InCinemas SG

Opening Date

19 Jul 2018

Rating

NC16 Violence and Coarse Language

暴力画面及粗俗语言

Runtime

122 mins

Language

English with Chinese subtitles

Genre

Action, Crime, Drama

Director

Stefano Sollima

Cast

Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Catherine Keener

Synopsis

In SICARIO: Day of the Soldado, the series begins a new chapter. In the drug war, there are no rules – and as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the US border, federal agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) calls on the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), whose family was murdered by a cartel kingpin, to escalate the war in nefarious ways. Alejandro kidnaps the kingpin’s daughter to inflame the conflict – but when the girl is seen as collateral damage, her fate will come between the two men as they question everything they are fighting for.

Reviews

By Thompson Wong 19 Jul 2018

Soldado, with its well-choreographed chases, fast pace and intense music (particular praise to Hildur Guðnadóttir), ultimately reads more like a straightforward action film than a drama study.

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Soldado opens with a chilling scene with suicide bombers walking into a Kansas City supermarket. Detonating their vests with ruthless aplomb, it's tough to watch, particularly as we see a mother pleading with one of the perpetrators to spare her daughter’s life. It drives home the point that this senseless violence is a result of lawless rules across the Mexican border, allowing criminals unchecked access to the United States.

The drugs from the first Sicario film have gone, but power is a narcotic here, and so Soldado's key lesson is this: mess with the United States, and it will out-fight, out-spend and out-destroy all who stand in its way.

Tasked with a mission beyond traditional law enforcement, CIA operative Matt Graver (Josh Brolin of Thanos and Avengers fame) is given carte blanche to wage a secret war against the people-smuggling gangs. He calls upon hired killer Alejandro (Benecio del Toro) for help. Together, both stir up an inter-gang war by kidnapping Isabela (Isabela Moner), the daughter of a Mexican cartel while disguised as members of a rival group.

For audiences unused to Soldado's ominous mise-en-scene, every sudden explosion heightens the tension. It's grimly filmed, and director Stefano Sollima masterfully feeds off audience paranoia to exploit the overall sense of dread. Danger is always lurking, the roads are never empty for too long, and every limp scene is rescued by one of Brolin’s quips or someone getting shot in the face. The violence begets violence, all of the victories are pyrrhic, and everyone’s face is pushed into the dirt until they can find some purity in this big swirl of shit. That’s the only happy ending possible here.

So Soldado, with its well-choreographed chases, fast pace and intense music (particular praise to Hildur Guðnadóttir), ultimately reads more like a straightforward action film than a drama study. It's a pity, especially as the film builds up all this violence only to climax with moments of intense confrontation rather than large explosions or a definite resolution.

At the close, audiences will inevitably question the melange of violence - to what end? Soldado ends on a vague cliffhanger which makes its answer, the clearest yet in a movie filled with dirt and dust, clear: you have to watch ‘Sicario 3’ to find out more.
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Sicario: Day Of The Soldado
怒火边界：毒刑者

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Synopsis

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Get Showtimes

Sicario: Day Of The Soldado怒火边界：毒刑者

Opening Date

Rating

Runtime

Language

Genre

Director

Cast

Synopsis

Reviews

Trailers / Videos

Everything Else

Sicario: Day Of The Soldado
怒火边界：毒刑者