Should you see Bird Box Barcelona? Review of the Spanish sequel

Image: Netflix

The sequel to the hit Netflix thriller bird box, Bird Box: Barcelonanow it’s streaming, but should i give it a watch?

It’s always hard to follow a hit movie. It’s twice as hard if the sequel doesn’t have the same main star. It’s exponentially harder if there are multiple years between movies, as you risk losing momentum from the original.

Throw in a different language and you have the sequel to the 2018 blockbuster directed by Sandra Bullock. bird box, Bird Box: Barcelonawhich hits the platform this weekend.

Now, full disclosure, I wasn’t a fan of the original movie. Although it was adapted from a book, it felt so derivative as a copy-paste combination of M. Night Shyamalan’s book. The eventby John Krasinski A peaceful placeand an episode of AMC’s clip-show The Walking Dead. By the end of 2018, we as a society had slowly gotten over the onslaught of post-apocalyptic content we’d received in the previous 15 years, but people were so excited to have Sandra Bullock back in their lives that they embraced Ocean’s Eight and Bird. . Box months apart. It’s not good, Bob.

Despite my feelings about the original movie, I felt a sequel would come along fairly quickly to capitalize on the fact that the first movie was the most-watched Netflix Original within the first 28 days of its release (still third all-time). ). at the time of writing this review).

However, after almost five years, one A peaceful place sequel and a successful HBO debut season The last of us later, the bird box The sequel has finally hit what felt like very weak marketing or fanfare. Maybe that’s because of the Sandra Bullock-sized hole that the new movie can’t fill. Maybe it’s because they think you already have a demand built in and it will work like Money Heist: Korea either fear of the walking dead.

Whatever the reason, it really will be a test for Netflix. Was the first film successful because people enjoyed the story of a reluctant mother blindly surviving a bizarre, suicide-inducing apocalypse or was it the star power of Sandra Bullock, who has a huge fan base and universal appeal?
Netflix seems to think the story plan will work again, as many of the beats of the first film remain intact: the same suicide-inducing apocalypse (in a different country), a similar framework of adults protecting children. small during chaos, the use of blind people as suitable survivors, religious themes, and human conduits for controlling beings.
However, the main difference between the first film and the sequel is how much faith, religious devotion and cult mentalities play a much bigger role in Barcelona.

The sequel follows the story of Sebastián (Mario Casas) and his daughter Anna (Alejandra Howard), who lost their matriarch during the chaos of the original outbreak. As they make their way through the desolate streets of Barcelona, ​​they meet and create uneasy alliances with other survivors until they finally attempt a trip to a possible safe haven on the other side of the city. However, a sinister group of religious fanatics aligned with the unseen creatures will stop at nothing to make everyone in the world see what lies beyond the blindfolds.

Image: Netflix

The moral dilemma that Sebastian finds himself in is probably the best part of this new movie. He is constantly at odds between obeying his religious leader and believing in unification with his family versus what he feels fair and true in his interactions with other survivors. Sebastian’s pain is harnessed and exploited until his eyes are truly opened (he looks at what I did there) by the humanity around him.

This dilemma is most effectively resolved in Netflix’s most successful original movie, The Wonder, as a young girl is investigated after she continues to survive despite going hungry for an incredibly long period of time. She claims to live on the love of the Lord and is perceived by the townspeople as a religious miracle, but what lies beneath her may be more sinister and deceptive than many in her town would believe.

We don’t get much in the way of deep introspection or commentary on the pitfalls of religious idolatry. We’re more in the hands of a deceiver (and, frankly, a murderer) to eventually do right by his fellow survivors, which makes for a convoluted narrative and limited payoff. Many things about this story have little depth or complication and are simply ways to see more people take their lives in a quick but gruesome way. However, the use of a human element as a villain creates a more satisfying ending than its predecessor with a more even tone and less unintentionally comedic or goofy.

Image: Netflix

While the movie is watchable enough, the last few scenes of the movie seem to think that this universe has legs that I can’t see. We’ve seen many more successful examples in film and television exploring social reactions to post-apocalyptic scenarios, and this is the least interesting of all. I’ve had enough sheets rustling and heads smashing glass to see the end of this potential franchise.

In general, Bird Box: Barcelona it’s an improvement on the original with its moral quandaries, cleaner story, and solid performances. However, there are so many retreaded beats and staged tensions that it feels mostly redundant and unnecessary in the current post-pandemic, “The Last of Us” dominated landscape we find ourselves in.

Watch Bird Box: Barcelona on Netflix if you want

• bird box
• The silence
• A peaceful place
• Awake
• The event
• The wonder
• in the tall grass

Bird Box MVP: Barcelona

Mario Casas as Sebastian

The acting performances weren’t the reason this movie didn’t work for some. In fact, many unfamiliar faces can fall out of their roles. In particular, our protagonist, Mario Casas, does a great job of subtly showing the mental battle that Sebastian has to endure, as he has to make the most difficult decision any grieving father would have to make while questioning his own faith and his beliefs. religious leaders.

PLAY, PAUSE OR STOP?

PAUSE.

Fans of the original movie can embrace the movie because it has a lot of similar beats and themes with a better story or they can reject it because it lacks Sandra Bullock’s star power and depth for her moral backbone to really pay off. Or maybe we just need a break from hearing the words «post-apocalyptic» until «The Last of Us» season 2. Up to you.