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A Quiet Place Part II
(Paramount Pictures/Platinum Dunes)
By Lucas Allen
With 2018’s “A Quiet Place,” John Krasinski firmly established himself as an actor, writer and director, expanding his range beyond simply being “that guy from ‘The Office’.” He now returns to continue the story in “A Quiet Place Part II,” handling mostly as writer and director amplifying both the horror and the action, while retaining the first film’s heart. After over a year, audiences can finally return to theaters for the full experience and this is one title you can’t miss seeing on the biggest screen possible.
The sequel begins right after the first film’s climax with the surviving Abbott family leaving their barnyard home to find another place to shelter themselves from the alien creatures who hunt by sound. With her husband Lee (Krasinski appearing only in a lengthy prologue) dead, Evelyn (Emily Blunt) must care for her newborn baby as well as her eldest daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and son Marcus (Noah Jupe). Their silent journey is abruptly halted by some traps, Marcus getting injured by a bear trap, and some nearby creatures hunting. Fortunately, they make it to safety inside an abandoned steel factory occupied by Emmett (Cillian Murphy), who lost his whole family.
But then the kids discover a song on the radio, which Reagan determines is playing on an island full of survivors. So, she and Emmett venture further outside to find the island. But the journey is more treacherous not just with the aliens, but other humans savagely surviving on their own means. Soon enough, the heroic clan must find the courage and use what they already know to fight back against the invaders.
The first film relied heavily on silence as we watch the family struggle to survive to stay quiet. In this sequel, Krasinski adds more terror and suspense just to mix things up. Fortunately, none of the scares feel out of place as he wisely uses just enough jump scares to jolt at the heart. The aliens still look horrifyingly menacing thanks to some great computer animation to achieve the stark fear. Your heart will be beating excessively from any given terrifying moment. Also, the characters remain the most important part of the film. While the story almost veers towards melodrama, the movie succeeds in making you care enough about the characters that helps to elevate the suspense. Besides the writing, both the cinematography and the editing help to complement the absolute horror. The heavy darkness gives the film a feeling of uneasiness, while the editing does a clever job to bring branching storylines together with the flow of a comic book movie.
Much like the first film, the acting is all-around superb with actors using their subtle facial expressions to show their emotions. With more dialogue this time around, it doesn’t diminish the overall impact of each scene. Blunt adds more to the maternal role especially when she’s doing some of the intense action. Both Simmonds and Jupe are stellar, while Murphy has a wonderful sense of humanity in one of his darkest performances.
“A Quiet Place Part II” is a great continuation on the first film and a middle chapter of what’s surely a solid horror trilogy in the making. Sure, this one end abruptly like the last one, but it still gives you enough of a satisfaction to want a third film. Let’s hope the third chapter delivers on its promise for a stunning climax.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for terror violence and bloody/disturbing images)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.5 Stars (Out of Four)
