Blu-ray Review: A Quiet Place Part II – “Tense and exciting”

A Quiet Place was the silent yet deadly (I apologize for that combination of words) 2018 film directed by John Krasinski that had whole cinema crowds being oh so quiet. The film followed Emily Blunt, John Krasinksi, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe as they tried to survive a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by nigh-indestructible beasties with super hearing from another planet.

It was a tense, exhilarating movie that had you on the edge of your seat throughout. It showed that silence can be incredibly scary. The film also proved Krasinski was an excellent director.

The sequel is just as good, if not better than the original. Tense and exciting throughout. Krasinski is back behind the camera (although he does appear in a few scenes set on the day the creatures made it to Earth) and he also wrote the screenplay. Not only is he a great paper salesman he is an incredibly talented filmmaker.

The short prequel scenes help introduce some new characters and also show just how deadly the creatures can be as we witness them massacre an entire town.

Whereas in the original we only followed the Abbott family, the sequel sees them heading out into the world following directly on from the events of the first film with the new baby adding to the possible noise sources.

You may have thought the sequel would focus on Emily Blunt’s character, but due to various reasons, the family is split up and we mainly follow the adventures of Millicent Simmonds’ Regan Abbott. Her quick wits and intelligence save the day on a number of occasions and her empathy for others means she will do what needs to be done. She is joined by Cillian Murphy as Emmett. He is always so good, and this film is no exception. We witness a man driven to the edge and all done with a subtle look and shake of his head. To watch Emmett slowly regain faith in humanity and find a purpose in life is one of the many joys of the film.

As with The Walking Dead and many other post-apocalyptic movies, we are reminded that humans are often the worst thing to watch out for and A Quiet Place Part II is no exception. The scenes with other survivors are few and far between but nevertheless extremely effective.

We had seen the creatures by the end of the first movie and the sequel shows them many times. Thankfully the CG is much improved as they dart around the screen and rip apart whoever they hear.

Once again I do like that we are not given big exposition dumps on how the aliens got here and why. We have to fill in the blanks ourselves which makes them all the stranger. They don’t seem to eat (at least we don’t see them eating), but just go for the kill. Were they sent to Earth or was it just bad luck that saw them arrive?

Should there be any more sequels I’d like to see the scope increased once again. Maybe have another opening set during the fall that shows the creatures going up against the armed forces. However, I would also be happy if they left it with just these two films.

Performances from everyone are great. Scenes last just as long as they need to and it all looks incredible. The post-apocalyptic mise-en-scène is perfect and the sound design is phenomenal. If you are watching this at home, try and have it hooked up to a decent sound system. The small moments of noise after prolonged silence can make you jump in delicious ways.

The picture and sound quality on the Blu-ray are great and one of the extras delves into the sound design of the film.

The film is a tight 97 minutes so it leaves you wanting more, even though that time sees you tense and wary as you wait for one of the survivors to make a noise. Then when it does part of you wants to run as fast as you can!

One of those sequels that build well on what came before it and is a perfect sci-fi thriller to watch with all the lights out.

A Quiet Place: Part II is available to Download & Keep now and on 4K Ultra HD+Blu-ray™, Blu-ray™ & DVD from the 30th August.

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