Review of Don't Breathe 2 (2021) by Rebecca31 — 25 Aug 2021

Don’t Breathe was a film about a blind man who fights off a home invasion, well apparently some genius decided this movie needed a sequel. For anyone wondering I can safely tell you that Don’t Breathe did not need a sequel and there is absolutely no point in Don’t Breathe 2 at all. None.

Set a few years following the home invasion, Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang) lives a quiet and isolated life until his past catches up to him. The first thing to note is Don’t Breathe 2 is rated 16 for a reason, the fight scenes are brutal and gory. But that’s about all it has going for it, the gore. I loved the first film but this doesn’t come close, not everything needs a sequel but it seems some films need to learn that lesson the hard way. This had none of the horror and suspense of the first film. You’re not on the edge of your seat holding your breath, you’ll instead find yourself slumped in your chair, bored and glancing at your watch waiting for this ordeal to be over. And in proper horror movie fashion you’ll think it’s finally over only to have an “oh wait it’s not quite over yet” moment. Taking Lang’s character and half-heartedly attempting to turn him into some sort of anti-hero did not work at all. Another issue is because most of you will remain disinterested and bored you can’t help but feel many of the injuries sustained by the main characters don’t stop them from getting back up again like cartoon characters and carrying on as if nothing happened. Yet the same or lesser injury will happen to a clearly disposable character only for it to be more than enough to keep them down or kill them. This is not the kind of thing I should have been thinking about or noticing but I couldn’t help it I was not invested in the film at all which left me with plenty of time to overthink everything. I’m not going to criticise the acting. It’s not their fault to be honest, they’re doing the best they can with what they were given. The film shouldn’t exist and the story doesn’t work on any level, there’s really no getting away from that.

Don’t Breathe 2 is nothing more than a cash grab. I’m all for supporting cinemas especially during this difficult time but believe me when I tell you there are better films out right now that you should see instead. Not recommended, unless you’ve absolutely nothing else to do and you’ve seen all the other movies in the cinemas then by all means go ahead.