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I found it even more insulting that the government couldn't find a less problematic stooge to allow them to continue their activities. Cool soundtrack though and DV is a master stylist.

If it's just Del Toro maintaining the quiet bad-ass demeanor for another two hours, count me in.

I had a hard time with Blunt's character as well. There is a time for a moral compass, but this wasn't it if you wanted an accurate story of what goes on at the border, with drug cartels and how the Feds deal with them. Even the local police on the border knows the game and the duplicity used. Blunt's character shouldn't have been written as a naive law enforcer.

Del Toro was awesome for sure.

FrauBlucher wrote:Del Toro was awesome for sure.

Watching it again last night, he reminded me strongly of Charles Bronson just before he

Spoiler

kills the drug dealer's family.

It really holds up. Emily Blunt's character is problematic but not so much that I'm taken out of it. She's a good actress and maybe deserved better, but glad her character won't return.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Well-put. I recently watched Sicario again and it definitely holds up.

I'm glad to hear that a movie from way back in 2015 holds up.

mfunk9786 wrote:I'm glad to hear that a movie from way back in 2015 holds up.

Often when people say this it is a response to their first viewing, rather than age.

krnash wrote:

mfunk9786 wrote:I'm glad to hear that a movie from way back in 2015 holds up.

Often when people say this it is a response to their first viewing, rather than age.

Yeah, 'holds up' has a few different meanings. Holds up to repeat viewings, holds up under scrutiny, holds up to the passage of time, etc.

For me, it's more about the rather large following it got online. When stuff gets that kind of following, I tend to be more skeptical, to the point of a little doubt as to how well I liked it the first time. But not in this case.

I didn't realize this was the same director as Sicario. I thought Sicario was a movie that fell apart in its final act

Yeah, I hadn't realized it either. I had the same problem with Sicario. That final act really destroyed that film for me. My memory isn't great, but I seem to recall the point-of-view shift was very jarring. I'm still excited for this, and will probably go tomorrow night.

aox wrote:

I didn't realize this was the same director as Sicario. I thought Sicario was a movie that fell apart in its final act

Yeah, I hadn't realized it either. I had the same problem with Sicario. That final act really destroyed that film for me. My memory isn't great, but I seem to recall the point-of-view shift was very jarring. I'm still excited for this, and will probably go tomorrow night.

Yes. My thoughts on Sicario as if I were writing a meme:

*watches 2/3 of Sicario*
me: what a fascinating take on a woman struggling to prove herself in a male dominated environment
Villeneuve: lol
*watches final act*
me: goddammit

The point of view shift was prepared for earlier in the film (the interrogation scene). The del Toro character allows us to see things the Blunt character would not be privy to.

I don't mind the ending, but this is definitely a case of a film whose latter half lacks a set piece worthy of the two brilliant ones in the first half.

I love the film but don't remember it note for note. What is it about the final act that apparently upsets or disappoints so many people?

Mr Sausage wrote:The point of view shift was prepared for earlier in the film (the interrogation scene). The del Toro character allows us to see things the Blunt character would not be privy to.

Yeah, I didn't see it as such a major shift when the third act was kicking in. It also ties in with the scenes with the Mexican police officer nicely.

It's a major reason I'm so ambivalent about a sequel (even before Villenueve departed): I think giving Blunt's character some redemption/revenge would be a more satisfying continuation than pushing the film deeper into drug-war pulp.

I thought this take on the film was really interesting.

Mr Sausage wrote:I don't mind the ending, but this is definitely a case of a film whose latter half lacks a set piece worthy of the two brilliant ones in the first half.

I'd say the night vision tunnel sequence was as great a set piece as anything else in the movie.

Soldado trailer. Looks a little more amped-up in terms of the action. Hopefully it's not at the expense of the tension.

I'm very surprised by the decision to make the title a very clunky "Sicario 2: Soldado" instead of... just Soldado.

I suppose Sicario has this kind of wider popularity they just want to capitalize onto.

The title is now literally Hitman 2: Day of the Soldier in English.

They could have at least done the whole title in Spanish

Dia del soldado does have a ring to it.

I agree with knives, "Dia del Soldado" does sound kind of nice. Anyway, I wish they'd get rid of that Sicario mark. Audiences can infer it's a part of this series, surely (even without Emily Blunt)?