A low-budget, little-heralded alien invasion flick, 2018’s A Quiet Place became a sleeper hit. Unsurprisingly, this prompted production on a sequel, 2021’s logically titled A Quiet Place Part II.

After a prologue that shows the initial alien assault, we see Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) with kids Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and infant Unnamed as they depart their home. Though they fought off their attackers, the residence got left in ruins, so they need to move.

As they hunt for a fresh start, they run into Emmett (Cillian Murphy), an old family friend. He reluctantly takes them into his bunker, though he doesn’t seem happy to have more mouths to feed.

Regan becomes convinced they must pursue an alleged island of survivors to keep alive, and when she strikes out on her own, Emmett goes with her. In the meantime, Evelyn holds down the fort in Emmett’s compound, as she needs to protect the baby and an injured Marcus from the persistent threat of the extraterrestrial creatures.

I'm in the minority, but I didn't like the first movie. It required too many leaps of logic/faith, as the characters behaved in relentlessly stupid ways even though we were meant to believe that family was among the one percent of humans who survived the alien invasion.

Despite my disdain for the original, I went into Place II with a fairly open mind. I've liked sequels to movies I didn't care for, so hope springs and all that.

I did enjoy Place II more than its predecessor, but it still comes with a lot of self-inflicted wounds.

On the positive side, the prologue/flashback works exceedingly well. Even though we know what'll happen, writer/director John Krasinski stages the attack in a terrific way that packs a real punch.

On the negative side, the movie uses up all its visceral impact in that opening scene. After that, we find little more than a minimal, dull "plot" and generic jump scares.

The decision to separate family members doesn't work, especially because it ignores some parties for far too long. We lose track of various characters for extended stretches, and this makes the thin narrative even less interesting than would otherwise be the case.

Most of Place II just feels like never-ending shots of people walking. They walk here. They walk there. They walk everywhere.

Little tension results, especially because the film just doesn't develop any of this material well. If it'd concentrated solely on the journey taken by Regan and Emmett - and involved everyone - then the story would've gone somewhere.

Instead, Place II finds contrived reasons to keep everyone apart. Why?

I have no idea. This just feels like a trite way to give us cheap scares in a few different settings, and none of it makes a ton of sense.

Hoo boy, does Place II love its jump scares! And its slow slow slow zooms - the camera seems stuck in first gear, a technique that gets old very quickly.

Place II does progress at a fairly brisk pace, so I can't complain about that. I just feel like the movie comes comprised of scenes without real connection and it lacks substantial narrative depth or meaning.

Maybe the seemingly inevitable Place III will work better, but Place II doesn't do much for me - at least not after that excellent opening segment. Though superior to the original, it remains too flawed.

A Quiet Place Part II appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a largely appealing presentation.

Overall sharpness appeared positive. Some low-light interiors could feel slightly soft, but the majority of the movie looked concise and well-defined.

No issues with moiré effects or jaggies occurred, and I saw no signs of edge haloes. Of course, no print flaws marred the image either.

As with the first movie, Place II went with a palette that emphasized teal, orange and yellow, with an occasional splash of red. These colors felt trite but the disc reproduced them as intended.

Blacks felt dark and deep, while shadows appeared smooth and concise. This was a pretty solid image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack proved reminiscent of the first movie’s audio. That it meant it also often took the title to heart, as much of the film came with gentle, low-key material. Despite this, the mix still created a good sense of place and atmosphere, so the track used environmental information in a satisfying manner.

When necessary – such as during this prologue – the soundscape kicked into higher gear. Various elements of mayhem used all the channels in a vivid, compelling manner that made the mix exciting on those occasions.

Audio quality worked nicely, with speech that sounded natural and concise. Music felt lush and full as well.

As noted, effects varied in terms of volume and involvement, but whatever the circumstance, these components seemed rich and clear, with nice low-end and clean highs. The soundtrack acted as a good complement to the story.

As we shift to extras, we find five featurettes, and Director’s Diary runs nine minutes, 38 seconds. It offers info from writer/director John Krasinski

He discusses story/characters/themes, sets and locations, stunts and action, and related topics. Some decent notes emerge, but the “Diary” proves less informative than one might hope.

Pulling Back the Curtain goes for three minutes, 47 seconds and offers material with Krasinski, producer Andrew Form, executive producer Allyson Seeger, 2nd unit director/visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar, and actor Emily Blunt.

“Curtain” discusses aspects of the film’s alien creatures. Though brief, it proves reasonably compelling.

Next comes Regan’s Journey, a six-minute, 19-second program with info from Krasinski, Blunt, and actors Millicent Simmonds and Cillian Murphy. As the title implies, it tells us more about the film’s Regan character. It tells us little that doesn’t already seem evident from the movie.

Surviving the Marina lasts five minutes and features Krasinski, Blunt, Farrar, Simmonds, Seeger, Murphy, production designer Jess Gonchor, animation supervisor Rick O’Connor, cinematographer Polly Morgan and assistant art director Zack Gonchor.

As expected, it covers elements connected to the movie’s marina scenes. It proves moderately effective, despite some of the usual happy talk.

Finally, Detectable Disturbance fills eight minutes, 26 seconds and comments from Krasinski, Farrar, O’Connor, visual effects producer Lee Briggs, compositing supervisor Chris Balog, ILM visual effects supervisor Jason Snell, associate animation supervisor Maia Kayser, supervising sound editors Ethan Van Der Ryn and Erik Aadahl, and re-recording mixer Brandon Proctor.

With “Disturbance”, we learn about various effects and sound design choices. It offers arguably the most interesting of the disc’s programs.

Like the first film, A Quiet Place Part II comes blessed with a clever concept. Also like the first film, Place II often squanders its potential to wind up as an erratic, flawed cinematic experience. The Blu-ray boasts strong picture and audio with a mediocre set of bonus materials. Though better than its predecessor, Place II still disappoints.