DON'T BREATHE 2 (2021)

Studio:     Screen Gems
Director:    Rodo Sayagues
Writer:     Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Producer:  Fede Alvarez, Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert
Stars:     Stephen Lang, Brendan Sexton III, Madelyn Grace, Stephanie Arcila, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Rocci Boy Williams, Christian Zagia, Bobby Schofield, Adam Young

Review Score:

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Summary:

Unexpected secrets are exposed when organ thieves infiltrate The Blind Man’s home and threaten a young girl he raises as his daughter.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

After surviving a meth lab fire in the basement, Tara collapses in the street outside her parents’ burning house. Norman Nordstrom, aka The Blind Man, finds the little girl, renames her Phoenix, and begins raising her as his own daughter.

After eight years of home schooling and survival training, Phoenix longs to be friends with the children she sees at the Covenant Shelter orphanage. Hernandez, a fellow military veteran who helps with errands and babysitting, warns Norman that he can’t keep Phoenix sheltered forever.

Raylan starts stalking Hernandez and Phoenix with his cronies Duke, Raul, Jim-Bob, and Jim-Bob’s younger brother Jared, all of whom work for Dr. Thomas Hanneman’s underground organ trafficking ring. Later, the men set up a roadblock that they use to capture and kill Hernandez.

Duke, Raul, Jim-Bob, and Jared kill Norman’s dog and infiltrate his house. When he realizes his home is being invaded, Norman instructs Phoenix to lock herself inside a box in the basement, which she does. Meanwhile, Norman fights off Jim-Bob.

Norman uses super glue to seal Jared’s mouth and nostrils upon capturing him in the garage. Jim-Bob rescues his brother.

Duke tries to flush out Phoenix by filling her box with water. Norman rescues Phoenix by blowing up Duke in an electrical fire following a fight. Norman and Phoenix then hide.

Raylan arrives with his own dog. Raylan threatens to reveal the truth about Norman and Phoenix unless Norman comes out of hiding. Norman ends up subdued. Raylan explains to Phoenix that he is her real father and was recently released from prison after serving a sentence for the drug-related house fire. Raylan tells Phoenix that Norman lied to her about everything.

Phoenix thrusts a pitchfork through Jared’s foot when he takes her captive. Norman recovers and hacks Jared to death with gardening tools, which horrifies Phoenix.

Phoenix demands that Norman tell her who she really is, but Raylan’s dog interrupts them. Norman draws the dog to the attic to protect Phoenix. When the dog corners him, Norman considers shooting the animal, but he is unable to pull the trigger.

Raul captures Phoenix. Raylan and Jim-Bob set the house on fire, although Norman still manages to escape outside.

Phoenix recovers at an abandoned building used as the organ trafficking hideout. Raylan tells Phoenix her real name is Tara. He also introduces Phoenix’s mother Josephine, who Norman had told her died in the fire. Although she considered leaving, Phoenix decides to remain at the hideout to be with her mother.

Phoenix discovers her parents are still making meth. Josephine also reveals she is dying and needs a new heart. Phoenix realizes her parents are planning to remove her heart for a transplant just before passing out from a drugged drink.

Phoenix wakes on Dr. Hanneman’s operating table. Led to the hideout by Raylan’s dog, Norman interrupts the surgery by cutting power to the building. Norman kills Jim-Bob with a hammer.

Raylan sends Raul and three gang members into the basement to find Norman. Norman shoots all three gang members. Having had a change of heart because he does not want to see the little girl murdered, Raul lets Norman go free to rescue Phoenix.

Norman releases a smoke grenade. In the confusion, Raylan accidentally shoots Josephine dead. Josephine’s wheelchair rolls toward a steep drop. Because she was handcuffed to her mother, Phoenix hacks off Josephine’s arm to avoid falling too.

Norman uses his thumbs to destroy Raylan’s eyes. Raylan collapses. Norman confesses to Phoenix that he is a murderous monster and she can no longer be around him. Norman forces Phoenix to leave.

Raylan recovers and stabs Norman. Before Raylan can slash Norman’s throat however, Phoenix returns in time to thrust a machete through Raylan’s torso. Raylan falls dead next to his wife. Norman seemingly bleeds out in Phoenix’s arms.

