A Quiet Place Part II - S4EP05

Cinematic Brotastic Movie Podcast

Before the rise of the Delta Variant, we had the chance to see a few movies in theaters, A Quiet Place part 2, F9, Black Widow, The Suicide Squad, and Candyman to name a few. We hope to have episodes on all of those out soon.

A Quiet Place Part 2, directed by John Krasinski, as well as starring him briefly along with Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, and Millicent Simmonds

A Quiet Place II, John Krasinski, World Premiere was 3/8/2020, covid delayed release theatrically to 5/28/2021

This is a continuation of the first film with a few more hints at more of the overall backstory about what led to the post-apocalyptic world the movie takes place in. A worthwhile sequel, but some aspects I feel could have used a little more attention.

The opening sequence depicting the arrival was done very well. I have always been a fan of the slow transition from normal to invasion, for lack of a better term. You know a secret that the characters don’t but there’s nothing you can do but watch and wait. War of the Worlds, both the original and Spielberg’s remake, and M. Night’s “Signs” are perfect examples of this as well. It sets up great tension in otherwise mundane and routine tasks, as seen in this film, going to the store and watching a little league baseball game. The fireball in the sky was ominous, but not over the top and I liked how people didn’t “freak out” but more hastily moved on with a hint of urgency instead of all out chaos.

This did a good job of filling in some missing details the audience wanted after watching the first film. It also very naturally and subtly added a moment that would payoff later between Millicent Simmonds and Cillian Murphy later in the film using the ASL gesture for “Dive.”

The reintroduction of Cillian Murphy’s character and the violent group at the marina did a great job of building out the world we got a glimpse of in the first film. Most of the encounters are with people who have lost hope and are just trying to survive, by any means necessary, even if it is at the expense of someone else.

The sequences with the creatures were more frightening and visceral that we’ve seen and had a lot of good jump scares to go along with that.

At the beginning, it seemed at times that John Krasinki's character was more aware of the creatures' sensitivity to sound that he should have been during the first wave of the attack.

The son character seemed out of place as if the filmmakers were not sure what to do with his character. Also, what was up with the jump scare revealing that Cillian Murphy's character kept his wife's body at the compound? It was a beat that was not explained, nor did it go anywhere.

The film's abrupt end is in line with the first film, but one half of the Brothers Brotastic felt there should be a little more breathing room.

Clearly seeing the first film is a prerequisite, but it may have helped to recap some things at the beginning. I did not have a chance to rewatch the first film, so any themes or carryovers from Part 1 may not be immediately obvious, and connections may be missed.

Overall, this was a worthwhile sequel. It was nuanced while maintaining the same look and feel as the original film. It did not stray too far from what people loved about its predecessor and breathed in some new life that looks to take this film into a much anticipated Part 3.

I overall felt my experience seeing this film physically was a little lackluster, and I’m not sure if that is because of the movie, or if it was being back in the theater for the first time in months and maybe being kind of scared, but I’m glad I saw this in theaters, and would be willing to watch this again. 2 tickets.