This was good. It didn't have a scene as intense as the highway scene in the first but there are plenty of standout moments. Glad Emily Blunt's dull character isn't in it or replaced by a similar character. More focus on Brolin and Del Toro serves the film well. First hour is incredible and we are teased in to thinking there's going to be a massive cartel war and badass action but instead we go get a more lean plot on a smaller scale. Ideally you want tension building towards an awesome climax instead of a film which blows its load early and fizzles out, although that is perhaps needlessly harsh on my end.
The film is obvs very topical right now and I feared it would have mindless celebrity-style banal liberal sentimentality but is in fact much closer to wholesome macho chestbeating with a big of flagwaving (depending on your personal take on Brolins character, I suppose) which really hit the spot for me in the first half hour in particular.
Hope this Italian director gets to do more films of this short. Or perhaps the third one, at least.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
- MB