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SICARIO 2 : SOLDADO ****
Dir: Stefano Sollima (15, 110 mins)
An unlikely sequel to the nailbiting thriller from Denis Villeneuve that gripped everyone back in 2015. The war on drugs on the US/Mexican border has got even dirtier and even more morally complex. Emily Blunt’s character is gone, leaving Benicio Del Toro to take centre stage as Alejandro Gillick, enlisted by the CIA in collaboration with Josh Brolin’s returning Matt Graver, to prevent Mexican drug cartels smuggling jihadi terrorists across the border. The duo capture the daughter of a Mexican drug lord (played by Isabela Moner), in a move designed to incite a war amongst the rival drug cartels and cripple them. Inevitably things do not go to plan, as the Mexican government discovers the subterfuge and all hell breaks loose. Brolin’s CIA man decides that Moner must be killed to cover their tracks, which Del Toro refuses to do, becoming a hunted man, trying to evade the many factions now after him. Whilst the first film was taut and dense, this has a wider scope, still full of duplicitous double-dealing and a classy supporting cast with Catherine Keener and Matthew Modine playing superiors with dubious morals. Brolin provides good growl and Del Toro brings brutality and soulfulness under Gomorrah director Sollima; a worthy successor to the original. (KS)
Opens June 29