Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

A Quiet Place Place Part II

This sequel was a fantastic follow up to the incredible fist film. Now this film fills in the gaps of what happened before the world went to hell. Now it doesn’t reveal everything to the point that it erases any sense of mystery for the audience to figure out but it tells the audience more backstory of how this post apocalyptic world occurred in a very smart way that deepened the narrative in a very smartly rich way. It doubles down on the terror and sheer chilling nature of its atmosphere. Now John Krasinski has done a solid job at building upon the first one now don’t get me wrong I love this film it’s a solid flick but their are some issues I definitely had with the film that kept it from being a higher rated film by me. 

Firstly, let’s talk the positives first so the things I liked I’ll say the performances were once again solid. In particular this time around we got more time with the kids and really fleshing out the character arcs of Regan and Marcus. As I love what Emily Blunt brings once again to the role of Evelyn but she’s more in the background this time around oddly. But I also felt that was nice as it gave the kids more time to really shine in the film. The performance I loved from the first film that once again shined brightly here was Millicent Simmonds as she stole the show in this film through her incredible emotionally gripping performance and she really tells us more about her this time around which I loved and she explores more of herself emotionally and we see the fight or flight instincts she has hardened from the first time around. She also soaked up a lot of her fathers smart instincts and Millicent is truly incredible here going from what was a supporting performance to basically the lead of the film in the sequel. The performances from everyone in the film is solid theirs also a truly great performance here given by Cillian Murphy who gives a very emotionally reserved and heartbroken relationship that is very sincere and captivating to the final frame.  He’s definitely a stand out and a performance that shouldn’t be overlooked. Everyone else gives great work but it’s the performance given by Millicent that steals the show and will have you amazed by what she’s bringing to the screen. What also was once again a knockout was the sound mixing and editing as I complimented it hugely on its ability to use sound to intensify fear in the viewer. The muting of the sound within the scenes and having the smallest amount of sound just ramped up the intensity to such a higher volume than if the scene was to just play out with a normalized sound. Once again the sound editing and mixing is truly extraordinary 

once again and truly deserves to be recognized for its brilliant contribution to what makes these films truly special. 

Secondly, Now the negatives and before I start keep in mind I still throughly enjoyed this film very much it’s just these few things did get in the way of me rating it higher. The film does tread very similar beats to the first film now that was bound to happen their both interconnected stories. That being said it felt like the outcome of this film ended the same way as the first so in a sense it did have a predictable ending which I think would have benefited better if it was tweaked a bit. Another thing was the pacing now I know these films are slow burn horror films but the pacing did feel at times it could of picked up as I saw scenes that either dragged on for far to long then it should have or scenes that were cut short that should of been expanded upon. That was my main issues with the film but as I said the biggest one that did bug me was it felt to in tone to the first film with its ending and it’s not like its a terrible thing that ruined the whole experience but it was a issue big enough that I could ignore it. As I know John Krasinski is creative enough that he could of come up with a different outcome to this follow up to the first film. now those are my issues I had that prevented me from scoring the film higher then I could have but I still enjoyed it.

Lastly, A Quiet Place Part II revisits its first film maybe to closely together but even tho its narrative beats are very close to how the first film ended I still enjoyed this fantastic follow up. As it gives a truly magnetic performance by Millicent Simmonds in now the central role giving her absolute all and the film expands upon its lore of how the world became the way it is. Its filled with genuine thrills and scares that don’t feel like a trope but do feel earned and that is why a Quiet Place Part II is a truly great sequel that yes has its flaws but is a hell of a ride. 

This film centres around Abbott family once again and shows how the world became so grim but also how they carried on without their father in this intensive and dangerous environment. 

Rated PG - 13 :Terror Bloody/Disturbing Images|Violence

Millicent Simmonds : Millicent is freaking brilliant in this film! She for me was the best performance in the first film next to Emily Blunt as she was very overlooked for her subtle performance in the first film that was emotionally genuine. Now here since the mother is absent for a good chunk of the film this time around the story is very centred around the children and hope they cope with the world around them. So since their fathers passing the responsibility of the family has really fallen on the shoulders of the oldest daughter and she is up to the task to take it on. Now the mother sees her fight or flight responsibilities her husband had in her daughter and it frightens her to an extent because that is what got her husband killed was thinking smartly yes but emotionally too. And Millicent speaks barley any spoken dialogue in this film and holy hell is she so good. The actress is actually deaf and so I said this when reviewing the first film to get an actress hard of hearing to play this role was brilliant thinking on John’s part. As she brings so much to the character and performance that truly riches the screen as you can see the fantastic raw emotion wash over her face in such a honest way. As there is a scene where she is talking to a person about his opportunity he has to help people and to basically give him this emotional pep talk. You can feel the heartbreak and the truly real fear in her eyes and Simmonds also can show bits of joy her character has as well which feels equally genuine in its delivery. She just has a fantastic emotionally layered part that she explores to such deep depths. And I am so happy to see her at the centre of the film as she yes was the supporting aspect of the first film but since the father is no longer in the frame she is the central and main role which I thought was such a great choice as we than get to see her role fleshed out so much more. Millicent gives a truly heartbreaking, emotional and captivating performance that is impossible to look away from. 

John Krasinski : Krasinski gives amazing direction to his genius first film! Now I said this when I heard a sequel was going to be announced that I was excited to hear the news of course but I was also nervous because the film was so perfect the first one. And my question was how the hell is he going to follow that up with a sequel it can be done of course but should it be is the real question. As I said to myself the narrative a second time around has to be so strong that it can match or even outmatch its previous film. Now does it outmatch the first film? No it does not but it does meet it on familiar ground with the narrative quality of the first film. As John really expanded upon its history and the events of what happened now by doing that he never took away the scare factor of what made these creatures scary. Or he never took the aspect of what made the film scary less then it is as he informs us more about questions we may have had unanswered the first time around and gives us those details which I liked now that part of the film is only a few minutes it is very brief but it is short and informative then we get the story of the second film to intercut perfectly. As since the father is gone it makes sense the responsibility would fall on the children’s shoulders and to make them the main part of the film was so smart and it also fleshed out their characters so much more to which was fantastic. John kept the scares and thrills all in place and really gives the audience a fun time here as he didn’t just do a sequel just cause but because the narrative here was strong enough that it warranted it and I respect that. He only did it if the material was good enough and now the film has some flaws with its ending but besides that he really captured a fantastic follow up that gives more backstory to key details and also fleshes more out from its characters and John once again gives another knockout film with his fantastic direction and rich writing and if he does choose to do a third I am onboard as long as he is at the centre of the creative control of the project. Overall a greatly directed film by John Krasinski once again.