'A Quiet Place Part II' Movie Review: Nail-biting high tension thriller-horror sequel

A still from A Quiet Place Part II

A Quiet Place Part II
A: Horror, thriller
Dir: John Krasinski
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt
Rating: 3/5

John Krasinski attempts to go with a higher degree of difficulty for his survivalist characters in this, his reluctant Part II of his super successful original sci-fi horror thriller salvo. It's still a ‘quiet place', but the family no longer has the means to stay inbound - instead, grief-stricken Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) finds herself on her own, with two young teens, a defenceless newborn son, and their escape room/farm all burnt down to the ground.

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With the same no-nonsense, minimalistic, crisp efficiency, returning writer/director Krasinski picks the action up in the immediate aftermath of that shocking ending with Lee (Krasinski) dead and his family venturing forth into forbidden territory. 474 days after the all-out alien attack in A Quiet Place, they embark on a peril-laden quest to find civilization in eerily quiet, obviously devastated uncharted hostile territory, hoping for a miracle. But, the enemy is everywhere and not relegated to the Alien venom headed creatures alone.

One might have wondered how Krasinski would take this story forward. Expanding the scope and ambit for survival appears to be the way to go. The first film was a brilliantly conceptualised heart-stopping, nail-biting thriller and Part II manages to heighten those mechanics to a degree but there's nothing really extraordinary on offer other than having the teenagers take on more responsibility for their continued survival. Krasinski teases us with an opening sequence that hearkens back to how it all began.

The violence continues on unabated, sound continues to be something the characters need to fear, while each of the leads showcase their survival chops as they try to navigate the chaos that surrounds them. Krasinski's craftsmanship continues to remain solid, his plotting here may seem a little easy going as compared to the original, but he manages to get enough intensity and tension from the proceedings. The searing emotion heavy performances strengthen the narrative spiel and heightens the thrill-a-minute experience. The CGI is convincing and production values continue to be top-notch. A Quiet Place Part II may seem slightly less potent than the original, but it's efficiently crafted and manages yet another nail-biting finish.

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