Don't Breathe became a big horror hit in 2016, but its long-awaited sequel Don't Breathe 2 picked a narrative direction that betrays the original. Don't Breathe was a true sleeper success, riding glowing festival reviews and positive word of mouth to a $158 million box office haul on a budget of only $10 million. The premise from Evil Dead's Fede Alvarez, at least on the surface, was quite simple: a group of young thieves break into a blind man's home looking for cash and get more than they bargained for.
That's because the man they were attempting to rob, simply dubbed The Blind Man (Stephen Lang) in the credits, is an Army veteran, highly proficient with weapons and extremely dangerous. Before long, the thieves become the hunted as The Blind Man takes them out. While it might be tempting to root for a man defending his home, Don't Breathe reveals later on that he has a much more sinister secret he's trying to protect. The Blind Man took the woman who accidentally killed his daughter with her car prisoner, and has attempted to force her into bearing him a replacement.
When the final girl, Rocky (Jane Levy) ended up captive later, she was then faced with being sexually assaulted by The Blind Man for the same purpose, albeit with a turkey baster. Still, at that point, viewers had lost every ounce of sympathy they might've felt for the man due to being robbed or losing his daughter. Now, Don't Breathe 2 is on the way, and as the sequel's first trailer has confirmed, The Blind Man is now the story's hero. That's a regrettable move, on multiple levels.
Frankly, The Blind Man doesn't deserve redemption, at least not unless he changed drastically after the first movie, and also reckoned properly with what he'd done, at the very least. Considering how quickly he goes back into kill mode after this group of people kidnaps a young girl he ended up taking in and caring for, that's probably not the case. Keep in mind, Don't Breathe 2's trailer seems to imply that they don't intend to hurt the girl, only use her to get to The Blind Man. Considering the horrible things he's guilty of, perhaps these people are seeking revenge for something he did that deserves avenging. Plus, the girl is clearly unaware of his past, and quite possibly wouldn't want to be anywhere near him if she knew.
One could argue he did a good thing by taking her in, but his choice to do that was likely connected to his obsession with his deceased daughter and replacing what he's lost. Therefore, even if he's completely kind to her, their relationship is likely based on unhealthy pathology. On top of all that, Don't Breathe fans spent an entire movie cheering Rocky on as she tried desperately to escape, and left the theater absolutely despising The Blind Man. It's unlikely those who made Don't Breathe a twisty hit were pining for a Don't Breathe 2 in which the guy who abducted and assaulted women was the protagonist.
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