A sequel to Sicario, some domestic terrorism happens and it looks like the terrorists have come in to the country across the Mexican/USA border. This prompts the government to approach Josh Brolin's character to initiate inter-cartel fighting in Mexico as a strategy to "soften up" the enemy. Brolin goes back to Benicio del Toro to help him. Recall that del Toro lost his family to the Reyes cartel and has a burning vendetta to exact revenge. The plan is to kidnap the Reyes girl, blame it on a rival cartel, and then inflame a cartel war. A few things of note. One, the arrogance and brutality of the US government and military tactic is raw and at the forefront of this story. The projection of force is scary, and to me, quite a sad commentary on our country. Two, how political will is fickle, and can lead to such dramatic swings of policy. The film shows in microcosm how a political decision can be "all in" on a strategy and allocate massive resources, only to change strategy mid-stream, leaving incomplete work, and unintended consequences scattered around. Three, seeing someone face to face has the power to change even the most vile hatred. This film shows it happen rather quickly, and we know in real life that the face to face often takes years to change peoples ideas. But it happens.
4 stars (out of 5)
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