*Proceed with caution…

IMDB Synopsis

Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

“RUN!”

When A Quiet Place came out in 2018 it was a phenomenon. It made over 300 million at the box office and changed the way people think about the in theater experience. The idea of an entire audience forced to be completely silent in order to immerse themselves in a movie was a foreign concept (to some people). At the time it felt like this perfectly contained story, but since it made an immense amount of cash, of course the sequel talks came a calling. Thankfully John Krasinski answered and we get to see the second part of this story that he wanted, even though it is coming a year late due to COVID.

The best scene in this movie is the opening and that gives us basically a prequel of sorts to the original movie. We get to see the Day 1 of the attack of whatever Alien/Monster things these creatures are. The sequence is littered with Dolly shots, One Take shots and heart stopping action. Action Star Emily Blunt seems right at home even though she is driving straight backwards from a bus at like 40 miles an hour. Seeing this opening makes you think Krasinski as a director has clearly been watching some old Spielberg footage, and is starting to create his own style homaging to him. It is stunning though and honestly hurts the rest of the movie a bit because of how good the sequence is.

After the incredible opening sequence we basically pick up right where we left off in Part 1, with the Abbott family leaving their house after killing some Aliens. Now armed with Regans hearing device weapon, they are able to start moving and see if anyone else survived the invasion. They do come across and old friend from their town (Cillian Murphy) and they start to come up with a plan in order to broadcast the “sound” to the world. This is where the movie lulls and honestly feels like the middle chapter it probably is to the trilogy. If they wrap the story up nicely some of these scenes might have been worth it, but we will have to see.

What is interesting though is how much talking goes on in this story. The first movie probably had a script that was maybe ten pages, but now this feels like a full blown script with how much people are talking. It makes it feel like a more traditional horror movie rather than the innovative and unique experience that the first one was. This movie also was really set from the perspective of the kids instead of the parents (another Spielberg trait), which felt like a good choice because it gave us a chance to see this world through their eyes.

Stock Watch

Stock Up – John Krasinski

As I have said this guy is showing incredibly high level chops this early in his career. The camerawork I already discussed, but the sound design in this movie was next level. Maybe it is just cause I saw it in a Theater (PLEASE GO TO THE THEATER), but the mix of silence, and trees, branches, and shrieks from people and Aliens all blended perfectly. The sound felt like it was almost a character unto itself. I am very excited for where he is going to go with his Director career moving forward.

*A couple other tidbits

• Not nearly enough Emily Blunt in this movie!
• Seeing Millie Simmonds and Noah Jupe again is great but it is funny how much older they look from the previous one.
• Djimon Hounsou!
• I like that they did not try an shove in some sort of stupid love story with Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt.

The thing is they were never going to recapture the magic of the first movie. It was so unique and terrifying that it is impossible to replicate. This story however has some incredible moments and does expand the world to a place we will want to see a third movie. Like I said though when the best part of the movie is the first 10 minutes the rest can feel like it is lagging behind.

Juice Rating:

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