Review - A Quiet Place: Part II (Movies are Back)

Movies are back, baby. A Quiet Place: Part II is a movie you need to see in a theater.

It's been well over a year since most of us have been to a movie theater. The theater experience is very special to me and I'd be lying if I said I was starting to believe that movies were starting to be adjusted and "dumbed-down" to appeal to streaming services and our short attention-spans. A Quiet Place: Part II answered my prayers and gave me the theater experience I had been longing for for so long.

The Plot

Most of you have seen A Quiet Place, and know that the power couple of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt created what could be called one of the most groundbreaking and original horror movies in the past decade. The story picks up directly after the events of the previous film. The Abbott family just lost their father (R.I.P. Big Tuna), who sacrificed himself to ensure his children's safety. However, with the successful birth of their new baby, they begin their jounrey to look for a new home. They meet Cillian Murphy, who plays a former family friend, who has already lost his family and has given up hope for humanity. Regan, the oldest Abbott child who is also deaf, teams up with Murphy's character in an attempt to locate a radio signal on an island off the coast of New York.

The plot is relatively straight forward and doesn't exactly take many risks in terms of the progression, but we don't exactly watch this for the plot now do we? We watch it for the characters and the suspense, and holy shit, does this movie have suspense.

Thank You, John Krasinski

Who would have thought that the capable hands of Big Tuna would have given us a sequel that, not only matched the quality of the first movie, but elaborated just enough to the point where it is considered a logical next step for the franchise. Get this man more directing gigs because he knocked it out of the damn park with his directing abilities yet again. This man is two-for-two, he hasn't missed. The tension and build up for each scene was simply *chef's kiss*. Not to mention the brilliant use of long shots that were very well executed. The one at the beginning during the flashback of the day the aliens arrived was especially good, and you'll know it when you see it.

The Performances

Emily Blunt proves, yet again, that she plays the role of fearless badass and vulnerable mother better then anyone in the game. Every single line is delivered with such emotion that I hope she gets some sort of award (that I know she probably won't because the Academy hates Sci-Fi). Noah Jupe holds his own and is very impressive for his age, but it's Millicent Simmonds as our deaf protagonist who really gets her chance to shine. I'm glad they chose to use a deaf actor to play a deaf character because she truly makes it her own. Cillian Murphy plays Emmett, the family friend. I mean, it's Cillian Murphy, and when has he ever not delivered an awesome performance. It's hard to fill the void that John Krasinski left but damn it, he did his best and it worked.

If I'm going to Nitpick...

The only negative things I have to say about the movie are three things.

1. They rely a little too much on jump scares. It doesn't take away from the movie, but after a few consecutive ones, you start to anticipate them.

2. The lack of Big Tuna. John Krasinski and Emily Blunt were the perfect acting duo in the first movie, and with Krasinski's character being dead, it left a hole that wasn't quite filled in this one. That's not the movie's fault though, since his death was such a crucial part of the first movie. I just miss you, Johnny boy. That's all.

3. The ending is a bit sudden. It ends in a similar fashion to the first movie but this one was even more sudden to the point where the credits will roll and you're at the edge of your seat like, "wait...it's over?" This is definitely to set up the third installment, but a little more of a wrap-up would have been nice.

Overall, this movie was a thrill-ride to watch and you're doing yourself a disservice by not experiencing it in theaters. Movie theaters are still suffering from the hit they took during the pandemic and we have to keep them alive because I am NOT watching the new Dune movie on my iPad. Some things are made for the big screen and if you don't do your part to save theaters, we will be watching endless rom-coms and Jason Statham movies that can't take risks because they know we could turn off Netflix the second they lose our attention.