneuve back, but he couldn't return because he was making Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. I think that's a pretty good trade.

I don't know anything about Stefano Sollima, but the trailer hit the right notes, so that's a plus. I loved the first one, as well as Hell or High Water and Wind River which Taylor Sheridan did in the interim, so this is one of my most anticipated films of next year, and I'm really glad the trailer is awesome.

I'm not into reducing Soldado to a subtitle, since I believe it was Sheridan's intention to just have that as the title. But I guess for marketing purposes, you gotta do what you gotta do, and Sony wouldn't be able to use any footage from Sicario to remind people of it since they did not distribute it. On the other hand, promoting this so explicitly as a sequel might get some people to shy away from it, especially if they didn't see the first one. We'll see how this goes. I hope it does well, especially since Sheridan has a plan for a third one, I think, and I hope he gets to finish the trilogy

Also, it's going to be a busy summer, promotion-wise, for Josh Brolin. I get that he shot them at different times, but he will presumably have pres obligations for Infinity War (May 4), Deadpool (June 1), and Soldado (June 29) more or less back-to-back. It's funny that all three of these projects have landed so close together on the release schedule.

 

[SamT]

The movie is called Soldado on IMDb and I was going to use that title since I always use IMDb's titles but I saw they put Sicario 2: Soldado in the trailer, I used that.

Maybe the official title and in the movie title is Soldado.

 

[Sam Posten]

IN

 

[Jake Lipson]

but I saw they put Sicario 2: Soldado in the trailer, I used that.

Right. I wasn't directing that comment at you so much as to the studio for making that call. It was originally announced as Soldado, which is probably why IMDb currently lists it as that, but the studio seems to have added the subtitle to help audiences make the connection between the two films. That makes sense, but on the other hand, if someone sees the trailer and hasn't seen the first one, will that turn them away? The story seems to be somewhat standalone, even though it is a sequel, and Emily Blunt, who was the protagonist last time, is not back. So, I suspect it would work on its own if you hadn't seen the first one.

But having the title of the first one so focal in the trailer may send the message to new viewers that you've absolutely got to see the first one in order to understand this. The first one was successful, but by no means huge, so it will be interesting to see how they straddle that line of getting those who are aware of the first one to be excited for a sequel, hopefully without limiting their audience to only those people.

They won't be able to do anything like a re-release of the first film with movie cash or anything, either, because Lionsgate is retaining the distribution rights to Sicario, even though they did not want this one, allowing Black Label Media to take the fully-completed film over to Sony.

 

[Edwin-S]

The trailer makes it look more like a generic gangster action flick than the first one. Still, I may make a jaunt to the theatre to see this.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The trailer makes it look more like a generic gangster action flick than the first one.

I suspect that is marketing for you. I would be very surprised if Taylor Sheridan delivered a script with anything less than his usual complexity, so there will probably be more layers uncovered in the actual body of the film. Generic gangster action flicks are probably easier for the studio to sell.

 

[Edwin-S]

I suspect that is marketing for you. I would be very surprised if Taylor Sheridan delivered a script with anything less than his usual complexity, so there will probably be more layers uncovered in the actual body of the film. Generic gangster action flicks are probably easier for the studio to sell.

That may very well be the case. I'll keep an eye out for future trailers. What is odd is that I have yet to see any of this writer's films in the theatre. I did a blind buy of "Sicario" in 4K, so that was the way I first saw it. I was planning to go and see "Wind River", but I never made it out to the theatre. I'll probably pick that one up on 4K as well.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I was planning to go and see "Wind River", but I never made it out to the theatre. I'll probably pick that one up on 4K as well.

Unfortunately, Lionsgate has yet to indicate plans for a 4K release of Wind River, although there is of course a regular Blu-ray version. I would highly recommend the movie though.

 

[Edwin-S]

I'll see if they have the Blu at the local rental shop. Hard to believe, but we still have a video rental shop where I live, albeit it is a small, locally owned, one.

 

[spshultz]

Oh man! I really hope they can capture the atmosphere of the first one although I won't hold my breath.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I really hope they can capture the atmosphere of the first one

I agree. Now, obviously, I can't speak to Mr. Sollima's directorial style, but I think the producers are well aware of what was acclaimed about the first film, and the atmosphere is certainly a major part of that, so I think that is probably something they would want to evoke.

Also, every script Mr. Sheridan has written thus far has been utterly exceptional. Especially since Sicario wasn't really begging for a sequel, I don't think he would have agreed to write one if he didn't think he had a good idea for the continuation. So, I'm on board.

 

[bujaki]

Sheridan was always planning to write a trilogy. Sollima has directed two Italian TV series that I've watched (and they're terrific): Gomorrah and Romanzo Criminale.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'll be honest, I'd rather have another movie with Elizabeth Olsen's Jane Banner character from Sheridan than a Sicario sequel.

 

[Jake Lipson]

another movie with Elizabeth Olsen's Jane Banner character

I'm down with Sicario continuing. But, also, YES PLEASE to more of Jane Banner.

 

[George_W_K]

So the clock of Dunkirk is the new trailer trend?

Anyway, liked the first, so this definitely has me interested.