KSL Movie Show review: ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ is a garden variety monster movie

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SALT LAKE CITY — Calling this A Quiet Place: Day One isn’t entirely accurate, since we got a taste of Day One in the sequel.  Perhaps, a more descriptive label might be “Escape from New York” (no that’s been done) or make it a question – “New York City: A Quiet Place?  Mission: Impossible!” (Sorry, Tom Cruise would have a fit).

I’ve got it!  “A Less Quiet Place” feels right.

What doesn’t feel right is how quickly the NYC masses figure out that keeping their traps shut is the key to not being consumed by these alien creatures, who have attacked a mostly-water planet and they can’t swim.  I’d call that an oversight by the advance team, but I digress.

So what new tidbit of intel do we have on these beasties?  Nothing.  We don’t learn anything new about these spindly creeps other than what we already knew. 

So, we certainly would have some kind of update or reference to the surviving members of the Abbott family, right?  Nope.  Not a word.  (Understandable I guess). 

We do see Djimon Hounsou’s Henri with his family, but only briefly.  If you recall, he’s eventually on an island of survivors in Part II, believing they’re in a safe place, until it isn’t. 

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Instead, we have a new crew.  Lupita Nyong’o plays Samira, a young woman with a terminal disease and the coolest cat imaginable that knows to never meow – not once – not even with monsters all around and going underwater.  Please.  My cats (only two, three is required to become a certified “cat lady”) would have sold me out in the first minute! They bark at me for providing food not to their liking. 

THIS movie cat (actually played by two) is other worldly and gives an incredible performance. 

The other key player is a random law student Eric (Joseph Quinn) who I didn’t recognize was Eddie the Rocker from “Stranger Things.”  I wish I had known that going in, as I kept staring at the poor guy, wondering where I knew him from.

He and Lupita wander the broken streets of Manhattan with their fantastic feline, looking for, of all things pizza, more specifically, pizza from the famous Patsy’s Pizzeria (talk about your product placement). 

So these two strangers are thrown together by tragic circumstance and must tread lightly or become Scooby snacks.  And here’s where I’ve got to give props to the writer/director Michael Sarnoski.  He has made a chilling film that captures the intensity of the situation.

He even had me carefully taking sips from my Megaplex cup, praying that the dam of ice wouldn’t come rushing to my face, thus making an embarrassing noise and thus alerting the beasts of our whereabouts.  I could tell others around me were being equally careful.  That’s good film suspense!

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However, I was hoping for more than “walk softly or get dead.”  The first two films were so different and clever.  This one felt more like a garden variety monster movie and if I’m being honest, that was a tad disappointing.

A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE (B-) Rated PG-13 for terror and violent content/bloody images. Starring Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff and Djimon Hounsou. Written and directed by Michael Sarnoski (“Pig”) – filmed in London. Running time: 100 minutes

The KSL Movie Show with Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles airs Fridays on KSL NewsRadio from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow the show on Facebook, and join The KSL Movie Show Club for exclusive perks by texting MOVIE to 57500. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Message frequency varies.