My friend and I watched the film together last night, and we both have significantly different views on why one loved the movie and the other felt like it lacked (I believe the film lacked). SPOILERS AHEAD... So, the themes of the "A Quiet Place" movies essentially boil down to family. The stories are told in a big world while focusing on a small group. Now, the marketing for this movie is why I think it has gotten mixed reviews as of its release date. This film showcased the FIRST DAY of the new world, and we kind of skip over that (now bear with me). When the aliens arrive, there is a cloud of smoke that fills the streets and surrounds Lupita's character, Sam; this builds tension because Sam doesn't know what is happening; the audience does because we have seen the monsters in previous movies, and it was at this point that I believe the film started to fail for me. During this scene, Sam tries to understand what is happening but cannot see anything. She runs, hides, finds someone staying quiet, sits with them and watches an individual calling out for help in the nearby distance who gets killed by the monsters. She then gets up and runs for her life, and an explosion knocks her back to a wall, and she goes unconscious. The title card reveals the movie's name, and we wake up to everyone understanding that they need to be quiet. What I believe would have been more enjoyable when she was in the cloud of smoke is instead of having an explosion knock her out, have us, the audience, experience the world going quiet with Sam. During a moment when you cannot see anything, we could essentially be in the shoes of the monsters while still following our protagonist, which would be a POV we have never explored (this would have been something new to contribute to the films). During this moment, it's loud and chaotic; with each passing second, the decibels get lower and lower because the monsters attack and destroy anything that makes a sound. This would have been an exciting way to showcase to our character that sounds affect the creatures. It felt cheap that Sam had to be "told" not to speak or make sounds. Day One should have been about the characters adapting to the new setting and how they must learn to survive these new predators that have invaded Earth. While the story of Sam going to get pizza fits the theme of a small story set in a big world that a quiet place is known for, the marketing for this movie did not do that storyline justice. If you go over the trailers, they continue to show us this idea that we will be viewing a story of two unlucky characters who get caught in an unbelievably horrific position, and the whole time thinking, how will they escape? If you are someone like me who has watched the previous movies before seeing this one, you already know the monster's weakness; you know they can't swim, that higher frequency sounds can cause them grief and run away, and that loud noises can trump minor sounds. What I expected to see in this film was these survival tactics being learned by the two main characters. There is a great scene in the film where our two characters, Sam and Eric, are in a tunnel being flowed down by a rapid stream of water, and the monster chases them on the ceiling. Brilliant tension, and I, for a moment, forgot that these monsters couldn't swim. As the water gets higher, the monster is caught in it and unfortunately drowns; right there, our characters learn the monsters cannot swim and must go to a boat on the water to escape. This way of showcasing should have been prominent throughout the entire movie. There is a scene when it starts raining, and this would be interesting because we have yet to see what happens with the monsters when environmental factors are considered. Two characters are out in the streets and come up to this metal roof where the noise of the rain trumps the characters' voices, which are kept at a low volume. Sam suddenly looks up at the roof, becomes really smart, and starts talking (at a low volume), saying their voice won't be heard because the rain would be louder, but all I could think was, how could she possibly know that? We have never been told that. These characters have yet to be shown that this is even remotely possible. Again, to me, it felt cheap. They told the audience instead of show. The first movie did this as well, but they at least showed this effect by having the little boy scream at the top of his lungs at the waterfall and us being positioned so far away that we could barely hear him over the waterfall. For the scene in the rain for Day One, what would have been better was if they had the monsters close by and either one of the characters made a mistake dropping something or pushing something over, making a sound, but the monsters don't notice it because it's drowned out by the rain. This, again, would've been a way to showcase how our characters could have a chance at survival against these creatures. On top of that, learning they could talk while it was raining and decided to go find shelter was the loudest "HUH?" I had ever said out loud in a theatre. Again, I know the story centred around Sam wanting to get pizza as a last wish, but even then, to minimize the potential danger of being killed by the monsters, they should have walked the streets of New York during that weather! Overall, the movie is crafted well with its storyline IF the marketing was better handled to showcase the story they told rather than the one we were expecting. The trailers showed a fast-paced, scary horror, which didn't fit the themes of the past two movies, where characters are going to be put in positions that help us (the audience) learn how the characters of a quiet place 1&2 learn the skills and tactics to survive 400 days after Day One. I was expecting something different, which excited me, but this movie was the same thing we had seen before, with cheap ways of telling us how they survive and not actually showing us. Quick note... The first time my friend and I saw the group of monsters crawling around New York at terrifying speeds was extremely fun! It was a solid movie, but the first two were miles ahead on rating scores because they knew what stories they wanted to tell and what audiences they wanted to attract. 6/10.
My friend and I watched the film together last night, and we both have significantly different views on why one loved the movie and the other felt like it lacked (I believe the film lacked).
