‘Sicario’ sequel reflects poorly on border, some say

The sequel to a film that was controversial in the Borderland is now in theaters.

“Sicario: Day of the Soldad” is tackling the issue of drug-cartel violence once again. This time cartels are smuggling terrorists across the border near McAllen, Texas.

The original film featured a scene of a shootout on an international bridge between El Paso and Juarez. This portrayal of our region did not sit well with city representative Peter Svarzbein.

In 2015, he held a discussion about how he thought the film missed the mark.

“One of the biggest challenges we have as a region and as the community is that people don’t really understand what the border really is,” Svarzbein said “They don’t understand that El Paso is a safe place. El paso is a prosperous place and a place of opportunity.”

Resident James Hernandez said he’s eager to watch the movie, even if its portrayal is negative.

“We want to sugar-coat the whole area, but we know there’s a brutality that’s going on over there. Maybe they put it over the top a little because it is Hollywood,” Hernandez said. “I think it sends a good message to people to wake them up — this is what’s going on just over the border.”

A large portion of both movies were filmed in Albuquerque. Svarzbein said he wants films about the border to be filmed on the border.

“If we don’t tell our stories, nobody else will,” Svarzbein said.