A Quiet Place Part II is almost as effective a suspense/horror flick as the first. It has a couple of problems here and there but they are pretty minor for what is a genuinely creepy continuation of the first film.
The new movie starts with a very scary Day 1 sequence where we see the normal world just before and during the first creature attacks. It then jumps forward to a few seconds after the end of the first film and follows the family as they flee the burning farm. They need to find (silent) shelter elsewhere… and maybe fix the world, if the brassy confidence of the daughter has any say in the matter.
Just as with the original, the direction, editing, and sound design of this film are top notch. There’s nothing on a technical level that’s worse and a decent amount that’s better than the first film. It remains an effective suspense-filled creepshow that knows when to go silent and when to bang the gong. Totally effective use of sound to produce earned jump scares.
From a story mechanics standpoint, the script separates many of the cast members and gives them their own adventures. I think this makes the story a little less taut, a little less effective. Ultimately these separate stories tie together but the distance kind of felt like padding in the moment. Plus it has an ending that isn’t too far removed from the first… but since we already saw that bad-ass ending, pulling the same trick only with a slight change of focus (before hard cut to credits) was kind of dissatisfying.
I did enjoy the focus change on the kids, especially the daughter, and that somewhat justifies the story structure. They were important in the first film but not center stage. Here they get to flex a bit more, thematically coming into their own after the tragic events of the first flick.
This is a very good movie and a great sequel. It doesn’t add a lot to the mythos but we do learn one or two new things. And hopefully it’ll do well enough to earn a sequel where we can really see if the daughter’s ballsy choices pan out. This is definitely worth seeing.
Score: 86