Sicario: Day of the Soldado (4 Stars)

"Some missions need a hitman... others need a soldier... but most need both".

This film, also known succinctly as "Sicario 2", is a sequel to the 2015 film "Sicario". It also has to do with America's war against the Mexican drug cartels, but this time there's a different focus. There's a terrorist attack on a supermarket in Kansas City, in which suicide bombers kill random shoppers, mostly women and children. It's discovered that Mexican drug cartels have been smuggling terrorists over the border from Mexico? Why are they doing something outside of their usual line of work? The answer is simple. Money. If the price is high enough they'll do anything. They already have a network of tunnels to transport drugs, so why not transport people as well?

The CIA decides that the best way to stop the people smuggling is to start a war between the two largest cartels. First they assassinate the lawyer of one cartel in the street, leaving a bodyguard alive so that he can tell his boss it was the other cartel. Then they kidnap Isabela Reyes, the 14-year-old daughter of the boss of the other cartel, leaving clues that it was revenge for the killing of the lawyer.

The CIA kidnaps children? Sort of. They fly her to America. In America the CIA stages a fake rescue, and they tell Isabela that she's been freed from members of a drug cartel. They arrange to take her back to Mexico with a police escort, but this is where the CIA's plans break down. They didn't reckon with the fact that most of the Mexican police are paid by the cartels.

That's the most I can say without giving away spoilers. This is a tough, gritty film, like the first, but I find it a lot more appealing. I can recommend it, whether or not you've seen the first film.