ARTS / FILM
'A Quiet Place Part II' fails to surprise Chinese mainland audiences
Published: May 30, 2021 10:29 PM
Photo: Screenshot of Douban

Photo: Screenshot of Douban


The recently released sequel A Quiet Place Part II has not been as well received by moviegoers in the Chinese mainland as the first film, according to audience ratings on Chinese media review site Douban. Chinese movie critic says that the innovativeness of the original film has set a high bar for the sequel to pass.

The film had a 6.8/10 on Douban on Sunday, just three days after its debut. This is 1.2 points lower than the 8/10 the original had right after its release on May 18, 2018, although this score eventually dropped over the next several months to 6.6/10.

Zhou Liming, a well-known Chinese film critic, told the Global Times on Sunday that the second film had a high bar to pass as the original film largely relied on its innovative concept - a minimal amount of dialog - to grab moviegoers' attention.  

"Compared to certain Hollywood monster movies that rely on expensive special effects all the way, the first film, A Quiet Place, got by with a much smaller production budget by using the concept of having to remain silent to create a tense and terrifying atmosphere instead of having a lot of monster scenes," said Zhang. "I know it's hard and challenging for creators to come up with even more fresh and extraordinary ideas, and there are indeed more monster scenes in the newly released film."

Audience reviews in the Chinese mainland appear to align with Zhou's opinion as many netizens on Sina Weibo have said they feel the film is not worth watching in cinemas at all.

"There are some of the plots in the story that don't make sense," read one comment, "and I think there is not much difference between this one and the first." Another netizen described the film as a silent version of the movie I Am Legend starring Will Smith.

However, some online observers have praised the movie, saying that the film has impressed them with improved visual and sound effects, great performances from the actors and an excellent sense of suspense and tension. 

"It should be 'a dark horse' among this year's films," said one observer.

Different from the harsh reviews of the Chinese movie goers, the sequel has made a quite successful debut on both IMDb rating and Rotten Tomatoes with 8/10 and Tomatometer score of 91 percent respectively. 

According to Dianying Qingbaochu on Wednesday, A Quiet Place Part II is expected to take in $30 million in the Chinese mainland, a small drop from the $34.4 million the first film earned in the market. 

"No matter what the reviews are among Chinese audiences, both the original A Quiet Place and its sequel are well-made thrillers. However, this type of movie is not that popular in China as in the US," Zhou added. 

"The Chinese movie market prefers documentaries or films with a historic background such as stories about the Holocaust. This genre plus a good story tends to receive a higher rating."