{"id":324135,"date":"2021-08-14T09:27:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-14T06:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/dont-breathe-2-cant-avoid-the-rapist-elephant-in-the-room\/"},"modified":"2021-08-14T09:27:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T06:27:25","slug":"dont-breathe-2-cant-avoid-the-rapist-elephant-in-the-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/dont-breathe-2-cant-avoid-the-rapist-elephant-in-the-room\/","title":{"rendered":"#’Don’t Breathe 2′ Can’t Avoid the Rapist Elephant in the Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#’Don’t Breathe 2′ Can’t Avoid the Rapist Elephant in the Room<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

     <span class=\"mx-1\">So many villains, so few heroes.<\/span>\n<\/p><div id=\"\"><figure class=\"sf-entry-featured-media<\/a> \"><img width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/dont-breathe-2.jpg\" class=\"articlethumb wp-post-image\" alt=\"Stephen Lang in Don't Breathe\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/dont-breathe-2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/dont-breathe-2-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><p>\n                    <span class=\"sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline\">Sony<\/span>\n\n                        <\/figure><!-- START BYLINE --><div class=\"row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center medium dark-gray\">\n        By\u00a0Rob Hunter\u00a0\u00b7 Published on August 14th, 2021 \n        <\/div>\n    <!-- END BYLINE -->\n\n    The movies<\/a> have a long history of retconning villains into more palatable characters. Darth Vader found redemption, Deckard Shaw found a family, Cruella de Vil found a love of dogs\u2026 it\u2019s an easy way to extend the lifespan of a popular character while also giving audiences permission (or sorts) to like them. It doesn\u2019t have to make narrative sense, necessarily, but the character needs to be someone viewers can swallow as a protagonist worth rooting for. Spoiler for 2016\u2019s <em>Don\u2019t Breathe<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 The Blind Man (<strong>Stephen Lang<\/strong>) abducts, impregnates, and kills a woman and then tries doing it again before the end credits roll. <strong><em>Don\u2019t Breathe 2<\/em><\/strong> doesn\u2019t rehash any of that and instead re-introduces the character as a protector, a savior, and an avenging angel you\u2019re meant to cheer for. Good luck with that.\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
The Blind Man, aka Norman Nordstrom (Lang), lives a quiet life in a big house with a young daughter named Phoenix (Madelyn Grace<\/strong>). Her mom\u2019s long dead, and his concern for Phoenix\u2019s safety means he rarely lets the child out of his sight. It\u2019s a big, bad world out there after all. When the girl is glimpsed by a sketchy dude at a rest stop (Brendan Sexton III<\/strong>) who follows her home, Norman and Phoenix see a quiet evening turn into a fight for their lives. Of course, given Norman\u2019s history of violence, the home invaders are the ones in the most danger.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Breathe 2<\/em> manages some stylish flourishes and some vicious acts of violence, but the entire film has a shadow hanging over it \u2014 we know what Norman\u2019s done with young women in the past, and the presence of a young girl in his home leaves an icky feeling over the film\u2019s first act. Certain revelations shift those concerns a little, but the core issue remains as Norman becomes the only chance Phoenix has of surviving through the night. We\u2019re meant to fist pump the kills that follow, but the disconnect is just too strong. As a point of reference, a better riff on the theme<\/a> can be found in 1972\u2019s The Police Connection<\/em>, a film which sees a cop trying to stop a mad bomber while the only witness is a vile rapist. The man is essential to stopping an different villain, but at no point does the movie forget that he himself is a goddamn monster. Don\u2019t Breathe 2<\/em> wants you to forget and forgive its monster.<\/p>\n
While original director Fede Alvarez<\/strong> is on board here as a producer and co-writer, Don\u2019t Breathe 2<\/em> is directed by its other co-writer, Rodo Sayagues<\/strong> \u2014 who also co-wrote the original film and Alvarez\u2019s horror masterpiece Evil Dead<\/em> (2013). Despite the script\u2019s iffiness, and more on that below, Sayagues shows some more than capable chops as a filmmaker in his own right. Sure, too much of the action is shot and cropped to the point of ineffectiveness, but the film\u2019s slower, more suspenseful beats are captured with an eye for detail and engagement. The initial invasion, sequence with several men searching the house for young Phoenix, feels almost Fincher-esque (circa Panic Room<\/em>, 2002) as the camera moves silently between floors and around objects to track the various character locations and close calls. It\u2019s a slick, dialogue-free sequence, but the high doesn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough of this silly game<\/a>,\u201d says a tough meth cook turned murderer turned human organ thief, and it\u2019s just one of the script\u2019s many examples of ill-fitting dialogue that feels at odds with the characters or situation at hand. Phoenix repeatedly muttering the name of a shelter for unhoused kids is another. The script is equally uneven when it comes to its characters and choices in general<\/a>. After killing some thugs \u2014 and again, being a man who had no qualms about abducting and penetrating young women some years prior \u2014 an entire sequence is devoted to Norman\u2019s efforts to avoid killing an aggressive dog. It\u2019s an odd, but narratively necessary, turn of events, and it\u2019s one more effort made towards humanizing this piece of shit.<\/p>\n
For viewers left unbothered by Norman\u2019s arc from the first film to the second, there are minor thrills to be found in Don\u2019t Breathe 2<\/em>. Most of the set-pieces feel pretty standard, but Sayagues hits viewers with some bloody beats as gunshots, knives, hammers, and more help build a body count. The film\u2019s most effective bit involves a pretty gnarly blinding as Norman forces someone to \u201csee what I see.\u201d As mentioned, too much of the action is presented in a cramped shots, and while time is given to show off the carnage only the eyeball violence stands out.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear who\u2019ll dig Don\u2019t Breathe 2<\/em> most. It\u2019s a bit softer than the first and less exploitatively icky, but even if its \u201cheroic\u201d violence is more your speed you\u2019re still saddled with an indefensible anti-hero. It just doesn\u2019t work on its face, but it\u2019s made worse by the early presence of another ex-military character in Phoenix\u2019s life. Hernandez (Stephanie Arcila<\/strong>) is a smart, physically capable woman with Phoenix\u2019s best interests at heart \u2014 a natural protagonist to fight both the thugs and Norman \u2014 but she\u2019s gone after the first act. Poor choices all around.<\/p>\n
    Related Topics: Don't Breathe 2, Horror\n    <!-- AUTHOR BOX -->\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
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\n            Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he’s so damn young. He’s our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists ‘Broadcast News<\/a>’ as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter<\/a>.        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“#’Don’t Breathe 2′ Can’t Avoid the Rapist Elephant in the Room” <span class=”mx-1″>So many villains, so few heroes.<\/span> <\/p><div id=””><figure class=”sf-entry-featured-media “><img width=”800″ height=”450″ src=”https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/dont-breathe-2.jpg” class=”articlethumb wp-post-image” alt=”Stephen Lang in Don’t Breathe” loading=”lazy” srcset=”https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/dont-breathe-2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/dont-breathe-2-768×432.jpg 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px”\/><p> <span class=”sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline”>Sony<\/span> <\/figure><!– START BYLINE –><div class=”row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center medium dark-gray”>…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":324136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/dont-breathe-2.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-324135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}