3.5 stars out of 5
Have you been back to the movies? Talk about a quiet place! As we crawl back to some semblance of normalcy, I noticed this was the first flick since before-times to have multiple afternoon showings. Like, a regular schedule! However, we’re quickly reminded that things have been a little “off” when a pre-movie video has John Krasinski earnestly thanking us for coming to the theater. Desperate much, Hollywood?
Still, I was excited to see this, as the original film was my No. 6 best movie of 2018. It was SCARY with a capital S and the other letters too, but a smart kind of scary. One nice thing about that film is that it started right in the middle of the action and we were all “w-w-wait why do they all hafta be quiet? What the hell is happening here?” Almost to reward us — and also to give Krasinski some screen time — the sequel begins in flashback to Day 1. It’s a genuinely thrilling sequence that also serves to introduce us to the family’s neighbor, Cillian Murphy, who is looking more and more like Grant Goodeve.
And then we’re back at Day 400-and-something, and Emily Blunt and the two kids, wait three because of THE BABY (shhhh!!! stop crying!!!!! they’ll hear us!!!) pack up the wrecked homestead and head to a flame in the distance which turns out to be Cillian’s survival compound. The cast is pretty solid: Blunt remains the dedicated, frantic-but-trying-to-hold-it-together mom who would literally do anything for her kids. Young Millicent Simmonds continues to ooze soulfulness; I truly hope there are more quality roles ahead for this terrific deaf actress. Young Noah Jupe basically cries and looks shocked the whole time, but he looks like a young Krasinski so points for that. And Cillian pulls off a solid American accent and is believable as a weary dad whose world has crumbled.
So, the pieces are in (a quiet) place, but, like oh so many sequels, it just ain’t as good as the first one. There is tension and scares but maybe not as many? I was on the edge of my seat for the entirety of Part I and that was unfortunately not the case here. Blame must fall squarely on Mr. Krasinski. He directed both movies, and the moviemaking is fine — we’re clearly in the same world as we were before. But while the first film was written by three people, this time Kras went it alone. Jim Halpert’s TV background betrays itself with a sitcommy plot outline: Millicent and Cillian head out for one story and Blunt and Jupe stay behind for another. And Jupe’s character arc is too simplistic: Will this really nervous kid maybe stop being so nervous?
All that said, it’s an entertaining movie that will occasionally make you say AHHHH! and if you loved A Quiet Place, you might as well see part II. I mean, what are you gonna do, stay at home another 15 months?
being underrated is overrated
Jack Silbert, curator