A Quiet Place Part 2 - Movie Review

Critics Score - 8 of 10

General Audience Score - 9 of 10

Anybody ready for reason to get back into a theatre? How about for a great summer blockbuster? Well, there’s no reason to look any further. As we move into the post Covid-19 world, everyone is looking to get out and to see life regain some sense of normalcy. That’s where A Quiet Place 2 comes into the picture. A Quiet Place 2, hereafter referred to as AQP2, does so many things right that it’s easily forgiven it’s missteps. And this is a movie to see on a big screen, IMAX or the equivalent, if possible. Just like the original, it may be hollow at it’s core, but it’s so much fun, has so much great tension and jump scares a plenty that you’ll be wanting to find your own Quiet Place by the time it’s all over.

AQP2 starts off fast with a Day 1 flashback of the creatures initial attack on humankind and there’s plenty of action, jolts and John Krasinski. But after about 10 minutes we’re skipping ahead to Day 474, the post Krasinski era, where his family is forced to flee their relatively protected and supplied farm. Evelyn (Emily Blunt), her deaf teenage daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), middle school age son Marcus (Noah Jupe) and newborn baby head off into the woods in search of a new place to hide from the creatures. Before long they’ve stumbled upon the area occupied by Emmett (Cillian Murphy) who among good actors pretty much across the board is really doing something special with his screen time, akin to his work in 28 Days Later. They find the song “Beyond the Sea” playing on loop on a radio station and Regan believes it to be some kind of signal to head to the ocean. She takes off on her own to find out, apparently the fear of merciless creatures that murdered most of humanity and killed her little brother and father just can’t dampen this girl's sense of adventure. Emmett is forced to chase after her and the story splits in two, one side is Emmett joining up with Regan and trying to find a boat while Evelyn and Marcus on the other side try and hold down the fort, keep the baby quiet and search for supplies. Emmett falls into the father role as he helps Regan traverse the creature and what's left of humanity filled expanse of terrain and ocean.

By the time the credits roll, we’ve been taken on a hell of a ride and gotten one of the most anxiety inducing hour and a half cinematic experiences we've had access to in a long time. The film revolves around what's left of the single mother family but it's powered forward by the tension filled situations that make you sweat and lean forward in your seat. The sound design again with this 2nd film as well as the visual effects were excellent. The creatures, who we didn’t see nearly as much of in the first installment, were on full display, moved fluidly and looked incredible. The movie was well paced and with just over an hour and a half runtime, went from one intense sequence right into building up to the next. It was also well written, even if it was somewhat predictable, and many elements of the film are rehashed from the first installment. And Murphy is fantastic, with everyone including the kids pulling their acting weight respectively. But with all the good to great pieces of this film working in sync, it's difficult to not have a blast of a time.

SUMMARY - If your a fan of scary movies, big screen summer popcorn movies, action films, alien or creature films, getting out of the house, or even just want to see John Krasinski being a man for 10 minutes, go watch AQP2. It's fantastic fun for everyone, spare the little ones that aren't accustomed to loud noises and things jumping out of nowhere. Any shortcomings with the film are easily forgiven when you're in front of a big screen again being swept away to A 2nd world of Quiet Places.