Don't Breathe 2

Don't Breathe was one of my biggest surprises and favourite films when it came out. I didn't watch a trailer, I didn't read a plot synopsis, all I did was look at a poster and decided I wanted to see it and excuse the pun but I went in blind and I loved it but when I heard a sequel was being made, I tried to ignore it because a sequel just felt unnecessary.

Starting with the positives, the best thing about this film was Stephen Langs performance. This guy is a great action star who can probably carry his own franchise let alone film. Just like the first film, he's menancing, he's brutal but he's also very human and more vulnerable now that he has something to lose. The actress who plays his daughter is also very good and I can see a big future for her.

The action within this film is really really good also. Great brutal killings, fight scenes that aren't heavily edited and what I like about certain scenes was there was no moment of safety. Even when someone is winning, there's always a dilemma or someone is in danger. It's all very visceral and tense at times.

There's also some nice foreshowing for what events are in store for the film and in particular, how the film ends. It ends on a  very satisfying note. Also there's never a boring moment during this film and especially gets very entertaining during the 3rd act.

However it's not perfect so let's move onto the mixed aspects. And the big thing to talk about is this film doesn't feel like a direct sequel to Don't Breathe. This film feels like a revenge action film starring Stephen Lang as the blind man. There's no direct link to the first film and though there's references to his past, in all honesty, he may as well be playing a different character.

Now moving onto my negatives, my biggest is this film suffers without Fede Alvarez directing. This film is directed by Rodo Sayagues and he does a good job but not as good as Fede Alvarez. In the first film, you could cut the tension with a knife and in this film, you barely feel it. Another aspect of the weaker direction is Sayageus relies on apsects of the previous film to tell the story he's telling and that hurts it a bit.

This film basically rehashes the plot of the first film which doesn't feel as strong as it was and it gets very annoying and feels lazy when it directly copies scenes that were a lot better in the first film.

Another aspect that really hurts the film is the predictability. Whilst this film has good foreshadowing, there's also some massive predictable moments that was not present during the first film especially when you get to the 3rd.

And speaking of the 3rd act, as entertaining as it is, it is incredibly far fetched and requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. From the action, to the injury detail and one plot twist that I cannot believe actually made it to the final draft of the script because it has so many plot holes.

But in general, I did enjoy this film and can definitely rewatch it so I would recommend it to fans of the first film. It's not as strong but definitely has great moments in it.

⭐⭐⭐