I am always rooting for a sequel to try
something different instead of just being a dull carbon copy of its
predecessor. Don't Breathe 2, the sequel to the intense and incredibly
exciting 2016 horror thriller, Don't Breathe, does go in a different
direction, but it's an astoundingly wrongheaded direction.
So, remember The Blind Man character
from the original film? You know, the psycho killer and rapist? Yeah, him. He's
the hero of this second movie. You see, the character is searching for
redemption from his awful past, and nothing says redemption more than
sadistically murdering a bunch of thugs who break into his house.
It's been years since the events of the
first film, and The Blind Man (again played by Stephen Lang in a good
performance) has an "adopted" daughter (well played by Madelyn Grace) who is
about 13-years-old, and he is very protective of her. And wouldn't you know it,
a group a military trained thugs break into his home with the intent of
kidnapping his daughter. The reason they want the little girl is pretty
ridiculous, but I won't spoil it.
These bad guys are so obnoxious that
even their respective haircuts are offensive. They look like gang members left
over from Death Wish 3 and The Blind Man couldn't dispatch with them
quick enough.
There is a lot of blood and gore, but
director Rodo Sayagues, who wrote the original, doesn't know how to execute
suspense scenes. Much of the action just lays there. And it's poorly written by
Sayagues and the first film's director, Fede Alvarez. The cheap, pedestrian
presentation of the material here just doesn't have the strength or the smarts
to deal with the redemption of evil.
For a similar movie that is a lot more
fun, try the ridiculous action-comedy Blind Fury (1989) starring Rutger
Hauer as a blind war veteran who is also a master swordsman.
Don't Breathe 2 is now in theaters.
