Ah, screwing with Mexico, a tradition almost as old the country itself. Youngsters, you may imagine it started with: “Build that wall!” but the truth is the United States has abused our southern ally for generations upon generations dating back to the antebellum era. All that has changed is our ability to justify it.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado began with a justification that would make Fox News weep tears of joy: Look! Illegals crossing the border, and they’re violent! A border crosser who appears to be Muslim detonates himself rather than get taken by border patrol. Next scene, a trio of (similar-appearing) terrorists blow themselves up while taking out a mart in Kansas City. I imagine Fox execs and our current White House pleasuring themselves to these scenes. “Oh! Oh! Oh! It’s just like we said: murderers and rapists entering illegally from Mexico and spreading like plague rats … It’s our bullshit narrative come to life!” I fully expect these scenes to show up as “news” – lacking for genuine facts as is the Fox M.O., this is the next best thing: “Today, Hannity has actual footage from a terrorist attack!”
Finding a rooting interest in a Sicario film is like picking out the potential victory in the Cleveland Browns schedule. “No. No. Definitely no. Oh, God no. Maybe. No. No. Unlikely. No. Ok, let’s look at that ‘maybe’ again. Hmmmmm.” How about rough and tough Matt (Josh Brolin)? And there he is “interviewing” the KC bombing connection in Undisclosed, Africa. Matt isn’t up for torture today; he’s just going to blow up relatives by remote until he gets what he wants. No. How about his boss, Cynthia (Catherine Keener)? On screen for five seconds at a time just to yell at somebody. No. How about scarred mercenary Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro)? Kills a fat guy in cold blood on the streets of Mexico City after making the guy put on his glasses to let him know his assailant. Ugh. How about Miguel (Elijah Rodriguez)? A teen truant anxious to be cartel fodder … a little too anxious if you ask me. No. Oh, here’s one … the thirteen-year-old daughter of cartel jefe Carlos Reyes and kidnappee-to-be, Isabel Reyes (Isabela Moner)? Without an ounce of remorse, she beats the shit out of a rival at her Catholic private school and then dares the padre-in-charge to do something about it; then struts out like she owns the place. Well, there’s our “maybe.”
To be fair, Alejandro turns out to be worth our sympathies at least a little. His motivations are blurry, but he has a protective instinct for Isabel, who is in need of something after becoming an unwitting pawn in US foreign policy.
The genius of the Sicario franchise lies in two areas: the first is intensity of action. Sicario has proved most adept at creating a scene where people are gonna die and then letting it play out. The second is presentation of touchy issues just a-political enough to have –relatively- universal appeal. Let me illustrate: in key scene that instigates the entire kidnapping fiasco, Matt is brought in to the office of Congressman James Riley (Matthew Modine) to talk shop. The politician presses, “Do you know what the definition of terrorism is?” After some guileless banter, Riley answers his own question, “Any individual or group that uses violence to achieve a political goal.”
The words hang in the air without comment. The direction asks for a pregnant pause, one just long enough for the audience to supply their own interpretation – some will certainly visualize burqas and prayer rugs, some will immediately flash on Timothy McVeigh, the face of homegrown terrorism. Me? I thought “Using violence to achieve a political goal” was the CIA’s tagline. Isn’t it at least part of the brochure? Far as I can tell, terrorism is our preferred method for political change abroad; at home, no, not terrorism. Here, our preferred method of achieving a political goal is misinformation.
You see how effective that Stefano Sollima direction is: it starts with foreign terrorism to lure in the paranoid rah-rahs and then the main action takes the form of 
our own foreign policy brand of terrorism. Matt’s gang of American thugs kidnaps Isabel to start a war among the Mexican cartels in a misguided effort to reduce illegal immigration. While the story is fictional, I wouldn’t put these actions past any U.S. agency. Are we any better than the cartels? Are you sure?
One thing I do truly love about the Sicario films is that military border crossing. Just get on up in a Humvee and the border will show less resistance than shaving cream. Woohoo! Mexico-and-back before you say, “Jack Robin-“ If you’re into the Sicario thing, Sicario: Day of the Soldado will almost certainly prove satisfactory to sate the bloodlust/revenge/unnecessary violence that one might need out of said film. I liked that the film proved shrewder than it started, but at the end of the day, no matter the intentions of the Sicario producers, you kinda made another Fox News propaganda trainer. Do we really need more reasons to distrust our southern neighbors?
We imagine Mexico as a loss
A booby prize from our freedom ring toss
Old mantra updated
For a border, frustrated
You can drink the water, but don’t cross
Rated R, 122 Minutes
Director: Stefano Sollima
Writer: Taylor Sheridan
Genre: Would you like some violence to go with your violence?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who, all else being equal, would rather see somebody shoot somebody than talk to them.
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Pacifists
