Don’t Breathe 2
SONYThere is no other way to describe Rodo Sayagues' Don't Breathe 2 as anything other than an embarrassment – even a disaster. The long muted follow-up to Fede Alvarez's cult classic and much-beloved horror feature from 2016 is an incredibly stupid, ridiculous and, quite frankly, condescending return to a franchise with rich potential.
Sam Raimi’s protege Fede Alvarez sits this one out from behind the camera, with only Stephen Lang returning for newcomer Rodo Sayagues' feature. This is its own singular story, in all intents and purposes. The issue with that is how the film wants to shift Lang's character from antagonist to protagonist with the previous vile baggage that has built his character. Simply put, even with Alvarez writing the screenplay, the feature can not justify such a thematic change due to the shallow, hollow and nonexistent nature of weight that the film fails to even attempt at creating. Five minutes before closing is attempted to cause the audience to root for pure, but as imagined, it is all little too late to craft a harrowing moral questioning of its audience.
Such an element leads into what Sayagues film is wanting to say and express. If the feature has little to say and express consciously regarding the thematic nature of possible proceedings, then ultimately, what is left is the shock value of its genre. This is where the film will fair quite well and equally find significant fault for its audience. Simply put, there are two acts here that are split into two large set pieces. The first is very consciously devised in similar terms to its predecessor; the second tries to elevate the concept but remains precisely the same in terms of set design.
The first set-piece is devised in terms of tension and atmosphere. This is clearly evident in how it is orchestrated with faux elongated edits that are painfully woven together to craft the impression of a long unbroken take. The issue that arises is how obvious such an edit is spliced together and contextually how illogically it places its central characters, of whom will simply defy logic, physics, and gravity in order to for the film to progress. This is painful when creating a human story where the audience is meant to care about proceedings; if the filmmakers are already breaking the rules, this film simply has no hope of its audience caring about its characters, knowing full well that the card they have been dealt is in favour of the dealer. So, if the feature fails to elicit tension and atmosphere, what about it its conventions of horror?
Well, this is where the second set-piece enters proceedings. There are few, albeit slim, moments of gore and horror in the features first set-piece – the same can not be said for the second. The film inexplicitly changes tone and thematics completely, and what commences is a different feature altogether. Blood, body horror, and gore are thick and fast – all in the span of twenty minutes – to the point that the viewer becomes almost desensitised to such elements because the moments are never allowed to breathe.
That all being said, the aforementioned issues are not the most problematic and flawed elements to even discuss. This is where the screenplay comes in. It is barbaric and relentless stupid. Not in a tongue-in-cheek manner but in a sheer ridiculous acceptance that this is produced strait-laced with the utmost seriousness. Character moments are profoundly flawed and ludicrous, with decisions and thought processes devoid of any and all concepts of reality. These aspects of actual stupidity build and build to the point that it becomes evident that this is the foundation upon which Don't Breathe 2 is crafting itself.
There is so little here to be remotely entertained or even find acceptable within Don't Breathe 2, the Rodo Sayagues' feature can only be described as an abomination. Its only shining light is ruined and spoiled within its very own TV spots, and aside from its effective audible motif, Don't Breathe 2 is a shallow, obnoxious, and patronising attempt in the era of elevated horror and is one to forget almost immediately.
