‘A Quiet Place Part II’ builds on what made the original so good

Posted on June 4, 2021

By MARK VIOLA

As I’m sure anybody who watches movies on even a semi-regular basis can attest, sequels are hard to pull off successfully. On the surface, making a follow-up to a well-received film should be simple. Repeat enough of what made the first a success, add a few new things, and presto — great movie.

Somehow, most sequels never get to the final step of that equation. Some stick too close to the original, while others skew widely in seemingly unconnected directions. And, of course, there is the “bigger is better” fallacy that so many sequels fall into.

Fortunately, “A Quiet Place Part II,” the sequel to the surprise horror hit from 2018, avoids all of these pitfalls on the way to delivering perhaps the best sequel I’ve seen since “How To Train Your Dragon 2.”

This new film, written and directed again by John Krasinski, honors what made the first movie so successful, but also expands on both the world and the characters, taking them to the next logical step on their journey while delivering something different enough to not feel like a total retread of what we’ve seen before.

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