Review – A Quiet Place 2
Review – A Quiet Place 2
Directed by: John Krasinski
Written by: John Krasinski
Produced by: John Krasinski & Michael Bay
Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy & John Krasinski
Release Date: June 3rd 2021 (UK)
Initially, when I saw A Quiet Place 2 for review, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did because of how disappointing I found the first movie. However, sometimes I am very glad to be proven wrong and this is one of those times.
A Quiet Place 2 does what all good sequels should do, in that it builds upon the foundation laid down by the first movie, whilst upping the stakes and increasing the intensity felt by the audience when watching the film. A parallel that I can’t help but draw a comparison to is the change in tone between Alien and its more action-based sequel Aliens.
If the first Quiet Place movie strives to capture the suspense and slow burn slasher-inspired horror of Ridley Scott’s Alien, then A Quiet Place 2 nails the faster, more ferocious tone of James Cameron’s Alien’s. Whether this was intentional or not, I do not know, but the difference in tone is evident from very early on in John Krasinski’s sequel.
While the film does star John Krasinski and Emily Blunt as their characters from the first film, Cillian Murphy’s Emmett and Millicent Simmonds’ Regan are arguably the main characters of the sequel. Whilst Krasinski appears as Lee via flashback, (SPOILER, because he died pretty unceremoniously in the first movie,) and Blunt features as Evelyn in what is pretty much a glorified side-quest, they definitely aren’t the main characters in part 2.
The choice to focus on two different characters in the sequel is a welcome one as it help the film feel more fresh and when you have stellar performances from Murphy and Simmonds to wrap your movie around, that also helps. I really felt that Millicent Simmonds upped her game greatly from the first movie and although CIllian Murphy’s character was added for the sequel, he is a good enough actor to fit naturally into the plot without feeling shoehorned in.
The writing also helps with this and whilst Krasinski’s script is obviously light on dialogue, (since the movie is called A QUIET Place,) it is fairly well-written and contains fewer leaps logic than part 1. The dialogue that is present in the script is decent and the movie also had a good flow that was able to build tension whilst still keeping things moving along at a good pace.
Krasinski also returns as director for the sequel and does a good job in terms of getting the best possible performance out of the film’s limited cast members. I am curious to see what he tackles next, as I would imagine he would like to move beyond the horror genre and try something fresh. I would also like to see something different from him as a filmmaker.
Polly Morgan’s cinematography was also enjoyable throughout the movie and really added to the intense tone that the film is striving to capture. Along with some slick editing techniques, a good use of lighting, a great instrumental score and brilliant sound design the technical aspects of the movie are solid and I can’t fault any of it.
As someone with a background in 3D animation, sloppy CGI is always a major concern when I see any movie. Thankfully, the visual effects in A Quiet Place 2 are stellar and were sparse enough that I was never distracted by them or taken out of the movie at any point.
Overall, I came away from A Quiet Place 2 very happy that it managed to surpass its predecessor in every discernible way. I really enjoyed this sequel and would recommend it to anyone regardless of whether you are a fan of the first Quiet Place movie or not.
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