SPOILERS AHEAD...
So, the themes of the "A Quiet Place" movies essentially boil down to family. The stories are told in a big world while focusing on a small group. Now, the marketing for this movie is why I think it has gotten mixed reviews as of its release date. This film showcased the FIRST DAY of the new world, and we kind of skip over that (now bear with me). When the aliens arrive, there is a cloud of smoke that fills the streets and surrounds Lupita's character, Sam; this builds tension because Sam doesn't know what is happening; the audience does because we have seen the monsters in previous movies, and it was at this point that I believe the film started to fail for me.
During this scene, Sam tries to understand what is happening but cannot see anything. She runs, hides, finds someone staying quiet, sits with them and watches an individual calling out for help in the nearby distance who gets killed by the monsters. She then gets up and runs for her life, and an explosion knocks her back to a wall, and she goes unconscious. The title card reveals the movie's name, and we wake up to everyone understanding that they need to be quiet.
What I believe would have been more enjoyable when she was in the cloud of smoke is instead of having an explosion knock her out, have us, the audience, experience the world going quiet with Sam. During a moment when you cannot see anything, we could essentially be in the shoes of the monsters while still following our protagonist, which would be a POV we have never explored (this would have been something new to contribute to the films). During this moment, it's loud and chaotic; with each passing second, the decibels get lower and lower because the monsters attack and destroy anything that makes a sound. This would have been an exciting way to showcase to our character that sounds affect the creatures. It felt cheap that Sam had to be "told" not to speak or make sounds. Day One should have been about the characters adapting to the new setting and how they must learn to survive these new predators that have invaded Earth.
While the story of Sam going to get pizza fits the theme of a small story set in a big world that a quiet place is known for, the marketing for this movie did not do that storyline justice. If you go over the trailers, they continue to show us this idea that we will be viewing a story of two unlucky characters who get caught in an unbelievably horrific position, and the whole time thinking, how will they escape? If you are someone like me who has watched the previous movies before seeing this one, you already know the monster's weakness; you know they can't swim, that higher frequency sounds can cause them grief and run away, and that loud noises can trump minor sounds. What I expected to see in this film was these survival tactics being learned by the two main characters.
There is a great scene in the film where our two characters, Sam and Eric, are in a tunnel being flowed down by a rapid stream of water, and the monster chases them on the ceiling. Brilliant tension, and I, for a moment, forgot that these monsters couldn't swim. As the water gets higher, the monster is caught in it and unfortunately drowns; right there, our characters learn the monsters cannot swim and must go to a boat on the water to escape. This way of showcasing should have been prominent throughout the entire movie. There is a scene when it starts raining, and this would be interesting because we have yet to see what happens with the monsters when environmental factors are considered. Two characters are out in the streets and come up to this metal roof where the noise of the rain trumps the characters' voices, which are kept at a low volume. Sam suddenly looks up at the roof, becomes really smart, and starts talking (at a low volume), saying their voice won't be heard because the rain would be louder, but all I could think was, how could she possibly know that? We have never been told that. These characters have yet to be shown that this is even remotely possible. Again, to me, it felt cheap. They told the audience instead of show. The first movie did this as well, but they at least showed this effect by having the little boy scream at the top of his lungs at the waterfall and us being positioned so far away that we could barely hear him over the waterfall. For the scene in the rain for Day One, what would have been better was if they had the monsters close by and either one of the characters made a mistake dropping something or pushing something over, making a sound, but the monsters don't notice it because it's drowned out by the rain. This, again, would've been a way to showcase how our characters could have a chance at survival against these creatures.
On top of that, learning they could talk while it was raining and decided to go find shelter was the loudest "HUH?" I had ever said out loud in a theatre. Again, I know the story centred around Sam wanting to get pizza as a last wish, but even then, to minimize the potential danger of being killed by the monsters, they should have walked the streets of New York during that weather!
Overall, the movie is crafted well with its storyline IF the marketing was better handled to showcase the story they told rather than the one we were expecting. The trailers showed a fast-paced, scary horror, which didn't fit the themes of the past two movies, where characters are going to be put in positions that help us (the audience) learn how the characters of a quiet place 1&2 learn the skills and tactics to survive 400 days after Day One. I was expecting something different, which excited me, but this movie was the same thing we had seen before, with cheap ways of telling us how they survive and not actually showing us.
Quick note... The first time my friend and I saw the group of monsters crawling around New York at terrifying speeds was extremely fun!
It was a solid movie, but the first two were miles ahead on rating scores because they knew what stories they wanted to tell and what audiences they wanted to attract. 6/10.
Just saw it tonight 🔥 I say 7/10 and great introduction but pretty middle tier ending and fast counter paste start
6/10 for me. first half better than the second; I agree