Written on: May 30th, 2021

When I saw 'A Quiet Place' for the first time at home in 2018, I was very pleasantly surprised. I remember seeing the trailers and thinking it did not look very good. I was not sure how I would feel seeing a movie where nobody talked. Boy, was I wrong! It ended up being one of the best horror films of the past decade. What worked so well about it was that it did not use the monsters or jump-scares as its main horror factor: It instead used building up tension and the creepiness of a totally quiet setting to build up a frightening urge in viewers. It was so refreshing to see a horror film in recent years that wasn't just a horror film because of one hundred predictable jump scares. As a fan of the first film, I was actually extremely excited for the sequel. With the trailers showing flashbacks to the beginning of the world being overtaken by sound-killing monsters, to the trailers showing a film that looked bigger in scale while still keeping to the first films build-up scare roots, I was REALLY excited to see this film in March 2020................ then the year 2020 attacked and threw the film all the way to May 2021. Even being delayed a full year and two months, I was still hyped to see this. How was it? Well, to me, it is exactly on par with the first. Everything I loved about the first film is right in here. I will say that I was a little let down, because the trailer made the film seem more epic in scale than the film actually is. That being said, this is still a great sequel, and one of the better horror sequels I have seen.

Emily Blunt is again fantastic in this film, stealing the movie whenever she is in a scene. I will say that she is not in the film as much as I thought she would be. The film actually focuses more on a quest between two other characters, one character from the previous film and one brand new character. I will not say who the characters are, as the trailers really do not tell you too much. I actually did not mind the film focusing on these two characters more, and found it to be a surprising but very good plot line that I was not expecting. You do get a flashback to the events of the first day of the sound monster attacking, but it is only the first ten to fifteen minutes of the film, but boy, that was a great scene! This movie is also much more intense than the first. A lot more blood, and a scene involving a bear trap where I was literally clenching my fists in fear. In fact, this film was so intense in some moments that my bones and skin were shaking and tensing up, and all because, like the first film, the film is excellent with focusing on build-up scares rather than cheap jump scares. It actually works hard to get a scared reaction from you. No film is perfect, and the film does have some flaws. Just like the first film, the film kind of just ends, feeling a little bit empty. Also, the son in the film kind of felt like a cliche after a while. While Emily Blunt and her daughter get some badass scenes, the son was a cliched character who needed to be saved every 5 seconds. He does finally get a cool moment near the end of the film, but gets so tacked on that you do not really feel it too much.

Overall, A Quiet Place Part 2 is a film that might feel somewhat disappointing if you go in with really high hopes, but still ends up being a great and worthy sequel. I would recommend seeing this one in theaters, as the scare factor lends itself to a dark environment with a big screen and popcorn (even though you will feel bad chewing, since the film is based off of getting killed for making a sound). Also, to my surprise for a pandemic film, the auditorium I was in had at LEAST 20 people in it, and the film is expected to make close to 60 million dollars in the United States alone this 4 day weekend. I have a sense that theaters could be making a comeback.......

Star Rating: 4/5

Percentage rating: 85%

Should you see it: Yes, if you liked the first film