As good a PG-13 horror entertainment as you are likely to see anytime.
A Quiet Place: Part II
The conceit about hearing works just as well in A Quiet Place Part II as it did in the blockbuster original. Blind aliens with super-sensitive hearing immobilize humanity by forcing it to shut up to shut out the ugly invaders. As for the monsters, mash up Alien with Jurassic Park—they’re pretty ugly if unimaginative. As for the silence, anytime cell phones are marginalized in life and in art is a good time.
The prequel at the beginning if Part II sets the scene almost as well as the original. Cut to 474 days later when Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) must evade the monsters with her three children, including a hearing-impaired daughter, Regan (an even more this time remarkable Millicent Simmonds), who because of her understanding of sound, again plays a pivotal role combating the creatures.
Even if horror is not your genre, this PG-13 scare-fest has more than death and jump scares on its mind. Although Part II was already completed over a year ago, writer/director John Krasinski had something like pandemic on his mind—humanity banding together to fight an intrepid invader is as much the story here as a seemingly unstoppable virus.
Krasinski also is thinking of his impressive wife, Blunt, as he gives her and Regan heroic tasks, two women strong and smart enough to stop the invasion. He is also mindful that the best way to treat multiple story lines is by parallel editing, cross cutting among actions to enhance the excitement and keep the story clear. Although the cutting gets tiresome after a while, it does the job of informing us and binding characters.
The power of this mild-mannered horror film is in the characters, some who come quickly to heroism and some who come reluctantly. Most do rise to the task of saving their fellow humans. In a movie where cell phones can’t play a part as they do for us daily, the silence is a salve to modern cacophony.
As for Part III, bring it on as long as Krasinski is at the helm.
A Quiet Place Part II
Director: John Krasinski (A Quiet Place)
Screenplay: Krasinski
Cast: Emily Blunt ( A Quiet Place, Edge of Tomorrow), Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place)
Run Time: 1h 37m
Rating: PG-13
Drama horror sci fi
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JohnDeSando62@gmail.com
