Use wonderful commercial narratives to plug the loopholes in the setting

Alessandro 2021-12-03 08:01:42

Before the first release of "A Quiet Place", many thriller fans were so addicted to it. Finally, there is a commendable simple and explosive commercial film that combines monsters, horrors and affectionate elements, but there are also some fans who are nitpicking. , Said that the film "made for a series of movies from the beginning" has loopholes in the setting, such as the rules that must be quiet, the relationship between monster hearing and audio, and the inexplicable selection of some characters, etc. In fact, this is a bit harsh.

"A Quiet Place" is indeed a very cute movie. It is very setting-setting-setting a certain monster, setting a certain logic of opposition, setting a certain rule, and then all the plots are unfolded on these settings, these settings Once there are some loopholes, the whole house is in danger of crumbling. However, the first one succeeded in standing, even if the foundation had some mouse holes, it was still solid. Making a sequel on this basis is inherently reasonable.

"A Quiet Place 2" is better than the first one. There are too many examples of thriller sequels. Either they are mediocre one after another, do not strive for excellence, sell a lively, or just hit the street directly, it is difficult For the next. However, "A Quiet Place" has achieved a comprehensive surpassing of the first work, and there are many things that do not fall short in the handling of the plot and characters. We will make some analysis from the narrative level of this sequel.

In the first game, the father has already sacrificed. The film unsurprisingly began to be a "prequel" to describe how this horrible disaster happened. Of course, there is still no scientific and reasonable explanation for "how it happened", which is regarded as an outside world. The flying fairy-like flying catastrophe is just a description of the chaotic state that broke out at the beginning of the disaster. It can be regarded as rekindling everyone’s memories of the first game, re-enhancing the setting of monster behavior, and strengthening the rule setting of "must be silent to survive" . From this point of view, the creative team of this film really made a clear plan from the beginning, that it wanted to make a series of films.

The father is dead, and the prequel is over. Going back to the current time and space at the end of the last episode, this film needs to reappear a male character. So, as the family friend’s new male protagonist, Kylian Ammott played by Murphy. For the desperate Evelyn family, the character of Evelyn assumed part of the "father" responsibilities, and his shelter was also very unique. Inside a factory, there was a large metal jar that could be sealed ( But there is a danger of suffocation, and the movie makes a fuss about this detail). In this way, new characters were added and new spaces were established.

But now this group needs to think about how to act and how to generate new conflicts (danger and terror). It is impossible for them to evade honestly here, otherwise the driving force of the plot will be lost, and a new crisis or new hope must be generated.

The new crisis is: Evelyn’s eldest son Marcus injured his foot during the flight and must be treated; the new hope is: the hearing-impaired daughter discovered an island where survivors gathered through the radio. The old crisis is: newborn babies still cry from time to time; and monsters still maintain the advantage of completely crushing humans. The screenwriter team is very smart. Under the existing conditions, how to advance the story and how to play new tricks? Then split up.

So it is divided into two narrative clues: the new "father" Emmott and the hearing-impaired daughter go all the way to find new hope; Evelyn and Marcus and the baby are waiting for rescue in place. Before the formation of the first clue, the hearing-impaired daughter acted alone. After being rescued by Aymot on the abandoned train, the two people merged into a single line; in the second clue, a secondary clue-Yi Fu Lin went to the drugstore in the town to find medicine for the eldest son and oxygen cylinders for the baby. The eldest son Marcus was responsible for temporarily taking care of the baby.

As a result, four very clear narrative spaces were formed: the hearing-impaired daughter went on her own way, looking for new hope alone, and danger occurred along the way; Emott caught up and saved her, and the two stayed together; Evelyn went Drugstore in town; Marcus waits at the factory with his baby. In these four narrative spaces, the hearing-impaired daughter is in danger on the train, which is a climax of fright, and Marcus’s “curious adventure” in the factory attracts monsters, which is another climax.

In order to avoid the monsters, Marcus took the baby into the sealed metal tank and encountered the danger of oxygen suffocation. This is the most catching part of this climax. Naturally, mother Evelyn rushed back to the factory to rescue in time, fighting the monsters wisely. , And the two children will merge into one place. This narrative line is tight and solid, and it comes to an end for the time being.

On the other line, Aymot and his deaf daughter are in danger at the dock. They are a group of selfish, brutal and ferocious survivors. In such apocalyptic movies, there must be such a role, but this What makes this movie praiseworthy is that it didn't dwell too much on this clichéd "humanity critique", and immediately let the monsters break the dilemma at the time and turn it into a dangerous situation. The two finally got on the boat and came to the island like a paradise as they wished.

It is a pity that there is still a monster left in the boat-this is quite a shadow of the "Alien" narrative, which is used here. This dreamy, safe and happy island became a hell in an instant. In fact, it is obvious that this movie has stolen a lot from "Alien" in terms of atmosphere creation and the antagonistic relationship between humans and monsters.

At the same time, on another narrative line, Evelyn's mother and son encountered new troubles. A monster went down to the secret room and formed a direct threat to the mother and son.

Here, the director started to use the "crude and simple" cross-editing method to deal with the danger of two clues at the same time. What is even smarter is to injure both adults. The hearing-impaired daughter and eldest son (previously a little cowardly, dare not bear it) Responsibility), to assume the responsibility of fighting monsters, and through invisible radio broadcasts, to keep the two "killing skills" in sync. At the moment of killing the monsters, the narrative of the two clues reached the climax at the same time. The handling of this whole paragraph is really very clever.

After analyzing a bunch of things above, in the final analysis, I think the victory of the sequel is the victory of the script, the victory of the "parallel and cross-narrative", and it can become a model of commercial film script creation. How to cut, how to merge, how to cross, each step is calculated very accurately, and the audience’s emotions are also well grasped, and the overall story is more complete than the first episode.

Of course, the backbone of this film is still Evelyn and the beautiful and strong Emily Bronte. Even in the first film, her aura is far more than her baby-faced husband, maybe now It's too early, but Emily Bronte will become a new generation of female warrior icon sooner or later, not worse than Sigourney Weaver-after all, wearing a floral skirt + red long trousers can still be outstanding , Few.

View more about A Quiet Place Part II reviews

Extended Reading

A Quiet Place Part II quotes

  • Evelyn Abbott: RUN!

  • Emmett: [while he's running] GET INSIDE! GET INSIDE!