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March 29, 2024, 02:38:57 PM

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A Quiet Place 2

Started by TrenterPercenter, July 13, 2021, 10:25:38 PM

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TrenterPercenter

Jim Halpert writes and directs his follow-up to his previous "Ok" Quiet Place 1 and manages to actually make the first film worse in the process.

I'm sure there will be those that disagree and for what it's worth; I enjoyed myself; partly because this was the first cinema trip in 18 months and partly because they did go with a disabled girl as the lead character (who is the best thing in it by far).

Like the first one it is poorly directed, but that is if you are willing to just sit back and let your eyes roll over, it's if you start to think about the writing (now done by Halpert also) then the real problems begin.  Mega rant with spoilers follows.

Spoiler alert
So the entire world has been apocalypsed by some hard of hearing space aliens.  These aliens are conveniently solitary hunters, though occasionally they hunt in pairs.  They are quick and nimble and have a shield on their heads making them indestructible of a sort but don't think about this too much or the fact they do their killing with their claws and how these aliens have managed to wipe out an entire planet with just their mits. 

Another thing is to not think too much about the aliens super "echo-location" hearing, I mean it can hear people talk or knock a cup over from half a mile away but it can't hear heart beats or especially walking slowly barefooted.  Water splashing on the ground will send their bat senses right off, but playing loud music doesn't or presumably using one of the many sonic weapons armies in the world own wouldn't work either. Why didn't the armies of the world just take their shoes off? Again don't think about this, just relax, the people remaining are simply really smart survivalists that are just unfortunate in that they are also experts in getting themselves nearly killed (and others actually killed), many times over short periods.

But the main thing to not think about for part 2 is that the aliens have another big weakness, they can't swim! don't even dare to think about navies at this point (actually how the fuck has all this happened? it's fucking stupid, I imagine us not knowing what happened before was quite helpful in the first one), you are far better to concentrate on not thinking about the ridiculousness that is going to happen next.  Some people have turned bad; and really really thick, so thick than rather find a silent way of kidnapping people, or you know not kidnapping or robbing them at all, they have engineered a secret weapon. Attaching them to noisy cans and then surrounding them.  Genius! These folk are not interested in using any of the likely very noisy boats in the shipyard to travel to an island of safety (we'll get to that in a minute), they prefer to loiter about on the docks with the aliens in the off chance someone might want to try and travel across, which gives them the opportunity to attach what in the context is a fucking suicide vest to them.   Then they start running around like noisy buggers and getting massacred when their victims make noise.  It's all good though because despite living on the docks they haven't worked out that the aliens can't swim which is great because our heroine can steal a boat and escape without making a noise.  I MEAN ITS FUCKING SO FUCKING STUPID! sorry I starting thinking about it, I told you, don't.

Anyway get over to the island and you are safe, no supply issues here, they been powering a radio tower all this time to let people know there is a safe place you can escape too.  Don't think about how they are doing this, not by giving people instructions, that would be pointless, same with trying to communicate with the military or navy (don't think about navies or aeroplanes, or armoured vehicles just ssssssh that mind right up mister), no they are playing a song on repeat "Beyond the Sea" because every loves a brain teaser at times like this.  Anyway don't think about all the other islands or areas of land surrounded by water, swimming pools or people on boats at this point just understand that lots of people that escaped and were safe are now going to die, because Krasinski is very unimaginative and cliched. And whilst we are on that point, oh fuck who's this? ah the second Black character in the movie, a wise leader that managed to navigate his group to safety, presumably just to have this very wise conversation with Cillian Murphy about how to survive, wonder how long before Halps can get him eaten by doing something stupid, hmmm just under 5 minutes, in fairness that is a whole 4 minutes longer than the last Black character.

It's all worth it in the end though because the hearing impaired girl uses her hearing aid to mess with the aliens heads and plugs it into the radio tower so she and her weiner brother can simultaneously smash a couple of skinny venoms in the chops.  Then it just ends.  Kraskinski obviously just thought, "fuck it, I'll just leave it like that, I'm sure I can rinse the same repeated scene in which someone is being noisy, then trying to be quiet, then the alien trying to hear them, then them escaping in some cliched manner, out for another film" but just don't think about it this and try your best not to think about it whenever it slops onto the cinema screen.
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bgmnts

Reading that, I think even Mortal Kombat makes more sense.

Thomas

QuoteJim Halpert writes and directs his follow-up to his previous "Ok" Quiet Place 1 and manages to actually make the first film worse in the process.

I agree. Thought this was just as underwhelmingly average as the first, if not a bit inferior. As before, the deaf sequences are the strongest - I wish Jim would get a little experimental and allow silence to reign for more than 20 seconds. Imagine a five-minute stretch in the cinema with no noise at all (and no generic horror strings).

The abrupt ending told me that a third film has already been planned.
Spoiler alert
Since the aliens can't swim, they either crash-landed on every single landmass on Earth, or other nations are getting on with life as normal,[nb]à la the intensely, beautifully superior 28 Days Later.[/nb]. sans the US.
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Maybe this will be addressed in the threequel, maybe not.

Speaking of the ending, I also found the generic horror soundtrack over the credits quite jarring. The final sequence was optimistic and triumphant, only for SCARY_MUSIC.mp3 to suddenly take the mood back to earlier in the film. Again, I was reminded of another small way in which 28 Days Later is a much better film with a vaguely similar premise and a Cillian Murphy.

My in depth review from elsewhere.

QuoteA Quiet Place 2 - **½
S'alright. Watchable trash.

I think it's telling that it's only two weeks later and I can't remember anything about it!
Oh, I remember the lass had an interesting face. She looked like Elvis.
Urgh, and the overracting boy had a horrible face. I didn't like looking at him. Not one bit!
Didn't like looking at the special effects either. The aliens. CGI is still shite for living things, really stilted animation like it was some half arsed bloody cutscene at times.

SteveDave

Saw this yesterday. Boring and predictable.