A Quiet Place Part II (2021) Review

 "There's nothing left."

-Emmett

After the events of the first film, the surviving members of the Abbott family are forced to leave their home.  Even with their discovery of the aliens' weakness, the world is still a dangerous place.  Running into more humans, with a wide variety of intentions, Regan (Millicent Simmonds) becomes determined to show the rest of the world how to fight the creatures.

I have to warn you, there will be spoilers ahead.  This movie is good, but nowhere near the heights of the first film.  It's entertaining, but frustrating at times.  I do say it's worth seeing thought.  Okay, SPOILERS!

What Works:

The movie kicks off with a flashback to the first day of the alien invasion.  These sequences are always some of my favorite parts of apocalypse movies.  This sequence is great and I honestly could have watched a full prequel from just day 1.  Watching these characters survive their initial encounters with the aliens and learn about them is really interesting.  It's an exciting start and a great way to kick off the film.

The 3rd act is also really solid.  I love the editing that cuts back and forth between Regan and Marcus (Noah Jupe).  They really grow up over the course of the movie and the editing really nails that point home.  It's an exciting and emotional climax and a solid ending to the film.

One of the best parts of the movie is the addition of Cillian Murphy as Emmett.  It's a really interesting addition because he is a man who has lost has entire family, whereas the Abbott's have just lost their patriarch.  It makes for some interesting tension.  Murphy is excellent as he comes to terms with his grief and finds hope again.  He gives the best performance of the film.

Finally, there are some really fun sequences.  I love the creatures and how they hunt by sound.  It gives the filmmakers a creative story to tell and fun ways for the characters to get into trouble or solve problems.  It never reaches the heights of the first film, but there are still plenty of fun moments here.

What Sucks:

The biggest problem with the movie are the characters.  They are so unbelievably stupid and make terrible decisions that were easily avoidable.  Marcus is the biggest offender.  The entire climatic confrontation for his storyline could have been avoided if he wasn't such a moron.  It's frustrating for me to watch characters make stupid decisions and it lessens my enjoyment of the film.  At times it feels like lazy writing.

I don't think this movie makes full use of its premise.  The premise is that there is a larger world out there and there are some dangerous people.  That's fine.  Definitely not an original storyline, but it could be interesting.  These bad people appear in one sequence and that's it.  It feels like 20 minutes were missing from the middle of the movie.

Finally, Emily Blunt doesn't get nearly enough to do.  She is sidelined for a big chunk of the movie, even though at the end of the previous film, she took up the mantle as resident badass.  She gets almost nothing to do in this film and mostly just has to look after Marcus.

Verdict:

I mostly enjoyed A Quiet Place Part II.  Cillian Murphy is great, there are some really fun moments, and the movie both starts strong and ends strong.  I just wish the characters were written smarter, the film has used more of its premise, and that Emily Blunt had been given more to do.  I still recommend the film though, warts and all.

 7/10: Good