Don't Breathe 2

STORY: When criminals break into Norman Nordstrom’s (Stephen Lang) house to kidnap his foster daughter Phoenix (Madelyn Grace), a bloody battle ensues. Who will survive this bloodbath?

REVIEW: It’s been eight years since Norman Nordstrom aka The Blind Man made a gang of young thieves pay for trespassing on his home. Still blind as a bat and even more vigilant, the former Marine is now playing the role of a protective father to 11-year-old Phoenix, who is put through rigorous self-defense routine daily. Soon, all her skills are put to test when a group of dangerous gangsters try to kidnap her, leaving behind a bloody trail in their wake.

This sequel to the hugely successful ‘Don’t Breathe’ justifies itself right from the word go, as director and co-writer Rodo Sayagues, along with the director of the original, Fede Alvarez, grab your attention from the very first scene and never let it go. The blood-soaked action is relentless and suspenseful, packed in a tight runtime that never feels like a stretch. The film’s story is a bit flawed and lacks conviction to justify such brutal gorefest. But it sets the premise for a tense face-off between a super strong blind man and a young girl against a bunch of dreadful and ruthless baddies. It’s a thrilling contest where it’s exciting to root for the seemingly disadvantaged, who you know can kick some serious butt.

Of course, Stephen Lang leads the offensive with his now famous ‘Blind Man’ act. The actor is once again in top form looking every bit the athletic force, who will not go down without a fight. And it’s not just any fight. This sequel is full of creative and nerve-wracking ways to torture and kill your opponent and it’s surely not for the weak-hearted. Lang brings alive the fierce action with total conviction. Madelyn Grace follows in his footsteps quite well and gets progressively better at all the slicing and dicing – something no 11-year-old should ever have to do. Brendan Sexton III leads the pack among the villains, coming across as quite the creepy and cold-blooded outlaw. Both the dogs (the Rottweiler and the Pit Bull) deserve a special mention for being at their ferocious best.

The film’s dark cinematography (Pedro Luque), aggressive background score (Roque Baños), slick edit (Jan Kovac) and the dingy production design (David Warren) all add to the overall effect of making this one a truly edge-of-the seat actioner.

Whether this sequel is better than the original is still debatable but there is no doubt that ‘Don’t Breathe 2’ has the urgency, suspense and thrill to make us hold our breath for the next instalment.