Shhhhh

Here’s proof that sometimes you don’t need a sequel. (Unmarked Spoilers)

Years after Rocky (Jane Levy) and her crew broke into his house to rob him, the Blind Man (Stephen Lang) is now raising a daughter, a young girl named Phoenix (Madelyn Grace). Their relationship is loving but starting to become strained due to the Blind Man’s overprotectiveness. Life as they know it changes forever when Raylan (Brendan Sexton III) and his gang of criminals break into their home one night. 

The audience is led to believe Raylan is after Phoenix as part of an organ harvester ring. Except then it’s revealed that Raylan is Phoenix’s biological father. After a fire destroyed their home, the Blind Man took Phoenix from the wreckage to raise as his own. Now Raylan’s come back for her and to get his revenge on the Blind Man. Though don’t you go thinking that means Raylan’s the true hero of the film. 

Raylan and his gang engage in several heinous acts to drive home that they’re the bad guys. Right when it seems like Raylan just wants to reunite with his daughter, it turns out he only wanted Phoenix for her heart to save his sick wife Josephine (Fiona O’Shaughnessy), who’s also the gang’s meth cook. Even going as far as making Phoenix believe she could leave any time she wanted. 

This is similar to the previous film, where it’s revealed the Blind Man had kidnapped Cindy (Franciska Töröcsik), the rich girl who killed his child, figuring it was “only fair that she give [him] a new one.” A common narrative trick to get you to root for an anti-hero or villain protagonist is to have them go up against someone even worse. Except that doesn’t work in Don’t Breathe 2.

One, even though he’s stopped with the whole raping and impregnating people thing, the Blind Man’s still a deranged kidnapper. Two, he’s not a charismatic character. He’s not Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), who had this thing that made me want to keep watching (NSFW) him despite being a horrible person who just got worse with each passing season. God, that was a great performance.

The best thing you can say about the Blind Man is that he eventually owns up to his sins and tells Phoenix to stay away. He’s also way more of a bada*s this time around. In the previous film, he was able to keep up with the invaders because they were inexperienced teenagers with only one gun and in an environment he had intimate knowledge of. He loses both of those advantages and still comes out on top. At least until the end, when he just gets careless.

The biggest problem with this movie is that I don’t know who to root for. Well, there’s Phoenix, but here’s the thing. This movie is all about her in the worst way possible. She’s less of a character and more of a plot device. We know she’s smart, lonely, and loves the Blind Man, and that’s it as far as a personality goes. She should have been our new main protagonist, and she’s not. 

Don’t Breathe 2 currently has an audience score of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, despite a rather dismal critical score of 45%. So clearly, somebody likes it the way it is now. If you’re one of the people who liked this movie, then okay. I’m just not one of you, in case you couldn’t tell by this review. I’d recommend sticking with the first movie only.