A Trump regime trumpeter for putting up the wall to keep Mexican drug cartels from sending drugs, people and jihadis, SICARIO DAY OF THE SOLDADO is a clarion call for with so much macho swagger, and one of the year’s major disappointments.

Admirers of the original Sicario film will find little of interest in this squalid sequel.

Whereas the original film had an urgent narrative, SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO seems somehow stationary, stuck in traffic, like the frustratingly slow lanes at the Mexican US border.

The jagged line of the US. and Mexican border is now awash in some of the most pressing questions of our times – drugs, terror, illegal immigration, corruption and an escalating swath of dark crime that has left people on both sides frightened and vigilant.

The original film, Sicario, explored the journey of an intelligence operation that pushes the rules to engage with those who don’t play by any.

In SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO, the drug war on the US – Mexico border has escalated as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the US border. To fight the war, federal agent Matt Graver reteams with the mercurial Alejandro, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro respectively reprising their roles.

Written by the original’s scribe, Taylor Sheridan, SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO doesn’t really advance these characters’ journey.

Directed by Stefano Sollima, the film doesn’t have the verve of his predecesor Denis Villeneuve, nor the look created by cinematographer, Roger Deakins, in the first instalment.

Sorry to say, SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO is not a sequel of equal. Better to re-watch the original or track down another cool Del Toro performance in his Academy Award winning turn in Traffic.