A Quiet Place Part II

I once again go to the movie theater. This time to see the sequel to a film I skipped at the cineplex, but caught on-demand. The first film is called A Quiet Place and this is Part II.

Anyway, the film starts on "Day 1" of the Invasion of the Blind Aliens that kill everything that makes noise. Lee (director and writer John Krasinski) and Evelyn (Emily Blunt) Abbot survive the onslaught of their town with their kids. The story picks up proper at the end of the last film. The Aliens killed Lee, but his deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simonds) exposed their weakness for high-frequency sound. The Abbots have to leave their farm.

They find themselves sharing a steel mill with a family friend, Emmett (Cilian Murphy). Regan decides to spread her monster-killing method to the world. But Emmett thinks it's a waste of time. Regan goes off anyway when she finds a radio station playing "Beyond the Sea" on a loop. Emmett reluctantly goes with her to find the source. Meanwhile, Evelyn and her sons, Marcus (Noah Jupe) and the newborn, hunker down. But then Evelyn has to go to town for supplies. Marcus has to take charge while she's away. Can he do it?

Anything above ambience in the original film amounted to sensory overload. This sequel has much more talking and action than its predecessor. Talking is mostly whispered here, or "spoken" in sign language, but it sounds normal. The climax even sees Emmett and Regan on a free-speaking island. The action is where the senses are overloaded. The audience is on edge as the characters silently circumnavigate their surroundings. It's more often paid off with one or more of them. The sound designers deserve a lot of credit for building up the audible suspense and putting us in Regan's audio perspective. Marco Beltrami's score helps a lot.

The characters and writing also help a lot. The film splits up the Abbots in two plots once Regan heads off. Both plots are highly involving tales which chronicle Marcus and Regan's toughening. They even win against simultaneous encounters with the Aliens. We also see Emmett overcome his tragedies to help Regan. Their quest sees them encounter scavengers and the free-speaking island. Scoot McNairy plays the leader of the scavengers while Djimon Hounsou is the main "man on the island." Hounsou makes the most of his limited screentime.

Any flaws in the writing? Pay close attention to the opening baseball game to see pre-crisis Emmett. Otherwise, it seems like a case of "remember the new guy." Others may roll their eyes at how many times the characters praise Lee as the number one super guy. And it's a shame Hounsou probably won't be in a Part III.

Still, A Quiet Place Part II is a welcome return of the summer blockbuster. Its sci-fi horror thrills are contained in a tight 97 minute runtime. Anyone not into horror will appreciate its story of a family surviving tough times. In any case, its thrilling climax will leave you anticipating a Part III. Let it come whenever it can. See it on the biggest and safest screen you can find.

Even if it's on TV.