Phoenix leaves the building and walks to Covenant Shelter. When the other kids ask her name, she identifies herself as Phoenix rather than Tara. Meanwhile, Raylan’s dog is seen licking Norman’s bloody hand, indicating Norman is still alive.

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Review:

When “Don’t Breathe 2” posted its first trailer online, the big brouhaha was over a perceived switcheroo of Stephen Lang’s ‘The Blind Man’ character from woman-raping villain to child-saving hero. The first film’s controversial content only garnered minor outrage in 2016. With this follow-up poorly timed to arrive in a post-MeToo world however, more people were primed to be disturbed by uncomfortable suggestions. Many rightfully wondered, “WTF? The filmmakers expect me to root for this irredeemable piece of sh*t now?”

The bigger brouhaha should have been over why a sequel was made in the first place. But, a bunch of moviegoers apparently enjoyed the setup of cardboard thieves robbing a blind military veteran who turns out to be a savage murderer impregnating captive women with a turkey baster, so here we are.

Eight years ago, a little girl collapsed on the street after surviving a meth lab blast in her drug-dealing mom and dad’s basement. Wouldn’t you know it though, Norman Nordstrom, which some sources cite as The Blind Man’s true name even though I don’t remember it specified in either film, happens by and finds the girl on the ground. Being that he’s blind, I’m not sure how Norm got there, got back, or knew exactly what was going on, much less how he was the only one paying attention to a major explosion. Regardless, he takes the girl to his home and raises her to believe she is his daughter, Phoenix. (Because she’s reborn from fire, get it? Yeah, two screenwriters agreed this would be a clever metaphor/theme that they didn’t think we’d be smart enough to get without the obvious name.)

The uneventfulness of the ensuing eight years gets summed up in a few minutes of exposition. Norm trains Phoenix in survival skills and home schools her to keep the brainwashed girl close by. Hernandez, a fellow former soldier who maybe helps out with errands and doesn’t seem to ask questions about everyone’s arrangements – I don’t know, her relationship isn’t clearly explained, warns Norm in the meantime that he can’t keep Phoenix sheltered under his nonfunctional eyes forever.

Hernandez’s point is proven when cutthroat killers from an underground organ trafficking ring infiltrate Norm’s house. For this part of the film, “Don’t Breathe 2” becomes pretty much the same thing as “Don’t Breathe” (review here) except with a few more home invaders. So if you want to watch people hiding, narrow escapes from being caught, and crooks creeping around a house again, here’s another 90 minutes of that, but with The Blind Man protecting a vulnerable child at the same time. Hooray for the kidnapper, I guess!

I concede that cinematographer Pedro Luque comes up with creative camerawork for some of these sequences. The slow action of bad guys quietly stalking around while Phoenix carefully avoids them benefits from the fluid flow of long Steadicam setups rather than being handcuffed to boring back-and-forth between static shots. That’s about all “Don’t Breathe 2” has going for it however.

Despite sacrificing himself so a vicious dog doesn’t get her, Phoenix still ends up captured by the bad guys. Er, the other bad guys. Meanwhile, “Don’t Breathe 2” hilariously attempts to humanize Norm a little bit by showing the crying conflict that prevents him from shooting the dog trying to tear out his throat. Aww, he’s concerned about animal welfare! Hooray for the sadistic killer, I guess!

People, on the other hand? Oh, he’s still all about slaughtering them. So off Norm goes to a second building to continue a redundant assault against the kidnappers who kidnapped the girl he previously kidnapped. All of this leads to a heartwarming moment where The Blind Man admits he’s a murderous monster as he yet again sacrifices himself to save Phoenix. Hooray for the rapist’s extraordinarily questionable redemption, I guess!

There are those who will try to tell you these movies creatively upend audience expectations, challenge conventions, and blur the lines between black and white. No, they really don’t. They’re merely empty exploitation action flicks, with all of the problematic subject matter cinema has largely left in its past, but without any of the appeal of a truly intriguing antihero.

It would seem that the formula for “Don’t Breathe” films is to intentionally populate them with the worst people imaginable. “Don’t Breathe 2” doubles down on depravity by exposing Phoenix’s birth parents as a meth-maker and a dying woman who would kill her own daughter so a sketchy doctor can perform a heart transplant in the basement of a drug den. It’s fine if that’s the world “Don’t Breathe” chooses to live in. Just don’t expect viewers who want more meaningful value to keep coming around for regular visits.

Review Score: 45

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