With a narrative as contested as that of the US-Mexico border, one would hope that film-makers would be mindful of the plot devices they fling about in the region. Not so in this timely but somewhat ill-judged sequel to the Emily Blunt-starring thriller, which, in a piece of dog-whistle, Trump-baiting screenwriting, has an Islamic suicide bomber crossing the border from Mexico in pretty much the first scene. This persuades the US to unleash the dogs of war: Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro return with no new tricks, just a reprise of the same morally muddy, grimly efficient cartel-prodding as in the last film. But without the knotty dynamic afforded by the outsider’s view of Blunt’s by-the-book FBI agent, we are markedly less invested in the story.
Also sorely missed is the previous film’s throbbing score by the late Jóhann Jóhannsson. Like much else in this sequel, the soundtrack here is thunderously combative – menace is conveyed by music that sounds like a piece of malfunctioning heavy machinery. One thing does ring true: the chilling cynicism of the US border operations. Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan is known for his exhaustive research, a fact that should give us all pause.
