An unwanted, unwarranted & unnecessary sequel to Fede Alvarez's tense, thrilling & terrifying original, Don't Breathe 2 is a dull, derivative & disappointing follow-up that sacrifices the nail-bitingly intense atmosphere & clever setup of the 2016 home-invasion horror, and attempts to make up for it by upping the violence & brutality without first rectifying the glaring problems in the script.
Co-written & directed by Rodo Sayagues in his directorial debut, the film neither exhibits any potential nor is able to validate its existence at any given time, and treads a route that's very predictable from afar. Where the previous chapter invoked terror & suspense by tapping into the viewers' primal fears, this one takes an action-oriented approach and is severely lacking the unsettling aura of the first film.
The new characters are awfully sketched while the reprising one's arc goes nowhere, and its attempt to rehabilitate the protagonist is absurd, for all the story does is make him the lesser of two evils. Stephen Lang still delivers a solid input and retains his intimidating presence but the rest are simply forgettable in their caricature roles. And also not helping the cause are its generic plot, cartoonish characters & dumb twists.
Overall, Don't Breathe 2 is downright inferior to its predecessor and has none of the qualities that made the last effort such an effective & impressive entry in the home-invasion subgenre of horror-thrillers. It is only during the first half that the film is able to create a sort of interest but it is only brief, short-lived & fizzles out just as quick. There is a bleak, nihilistic element at play here but the storytelling is too bland & uninspiring for it to amount to much.
