A Quiet Place II is being praised as the first movie of 2021 to make over $100 million at the U.S. box office. And I can see why, it’s not that bad.
I would have thought someone could’ve shown video of their 2015 vacation to the Poconos and probably had theaters filling up as people were so anxious to watch movies in theaters, even though I thought streaming would’ve been the thing to do, but a lot of people still like going out to the movies.
The inevitable sequel to the surprise 2018 blockbuster was all set to hit theaters in the spring of 2020 before Covid-19 closed all theaters and major blockbusters were put on the shelf. Release dates were repeatedly rescheduled.
I had a few questions about the first movie. How come no one realized that feedback could harm the creatures sooner? Are there people in bunkers? How could you really not make a sound for a whole year?
The sequel picks up where the other one left off even though it’s obvious Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds look 2 years older. But there’s a nice beginning that brings back John Krasinki’s character in a flashback to the invasion of the creatures interrupting a youth baseball game before all chaos breaks out.
This introduces Cillian Murphy as Emmett, a friend of the Abbott family, who now aides the remaining members. The chaos scene is thrilling as we know what’s coming but Krasinki is able to film it to there is tension and surprises.
On the run, Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) and her children, Marcus and Reagan (Jupe and Simmonds) are going through the wasteland when Evelyn accidentally trips a detection wire at an abandoned factory and come are rescued and helped by Emmett who witnesses how they are using the cochlear implant to create feedback so they can kill a creature.
It’s here were this movie seems to tread familiar territory that I found myself cringing at plot points used before in other movies. Emmett is immediately hesitant for the family to stay as usual. But after Reagan notices a radio signal playing “Beyond the Sea” is actually a coded message, she takes off and Emmett is asked by Evelyn to find her.
The rest of the movie is set between Emmett and Reagan and Evelyn and Marcus at the factory. There are some tense moments and Krasinki directs them well, but there is a tired cliche scene of Emmett and Reagan coming upon some rough-looking characters who really do nothing to the plot except add more carnage to the movie.
Part of what I liked about the first one is how it didn’t rely on too much violence and had very limited characters as well as limited spoken dialogue as most of it was in American Sign Language. The movie wasn’t flawless. Why did they think to have a kid knowing the complications it would bring?
But it was a change of pace for alien invasion dystopia movies that seemed to rely on the same cookie-cutter characters. When Tim Robbins appeared in the 2005 The War of the Worlds, it came off a frightened man who was making bad decisions leading to Tom Cruise having to commit the worse to save him and his daughter. He didn’t relish in the bloodshed or turn into a power-hungry madman.
Then there was the scene in World War Z where Brad Pitt is approached by an armed looter at a pharmacy who sees him as a dad looking for the right inhalers for his child. It was a nice change from what we’ve seen on The Walking Dead as people are getting their kicks killing others and stealing what they can.
Unfortunately, when these characters shoe up, they’ve over and done with in minutes. The scene isn’t needed. I wish Krasinki cut it or rewrote it.
That being said, it’s not as bad as it could’ve been when it comes to sequels. There’s more talking in this movie, which I’m sure was probably a studio’s decision because this first movie wasn’t one you could watch while glancing at someone on your phone.
And like the first movie, the possibility of a sequel is left open at the end. After having some movies crash and burn earlier this, Paramount is probably wondering how they can make the third movie a hit.
And I agree, I kinda would like to see what happens next and maybe this can be wrapped up in the third one. I don’t think we can turn this into the Fast and Furious franchise.
Zane Says 