Don't Breathe 2

Just finished Don't Breath 2, I didn't hate it despite the bad reviews. I enjoyed the first film which I thought was an above average home invasion horror. Interestingly, I guess Stephen Lang and the creators knew there was no rational way they'd be able to match the setup of the original. Instead they've gone for an old-school 90s type action thriller with little to do with the first film besides a vague backstory for the villain turned avenging angel. It's a Taken-Blind Fury mashup with a bigger budget which allows it some pretty cool set pieces and photography. This combined with the cheesy dialogue, eye-gouging, bone snapping, and just general 'why has no one called the police, and how could anyone survive that?', makes a bad film atleast fun to watch.

I love the first film, it was a huge surprise but I always thought this sequel was unnecessary and after I watched it I felt I was right.

Don't Breathe 2 is enjoyable, interesting, has a couple of nice twists but didn't surprise me. There's a lack of tension because the "old man" looks to be immortal and everytime he's in danger, we know he's going to survive.

I can divide it in two parts: even being enjoyable, the first half is quite predictable, but the second half is a thrilling and unexpected trip.

I mean, this sequel isn't bad but also hasn't the ingredients that made Don't Breathe (2016) a surprisingly and intense film.

An unwanted, unwarranted & unnecessary sequel to Fede Alvarez's tense, thrilling & terrifying original, Don't Breathe 2 is a dull, derivative & disappointing follow-up that sacrifices the nail-bitingly intense atmosphere & clever setup of the 2016 home-invasion horror, and attempts to make up for it by upping the violence & brutality without first rectifying the glaring problems in the script.

Co-written & directed by Rodo Sayagues in his directorial debut, the film neither exhibits any potential nor is able to validate its existence at any given time, and treads a route that's very predictable from afar. Where the previous chapter invoked terror & suspense by tapping into the viewers' primal fears, this one takes an action-oriented approach and is severely lacking the unsettling aura of the first film.

The new characters are awfully sketched while the reprising one's arc goes nowhere, and its attempt to rehabilitate the protagonist is absurd, for all the story does is make him the lesser of two evils. Stephen Lang still delivers a solid input and retains his intimidating presence but the rest are simply forgettable in their caricature roles. And also not helping the cause are its generic plot, cartoonish characters & dumb twists.

Overall, Don't Breathe 2 is downright inferior to its predecessor and has none of the qualities that made the last effort such an effective & impressive entry in the home-invasion subgenre of horror-thrillers. It is only during the first half that the film is able to create a sort of interest but it is only brief, short-lived & fizzles out just as quick. There is a bleak, nihilistic element at play here but the storytelling is too bland & uninspiring for it to amount to much.

Don't mess with the blind man.

The sequel to Don't Breathe, which was one of the surprises back when I first watched. The first had a simple concept, but the great execution made for an intense and gripping thriller. So coming into this one, although with a different director, I expected another great thriller.

And the movie was pretty decent. Stephen Lang returned as a blind yet skillful man. He was again awesome in his role, showing not only good action, but also some emotion. He was for sure the best part of the movie.

The thriller aspect was definitely nowhere near the level of the first, which was a letdown. Since most of the action took place in the dark, sometimes it was hard to see the movement, and the editing didn't help much either. Still, there were still great shots and lightning of Stephen Lang's character that made some scenes intense.

Overall, a decent thriller that was a step down from the first. 6/10.

I didn't really feel the terror in this movie that I felt in the 1st one. I remember being scrunched up on my sofa with my hand over my mouth, thinking "Girl, DON'T BREATHE, THAT BLIND DUDE WILL HEAR YOU!" HA hahahaha Didn't feel that this time, it was just a whole lotta escalating violence and I didn't know why it was even happening at first. Then I was cheering for the blind dude and the kid and Shadow this time. But it didn't seem to match the ending of the 1st movie????

It's a one and done for me. I've re-watched the 1st movie at least 4 times over the years, and will probably re-watch it again in the future. But this one, NAH!