Directed By David and Alex Pastor

Starring – Mario Casas, Georgina Campbell, Diego Calva

The Plot – After a mysterious force decimates the world’s population by causing all who see it to take their lives, Sebastian (Casas) and his young daughter Anna (Alejandra Howard) must navigate their own journey of survival through the desolate streets of Barcelona. But as they form an uneasy alliance with other survivors and make their way toward a safe haven, a threat more sinister than the unseen creatures grows.

Rated TV-MA for scenes of violence and gore, adult language and moments of peril

(8) Bird Box Barcelona | Official Teaser | Netflix – YouTube

POSITIVES

While a sequel to 2018’s “Bird Box” wasn’t on the top of my personal priority list, some key decisions of deviation help to keep this franchise riddled by redundancy, especially in the framing devices of some very daring and unorthodox directions. Because of spoilers, I won’t reveal much about the ongoing narrative, but I can say that our main character in particular is anything but your conventional protagonist, especially in the unraveling of their backstory, which coherently illustrates the complexity of their motives, which takes this story down more of a psychological corridor than its predecessor. On top of this, the geographic switch to Spain is one that not only brings with it an abundance of jaw-dropping scenery in the solid special effects of devastation that has been unleashed on the city of Barcelona, but also one that effectively illustrates the extensive scope of this dangerously disasterous conflict, which in turn communicates the complete lack of hope or resolution from a previous effort that momentarily alluded towards such. This makes “Bird Box Barcelona” feel a lot darker than its previous installment, especially with the added influence of articulate sound designs to draw out the influence of the disease, or religious subtext used as a crutch of motivation for certain character actions throughout, with an outlining structure that once more deviates remarkably against preconceived ideas of this franchise. Finally, while the performances are unfortunately muddled in diminished returns, I can say that Mario Casas makes the most of his abundance of screen time. While Casas’ Sebastian leaves more to be desired as an influencing character, Casas’ emotional dexterity as a performer is never called to question, with an internal agony amid confliction that vividly illustrates his own dreaded disposition in the pandemic, while never sacrificing the element of humanity that would otherwise completely deteriorate his character on questionable actions alone.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately however, “Bird Box Barcelona” is an example of an inferior sequel all around that attempts to capitalize on the same spontaneous magic that made its predecessor a success, but without any of the heart that ultimately drove it. This is realized the loudest in the conflicted characterization of its screenplay, with a morally irreprehensible protagonist surrounded by a group of strangers, who are defined, pretty much, by their careers in their former lives. Because these characters are so poorly defined by a complete lack of attention paid to their respective outlines, it’s difficult to feel invested or even accidentally moved by the troubles that plague them, and in the case of two established screen presences like Campbell, who dominated “Barbarian” last year, or Calva, whose breakthrough turn in “Babylon” promised greatness for him, it’s a tragic waste of resources. Beyond the flawed characters themselves, the film is also defined by the kind of blundered pacing that continuously makes this a chore to get through. Part of this is in the blandness of the script, which refuses once more to answer key aspects about the mysterious force plaguing the world in the films, but so much more lends itself to the underwhelming direction of the Pastor brothers, who can’t conjure the kind of tension or devastation in pay-offs that made the first film so unforgiving. Considering there are fourteen deaths in the movie, and half of them are realized off-screen, it underwhelms the pay-off in carnage candy for horror buffs like myself whose only redeeming gift is to watch detestable characters get what is rightfully coming to them. On top of it, the influence of the force is almost executed comically for this second chapter, especially with spontaneous deaths out of nowhere that include unintentionally hilarious audio cues, or rushed timing that could’ve instead promoted prolonging to draw out the tension of the engagement, or the vulnerablity of those held under its captive. With such a briefly disappointing level of pay-off’s, in between frequent indulgences of disjointed flashbacks for Sebastian’s backstory, the film obliterates any kind of slight momentum that it attains in a superior first half, in turn leading to an engagement that might as well be every bit of the two hours that it nearly reaches for in run time. Lastly, the ending itself revels in regret, with a resolution that unfortunately makes this film feel like the sacrificial lamb as an advertisement for a bigger third film. I’m certainly not above preparing for what’s to come with the future of a franchise, but in this instance it abruptly undercuts the resolution for this particular installment, in turn leaving “Barcelona” feeling a bit underwhelming and even unfinished in its own right.

OVERALL
“Bird Box Barcelona” expands the creativity of the franchise with some daringly refreshing new directions in structure that keep it from redundancy, but ultimately sacrifice the elements of tension, urgency and especially characterization that enhanced the original film. With little in the way of redeeming entertainment value or accidental frights, the film can’t escape the generic realities that face most straight-to-streaming sequels, with an experience better suited with your eyes closed.

My Grade: 4/10 or D-