The Doctor’s Diagnosis: C-
The original Don’t Breathe was a clever, tense horror flick that cleverly subverted the home-invasion subgenre. The story of a group of thieve that break into a blind veteran’s home to steal his considerable savings only to discover that the seemingly defenseless old guy is actually a quite capable maniac, the film most reminded me of Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs in basic setup and theme. I didn’t particularly expect a sequel since there was really nowhere to go with the story. Don’t Breathe 2 seemingly exists to confirm that suspicion, as this is one of the most misguided and unnecessary sequels in recent memory.
Eight years after the events of the first film, Norman (the blind villain of the first film) now seemingly has a young daughter. We eventually discover that he actually found her unconscious outside of a burning meth lab and decided to take her home and raise her as his own. Amazingly, the local authorities didn’t seem to object to anything that I described in the previous sentence. Eventually, her meth-loving parents want her back and decide to break into Norman’s house and kidnap her, setting off a scenario that is ostensibly similar to the first film, but a lot shittier.
In order for this film to work on a basic narrative level, one must accept that Norman is now the hero of the story and sympathize with him accordingly. Considering the events of the first film, that is utterly fucking ridiculous. I did initially root for Norman in the opening act of the original, but the film pushed him beyond the point that he could be the hero of the story, effectively reversing the roles of the main characters. Perhaps this film is counting on me forgetting that Norman had a woman imprisoned in his basement and was trying to impregnate her by using turkey basters to inject her with cum. Amazingly, the sequel makes no reference to that, as if it was a minor point. But you know what? That’s the kind of shit that I tend to remember.
The film is trying to be a redemption arc, the story of a horrible man that has abandoned his old ways, but the script isn’t intelligent or insightful enough to pull it off. Eastwood’s Unforgiven is an example of this sort of story done right. First, the actions of William Munny (Eastwood) in Unforgiven are purposeful and not the product of pure circumstance. Second, and more importantly, Unforgiven begins years after Munny quit being a cold-blooded killer and we never see him commit those acts; they are only alluded to. If we had seen him murdering women and children, he would have been a far less sympathetic character. Don’t Breathe 2 doesn’t have that luxury because Norman’s past was documented in the first film, thus making any sort of redemption arc damn near impossible to pull off convincingly.
The other characters don’t help matters, as the villains are far more one-dimensional this time around. The robbers in the first film weren’t exactly great people, but they were relatable. Their actions were wrong, but they were motivated by desperation more than maliciousness. The villains here are just asshole meth addicts and the mid-film twist makes them cartoonishly evil. I ask you, when I’m choosing between child murdering meth addicts on one side and a man that kidnapped a woman to subject her to a Thanksgiving-themed bukkake on the other side, who the fuck am I supposed to be rooting for? Who is the protagonist here? The only sympathetic character is the little girl, but even her relationship with Norman makes little sense and doesn’t even seem particularly happy. If your kid fantasizes about going to an orphanage, then you are probably a shitty parent. That’s literally the opposite of how an orphanage is supposed to work.
It’s also odd how ineffective Norman can be now that he is the hero. In the first film, the man was a cunning monster that turned his disability into an advantage. He mercilessly hunted his intruders using strategically-placed weapons and an almost uncanny understanding of his surroundings. He was a man that had prepared for people to fuck with him, and god help anybody that actually did. Here, he often acts like he is trying to break into Kevin McCallister’s house on Christmas. The problem with switching him to the role of the protagonist (other than the fact that it just doesn’t work) is that it requires him to be weakened in order to generate any sort of suspense. The Norman from the first film could have killed these people without having to put his beer down, but here he must often be outmatched because, well, the plot needs it.
On the plus side, Stephen Lang is as solid as ever. He was a scary bastard in the original and I almost felt bad watching him try to bring a sense of sympathy and depth to a script that doesn’t deserve it and a character that doesn’t warrant it. The film also has a few solid moments of gore, so it’s a rare modern horror film to be R-rated for something other than “terror,” whatever the fuck that means. A couple of effects are solid, particularly a nice guy gouging effect.
The main reason why my grade isn’t in the D-range is that I could see this working much better as a standalone thriller (it really isn’t even a horror film, as it doesn’t even seem to be trying to be scary). However, it fails completely as a sequel and seems almost reliant on people not having seen the original. The basic incongruity with the first film makes this one of the most ill-advised sequels that I can think of. Well, Jaws: The Revenge comes to mind, but at least that movie is fun to watch.
Image By: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don’t_Breathe_2#/media/File:DontBreathe2OfficialPoster2021.png
