Mark Reviews Movies: DON'T BREATHE 2

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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 13, 2021

One of the central issues with the otherwise ingenious Don't Breathe was its third act. After spending so much time establishing a morally murky twist on the home-invasion thriller, the film seemed to go out of its way to make sure we knew Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang), a blind man defending his home but going to unnecessarily vicious means to do so, was not merely an antagonist for the trio of burglars. He was an out-and-out villain—a kidnapper, a rapist, and more of a murderer, trying to protect his dark secrets, than a defender.

Somehow, returning screenwriters Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues seem to forget both the specifics and the moral implications of that previous revelation in Don't Breathe 2. In story terms, at least eight years have passed in between the first film and its sequel, which sees Norman, credited only as "the Blind Man" here, living in relative comfort. He even has a girl whom he calls his daughter, and based on what we know about how this man has tried to replace a dead daughter, our thoughts immediately start going to some pretty dark places in trying to figure out this mystery.

It's all, relatively speaking, fine, though. The girl, named Phoenix (Madelyn Grace), is the survivor of a fire, and Norman found her lying in the street, brought her home, and has raised the girl as his daughter for eight years. It's certainly a bit questionable (while also raising more than a few questions about how no one was aware the girl just vanished without a trace), but compared to Norman's previous scheme to forcibly impregnate a woman with a turkey baster, the guy has evolved into a relative saint.

The movie, directed by Sayagues (taking over helming duties from Alvarez), certainly could have made something of Norman's apparent transformation or his coming to grips with the wicked deeds of his past, but the filmmakers instead dodge that entirely. Save for a brief and jump-scare-establishing confessional near the end of the story, we're just supposed to accept Norman as more than the protagonist this time around.

He's basically an out-and-out hero—rescuing the girl multiple times, putting himself in unnecessary danger for her, even going illogically out of his way to save a dog that's trying to attack him. There's some weird thinking going on with that last one. Sayagues and Alvarez think we'll be fine with everything Norman has done to people in the last film and this one, but they assume we'll draw a firm line against Norman if he dares to harm a single hair on a dog.

There's a lot of odd thinking in this movie. Some of it's done by the filmmakers, as they try to erase our understanding and manipulate our feelings toward Norman. Most of it, though, is performed by the characters, who repeatedly do dumb things or make dumb choices, which only make sense in terms of keeping the plot moving.

That latter part is the real downfall of this sequel, which wastes little time ignoring these characters and their motives, in order to get to the business of another team of intruders trying to steal from Norman. This group, led by Raylan (Brendan Sexton III), wants Phoenix—although it doesn't stop a few of them from shooting at, trying to drown, or nearly electrocuting the girl. Those close-calls make sense for trying to generate some suspense when they happen, but as soon as the big mystery of why Raylan and his gang want the girl, it all falls apart.

The rest of the plot is built and proceeds in a similarly haphazard way. Norman fights the home-invaders, as they try to kill him and do a terrible job trying not to kill Phoenix. This goes on for a bit, although there's no reason to care about any of the suspense or fights (All we know about the intruders is that they're killers, and we know, well, a bit too much about Norman from the first film).

Raylan eventually arrives and reveals the story's big secret to the girl. After Norman's uncharacteristic saving of the dog turns out to be a cheap and laughable matter of plot necessity, the whole process begins again—only this time in an abandoned hotel, where more questions of character motives and plot logic emerge (Without giving anything away, simply ask if it would make much more sense to hire or train a new "cook").

Lang is once again intimidating, with a bit of a melancholy air, as Norman, but Don't Breathe 2 lets the actor and the character down with its moral evasions and justifications. After the success of the first film, the sequel is just a big let-down in general, too.

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