As entertaining as the original, but with more noise and risks.
Spoiler Alert: This is my 1000th post on my website!
“A Quiet Place,” written and directed by John Krasinski, was a big hit in 2018, and it was meant to be for all the right reasons. He chose to have a real-life deaf actress named Millicent Simmonds portray his deaf daughter Regan, he crafted an ingenious story about aliens who attack humans by the sounds they make, and he guided his wife Emily Blunt with the right lead role as the main mother Evelyn.
Now, we have “A Quiet Place: Part II,” which, as you all know, was supposed to come out last year, but have been rescheduled to now. It’s just as thrilling and entertaining as the first, but it makes more noise, literally and metaphorically speaking. Well, mostly literally. There’s more talking and some screams, especially when we get an introduction on how the aliens crash-landed on Earth, and why we have to use sign language and why we have to walk around in bare feet.
To recap what happened last time, Krasinski’s character Lee Abbott sacrificed himself to save his children from the monsters, and they discover that Regan’s cochlear implant disables their concentration, thus allowing them to fight back. Now, Evelyn, Regan, the son Marcus (Noah Jupe), and the baby boy all embark on a journey to find more survivors. They find themselves in the hideaway of Lee’s old friend Emmett (Cillian Murphy), who lost his family and can’t afford to protect them too long.
Regan is the more courageous one of the bunch, in the spirit of her father, as she embarks on a journey to travel to an island to find a radio station to send out the frequencies against the monsters to give the humans (who are still sane) a fighting chance. Worrying about her daughter’s safety, Evelyn sends Emmett on a rescue mission, but he ends up helping the girl accomplish her mission. And Djimon Hounsou cameos, by the way, as a family man on that island.
Give my Autistic disability, I have a problem with loud noises (as explained in my “Midsommar” review), so the scene when Marcus’ foot gets caught in a bear trap, the boy has to scream while the mother covers his mouth. And when they get inside the hideaway (which is an abandoned factory), she has to pour alcohol on his foot without using a cloth for his mouth. At that moment, I’m thinking: “Really? You couldn’t cover his mouth with something?” You could say I have dog ears.
Despite that irritable moment, “A Quiet Place: Part II” will have you waiting for Part III. In both movies, Krasinski expands his horizons and crafts vivid characters with intelligent writing and brilliant executions. And in both movies, he shows respect for the hard of hearing without using an actor to play somebody. He guides Simmonds with sense, courage, and words. She’s an exceptional young deaf actress, and you should also see her in “Wonderstruck.” I’m not just speaking to you loyal readers, but I’m also speaking to Sia, who thought it was a good idea to have Maddie Ziegler play an Autistic girl in “Music.” That movie blows, this sequel roars.
Simmonds is also able to connect with Murphy’s character, while the actor himself is well cast in the role of a scared man, who regrets losing his family and is whipped into shape by the girl to continue fighting. It appears to be a struggling relationship at first, but it ends up becoming more intimate. He’s not the Tim Robbins character in “War of the Worlds,” the one who would have exposed Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning to the aliens. He is a man who nearly loses to fear, and sees the light along the way.
I don’t want to give more of the movie away, but I can tell you the situations in “A Quiet Place: Part II” are filled with risks and dangers. And each of those scenes are exhilarating and thrilling at the same time. This is a commercial horror franchise with no jump scares, no imbeciles, and no inconsideration, whatsoever. Now, on to Part III!
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