Don't Breathe 2 is a horrific and delusional sequel to its predecessor, a tight thriller that had grounded, down-on-their-luck characters, and a film that knew when to pull out the big guns so the audience would root for its unlikeable leads.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 19, 2021

The brutal gratification of Don't Breathe 2 comes from watching Norman do to the gang what he did in Don't Breathe, only this time, with characters who deserve it.

| Aug 15, 2021

At times, Don't Breathe 2 assumes the ghoulishness of a Grimm (and grim) fairy tale, the darkness mitigating attempts to rehab Norman into a vengeful anti-hero.

| Original Score: B- | Aug 14, 2021

The first one felt like a Hitchcock movie, and I think [this sequel] is less compelling because Fede Alvarez wasn't the director.

| Aug 14, 2021

Where the first film offered genuine scares, this one is suspenseful at best, snicker-worthy at worst, and will beg viewers to recall the time Fonzie got on water skis and tried not to get eaten by a shark.

| Aug 13, 2021

There's a healthy variety of scares, though the film gets most of its mileage out of Lang's shadow-cloaked scarred visage, a menacing physical presence that contrasts nicely with his choked whisper of a voice.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 13, 2021

It's mostly successful, if never in a way that improves on what came before.

| Aug 13, 2021

[Don't Breathe 2] can't quite match the novelty and thrills of the surprise-hit 2016 original.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 13, 2021

The film's gore is just as likely to invoke fear as to serve as a killer punchline to one of Rodo Sayagues's set pieces.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 12, 2021

May not be the first horror movie sequel to try to transform the monster into an antihero, but it's hard to think of another one that whiffs it this hard.

| Aug 12, 2021

"Don't Breathe 2" is plenty lively, full of violence and action, but a rancid narrative (and some seriously terrible dialogue) overpowers the script.

| Aug 12, 2021

Ups the ante on the gory action and body count, offering more inventive and impressive set pieces in the process. The downside is that this sequel doesn't manage to inject the same taut, nail-biting tension levels that made its predecessor stand out.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 12, 2021

Rodo Sayagues and co. manage to find some success with a seemingly impossible sequel story.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 12, 2021

Efficient enough to get by but lacks the canny drive-in-movie ingenuity of the original.

| Aug 12, 2021

Lang is an effectively imposing physical presence but his character remains a problem the film isn't able to fix.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 12, 2021