Sicario 2

After a devastating attack apparently perpetrated by terrorists smuggled across the Mexican border, U.S. agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) is given a particularly explosive assignment: to instigate a war between opposing drug cartels in Mexico in retaliation. With the help of Colombian mercenary Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), Graver is to kidnap the daughter of powerful cartel boss Carlos Reyes. But Alejandro has something else in mind; after all, he has an old score to settle with Reyes.

With Sicario, French-Canadian Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) had delivered nothing less than one of the best films of 2015. The thriller was simply perfect suspense cinema in every way. The story was also self-contained in itself, so that a sequel was not really necessary. At the box office, the thriller was a respectable success, but also far from being a true blockbuster. And yet, Part 2 is now coming to cinemas - without director Villeneuve and without lead actress Emily Blunt.

Sicario 2 is a good sequel. In places, even a very good one that can definitely rival its terrific predecessor in terms of atmosphere. Director Stefano Sollima (Suburra, Gomorrah - the series) and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan have directed a thrilling story that works independently while consistently expanding on the story of the first film. There are two problems with this, however: One would be the absence of Emily Blunt's character Kate Marcer, who has been of immense importance as a moral counterweight to Graver and Alejandro. That counterweight is dropped here and shifted to Alejandro, of all people. And that brings us to the second problem: anyone who remembers the violent finale of Part 1 will be quite surprised at certain decisions the mercenary makes here.

Such criticisms prevent the sequel from being in the same league as the first. Otherwise, however, the mixture is also right here: the story is exciting, the music by Hildur Guðnadóttir, who continues the brilliant work of his much too early deceased colleague Jóhann Jóhannsson, not only continues but also quotes it over and over again, is subtly involving and the imagery extremely atmospheric. The actors also perform at quite a high level, which makes up for the weaknesses on the one hand, but also makes them a little more annoying on the other. Because in itself, all the conditions for a great sequel are given here, which are blocked especially towards the end by a few unfortunate script decisions.

However, it has to be said here in all honesty: This is whining at a high level. Because taken on its own merits, Sicario 2 is a first-rate directed, thrillingly written and superbly acted thriller that offers truly high-quality entertainment. Absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp