Sicario (Spanish for 'hitman') was an amazing, exciting, suspenseful film directed by Denis Villeneuve, and starring Emily Blunt (as Kate), Benecio Del Toro (as Alejandro), and Josh Brolin (as Matt Graver). They make a great team, with Emily Blunt’s character Kate Mercer, an FBI agent being deliberately misled so that the CIA can strike at the drug cartels in Juarez, where much of the film takes place. The film was meant to be the first in a trilogy, and while he didn't direct the sequel, many believe Villeneuve should return for Sicario 3, especially after his brilliant Dune and Blade Runner 2049.
Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado
In 2018, Sicario: Day of the Soldado was released. It's an exciting film but much was lacking, and it is clearly inferior to the original. Although it features some of the same characters as Sicario, it's not really a sequel. Emily Blunt is conspicuously absent from the film, and along with a different director, there's a different kind of score after the composer Johan Johansson passed away, and Blunt, Villeneuve, and Johansson are all missed.
In this film, Benicio del Toro’s character Alejandro teams up with the daughter of one of the men responsible for the murder of his family. He is a changed man though, and when the CIA and Josh Brolin's character order Alejandro to kill her, he has pity and refuses, setting up a battle between Alejandro and his enemies. We see him tied up and shot in the head and assume he is dead, but the bullet just grazed him and left him alive. Soldado was directed by Stefano Sollima, a lesser known director who did a great job here, but it is still not as artistic and exciting and Denis Villeneuve’s film.
The real plot of Sicario was for Alejandro to get revenge on the people who killed his wife and deaf daughter. He gets his revenge and the movie ends. Therefore, the sequel is a stand-alone film. Because the two films are stand-alone, Sicario 3 can either be a stand-alone film or a proper sequel to the second film, and because the films are stand-alone features, there is always the possibility of a fourth film in the series.
Sicario 3 Possibilities
One exciting possibility for the third Sicario would be to get more backstory on Del Toro’s complicated character, Alejandro, perhaps so that we might understand his actions better. He was originally a good, honest man but was dragged into darkness and mass murder because of the slaying of his family. To show Alejandro working as a Prosecutor and interacting with his wife and daughter would give more insight into the character, and we will find out exactly what he did to have his family executed.
It would be interesting to see his character’s moral downfall as he turns from a lawful prosecutor trying to stop the drug war into a crazed assassin who wants to kill anyone associated with his family’s death. The one problem with this is that there would be no place for Josh Brolin or Emily Blunt if the film is essentially a prequel.
The first film dealt with drug trafficking by the cartels and the second focused on human smuggling by the cartels. Perhaps the third film should deal explicitly with the sex trafficking that takes place across the border. It could also provide an explanation for why there are mass graves of young raped and mutilated women in the city of Juarez.
Ending Sicario
The ideal ending would be that the three main characters of Sicario reunite and head out on another government-sponsored mission to disrupt the cartels and get them to fight amongst themselves, killing each other and doing Matt’s job for him. To up the stakes, there needs to be more corrupt officers of the law on both sides of the border, and more of an effort to track them down and kill them.
The soundtrack to the original film is exciting and intense. Before a big showdown is going to happen, we hear noises that sound like sirens going off, increasing the intensity of the situation. Unfortunately, the composer (Johansson) died shortly before the release of Soldado, so the best we can hope for is another composer whose sounds puts us in such anticipation and dread that the ensuing action seems more realistic and vivid; the master composer Hans Zimmer would be an excellent choice. Another possible idea for a third film is one that gets into the relationship between Alejandro and Miguel (Elijah Rodriguez), which is how Soldado ends, leaving us with more questions than answers.
Whatever happens, Sicario 3 is highly anticipated nonetheless.