Don't Breathe 2

Alright, I haven't seen the first Don't Breathe in quite some time. When I had heard that there was going to be a sequel, I was excited. Instantly, I was ready to see where they were going to go with the story. I mean come on, blind man tracking down Jane Levy. It was a bit inevitable that's where it was going. Then came the announcement that this film wouldn't feature Jane Levy's character. I can understand a bit why. She's become a pretty big name now. So part of it is probably because she didn't wanna do it or came down to money. Honestly, both of those are probably why we haven't seen a sequel to Evil Dead 2013. 

So, I was left wondering how they were going to pull off the film. Would it feel like a retread of the first? Then the trailers started releasing. Man, I hate trailers. I had seen one or two of the trailers for this film and had a basic jist of what was gonna happen. My only question was Who the hell is the little girl. Is she related to the first story somehow? Did our creepy blind man track down Jane Levy and then turkey baste her to death to result in him having a child now? 

No. He found her. He took her in and started raising her. That's it. Personally, I feel like the thought in my head could have had a stronger impact on the film. Even if it had resulted in just being alluded to. 

Don't Breathe 2. Okay. Now that my disappointment is out of the way, let's move onto my thoughts. 

So we got Blind Stephen Lang raising a young girl named Phoenix. How appropos as she had survived her house burning eight years earlier. He's teaching her to survive. Well, honestly he's giving her so many skills to be Batman really. Anyways, she's on a daily test to get a gun from a car. She manages to avoid the dog patrol and begins to get cocky. Well, you know what Han Solo said to Luke Skywalker right? Don't get cocky. 

Blind Stephen Lang batmans his way behind Phoenix to snatch the gun away. Do or do not, young Phoenix. Boom, she's failed her test. Upon returning, Hernandez stops by to deliver the local flowers. At first, Blind Stephen Lang isn't going to let Hernandez take Phoenix with her to town. But he has a change of heart after being called out on his shit. 

Hernandez and Phoenix go to town. Phoenix hangs out at the playground while Hernandez is doing something. Maybe running errands? I don't know and the film doesn't care to explain either. Phoenix makes a trip to the bathroom where she's creeped on by a man named Raylan. However dog patrol has been by Phoenix's side and intimidates Raylan. Phoenix threatens to snap her finger to have dog patrol remove some testicles. What is this movie?

Hernandez drops Phoenix off with Blind Stephan Lang. On her way back to town, she's stopped by a truck in the middle of the road. Hernandez investigates to find Raylan and his crew behind the wheel of the truck. Oh my trucka trucka, what's going to happen next? 

After a brief standoff, Hernandez returns to her van and is blindsided by Bluelight Special Tilda Swinton. B.S. Tilda takes Hernandez off the board with a quick hammer to the head. Why was this deemed necessary? You set up a solid character with Hernandez only to fridge her like two minutes later. Why? 

Blind Stephen Lang tries to put Phoenix to bed as she insists that she wants to go to school and be normal. Obviously she's beginning to be done with Lang's shit. Dog Patrol is out on the porch minding his own business. He hears a noise and has to investigate. Bad move, Dog Patrol.

Blind Stephen Lang trying to be a good dog owner attempts to feed Dog Patrol. However, he's gone missing. Lang bumbles round outside and discovers Dog Patrol has been murdered by the Bad Guys. 

Meanwhile inside the house, the rest of Raylan's crew has been introduced. We already know B.S. Tilda Swinton but they have a brother, Gangsta Evan Peters. They are in cahoots with Discount Punisher. They are searching the house for Phoenix. Oh, earlier in the film there was a news report of an organ trafficking business run by a man that looks like Kevin Spacey. 

Now, Phoenix gets to batman her way through this situation as she moves quietly. This part is pretty cool. Just when she's almost out the door, B.S. Tilda Swinton shoots the door frame and the bullet grazes Phoenix's cheek. B.S. Tilda Swinton then is jumped by Lang. Phoenix goes downstairs while the gang tries to find Lang.

Lang manages to batman Gangsta Evan Peters, who was investigating the garage. B.S. Tilda Swinton finds their brother alive with his mouth and nose glued shut. The brilliant idea is then born and B.S. Tilda Swinton takes a screwdriver to Gangsta Evan Peters cheek so he can breathe.

And the film just continues to go bonkers and off the rails. 

The first Don't Breathe was a very tense film. We had someone to root for as we knew who was good (to an extent) and who wasn't. This film everything is grey. I suppose that's the whole point is to reflect that's nothing is straight good and bad. That things have a grey side to them. The whole twist in that film fueled it in such a specific way that a sequel couldn't live up to it. If they weren't continuing the thread left at the end of the first one, what's the point? Turn the films into an anthology of sorts where we have different scenarios for Blind Stephen Lang to play out. Into The Langverse? 

I really wanted to like this sequel. Don't Breathe 2 has a decent character with Phoenix. However, it follows a predictable line from A to B. And one of it's characters that had the most potential just thrown away a few minutes after starting to get to know them. That's not good filmmaking..that's lazy filmmaking. 

Overall, Don't Breathe 2 feels like a needless sequel. It doesn't follow anything from the first film outside of Blind Stephen Lang. We are not even given any hints as to how long after the first film this one takes place. I had really high hopes for this and was disappointed. 

Rating: 2 out of 5. 

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