A Quiet Place Part II (2021)
Directed by John Krasinski; screenplay by John Krasinski; starring Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy
3.5/5
It feels a bit of a cliché and a little too close to the shoddy Aliens-remake that is Army of the Dead to be a particularly original insight but with triple the budget and a bit more confidence, A Quiet Place Part II has taken on the mantle of the A Quiet Place series’ Aliens – it’s the slightly brasher, more explosive big brother of that smaller-scale, tense movie that told the story of an individual family trying to survive in a world where sound will invariably get you killed.
As with a lot of sequels, a question inevitably arises. The question of whether or not the film is justified in its existence. What is essentially being got at with this question is: is the film intended to further, or elaborate upon, or revise what came before? Or is it a cash-grab, hiding behind a recognisable, trustworthy name to make a quick buck?
For the most part, I don’t think A Quiet Place Part II falls into that second category. I think it really does provide the tightly-made, heart-stoppingly tense experience its name promises, and it certainly doesn’t disappoint, but for some reason or another, I’m having a hard time seeing exactly how it’s justified other than by finance. It’s such a hard time that actually there’s a part of me that feels like this film’s existence somewhat complicates the relationship I had with that prior film.
Part Two picks off right where (what I suppose we can now call) Part One left off, but not before it indulges in a short prologue. Its predecessor did the same, but I don’t think Part Two’s cold open is quite as impressive as that first sequence was, nor is it as efficient.
As I mentioned in my last review, A Quiet Place used its short, ten-minute sequence to do a hell of a lot of legwork to ensure that it didn’t need to diverge from its sandy path anywhere else in the runtime. It sets up the rules of the world, the characters, their relationships too and even gives us a short, self-contained narrative that ultimately affects how we see the Abbott family, the group at the centre of things both then and now, and their actions.
Part two’s prologue on the other hand – taking place on day one of the invasion – feels a little more redundant and somewhat over-eager to impress. Rather than really achieving anything in the way of telling us something new about our characters or their relationships. We do get a little bit of setup for Cillian Murphy’s Emmett, the first but certainly not last new character in what was originally a film of just four, but even then, we learn very little about him.
Regardless, the sequence is a gripping one – even more so than Part One’s, in my view – and fortunately, I think the concerns it conjured for me regarding justification and cynical filmmaking were mostly dispersed by what followed.
The Abbotts, having just lost Lee – the patriarch, probably in the traditional sense – but survived the night of horrors they found themselves subjects to, must pack up what’s left of their decimated home and seek help from the outside world, venturing beyond the safety of the paths of sand that line their land to muffle their steps.
The first human contact the Abbotts make is with the aforementioned Emmett, probably some kind of engineer, but most importantly an old friend of the family. At first, he’s hesitant to even reveal his identity to them, but when Evelyn (Emily Blunt) reveals the new addition to the family, a newborn just days old, he quickly takes the desperate group under his protection and extends to them his hideout. With the threat of dwindling supplies and the hope of safety off the shore, the new group must decide carefully – and quietly – what their next step will be.
Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe reprise their roles firing on all cylinders, with the children being given, quite rightly, much more to do, and Murphy himself bringing a much-needed vulnerability to the John Krasinski-shaped hole, Lee’s death has left.
It wasn’t a major complaint I had with the original film, but Murphy’s Emmett really sheds new light on the banality of Lee’s capable, masculine figure. As much as there’s a bit of an undercurrent of loss to that character, Emmett’s explicit damage and fragility from all he’s experienced and Murphy’s masterful portrayal of that means he’s by far the more compelling character to watch.
Though it’s probably a good question to ask whether that role really needed filling. Why not just shift focus to Blunt?
Another aspect with which I think this second part brings a little more humanity to the table is in how it decides to utilise actual silence. But I’m not pointing at the really well constructed and thought out set pieces though – of course they return in force here – I’m pointing at the moments in between.
A complaint I had about Part One was with regards to its timidity in the face of inaction and stillness. There was an almost nervous tendency to speed through the moments of stillness in between the incursions from the sound-hunting creatures, layering each montage of time passing with its soundtrack.
Here, the issue is far less present. Silence is used for more than just tension, emphasising isolation and pain. It’s a big improvement.
In sum, I think fans of the first film won’t be disappointed here. The larger scale and broadened cast have certainly forced Krasinski to focus slightly less on the small details and mechanics that made the first film such a joy to watch, but nothing has fallen apart here, it’s still compulsively watchable and really well crafted.
For me, the trade-off between the smaller scale and the new humanity that comes to bear with expanding the scope of the film almost leaves the film on par with Part One. It’s not that it’s gotten better or worse, it’s just been messed with a little, and I appreciate that about it.
Watched on 3rd June 2021