Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a ton of reviews of RING TWO, the sequel to the Dreamworks remake of the Japanese original... I saw this myself last night and will have my own review ready soon. Needless to say, the below review is a tad more favorable than mine will be. Throughout this whole big post you'll find a bunch of reviews going from the ultra positive to the ultra negative with a few in the middle. Beware of some small spoilers here or there. Enjoy!
Hey Harry,
Normally, I luck out with the free screenings, but last night I was able to catch a screening of The Ring Two as a legitimate member of the press. I do DVD and movie reviews for a local paper, www.ecollegetimes, out here in Phoenix, AZ and I just wanted to send a review on of my thoughts on the flick. I copied this over from the review I did for this website! (Shameless self promotion.)
The first “Ring” movie will always have a special place in my heart strictly for the impact that movie had on me the first time I watched it. While I love the horror genre; with it’s zombie blood splatter, psycho killer gore, vampire massacres and werewolf/monster carnage, it seemed that my Achilles heel was one creepy little girl named Samara. (I’m also afraid of porcelain dolls, but that’s another story.) Horror, like comedy, is something different to each individual, but I remember walking out of that theater the first time just a little bit shaky. The atmospheric music and brain jolting sound effects are what stuck most about the original “Ring.” With a likeable leading lady, some impressive visuals and what I like to call “Whoa shit!” moments, “The Ring” was definitely one of my favorite ghost stories.
The sequel, impressively titled “The Ring Two,” does maintain the character work that makes Naomi Watts completely endearing and the visuals and camera tricks are of the jaw dropping variety. However, in an effort to top what the first film did with scares, the movie falls flat, runs too long and never really has the impact the first film did.
Set a few months after the first film, the movie opens with a familiar scene involving two teens and the infamous tape. Jake, played by Ryan Merriman, is on his seventh day and in a prick move, he coaxes the impressionable and adorable Emily VanCamp to watch the tape. Things don’t work out how Jake expected and Samara is loosed once again. While, I appreciate the formula that the filmmakers were trying to go for, almost mirroring the events of the first film, the point of sequels is to up the ante, so to speak. Unfortunately, we see less of Samara and less of what she can do, which didn’t bode well for the start of the movie.
Meanwhile, Rachel and her son Aiden have moved to Oregon, starting fresh after surviving the events of the first film. What I liked was it did feel like these characters had progressed and evolved from the first movie. As far as traumatic events go, having a pissed off ghost girl hot on you trail ranks up there. It certainly did feel like these characters had the emotional baggage that you would expect to go along with that kind of experience. Aiden (David Dorfman) has warmed up to his mother a little more and is no longer fiercely self-reliant like the first film. Though he still manages to hold on to that man trapped in a little body shtick. Meanwhile, Naomi Watts’ character is no longer the intrepid reporter, inquisitive and determined, since her motivations for digging up history on Samara are entirely based on protecting her son. I was also glad that the writers didn’t shy away from references to Aiden’s father, who was played by Martin Henderson in the first film, and met a grisly end at the hands of Samara.
The remaining characters unfortunately don’t hold any weight in the film. While I loved Martin Henderson, his second film replacement is Simon Baker, playing Rachel’s new editor Max. Baker will be in the upcoming “Land of the Dead,” so I will just ignore his minor role here and look forward to bigger and better things. The true standout however would be Sissy Spacek, playing the vital role of Evelyn. Stuck in a mental hospital, she mumbles to herself, cuts newspaper clippings and spits out cryptic messages. However, as expected from a bonafide Oscar winner, she is absolutely magnetic on screen, though it only lasts a few minutes.
Once Rachel hears word that a teen has died in front of the TV and the only witness has been reduced to a catatonic state, she makes the logical deduction that the tape has followed them. Once the story got rolling, there were more than a few plot holes that I was willing to overlook, since I imagine it would take a whole other movie to show how the tape traveled from person to person to eventually end up in Oregon. Since it is required that only one copy needs to be made, it would be strictly linear.
One glaring omission was that we never found out whom Aiden made the copy for. (Though if you check the deleted scenes from the first DVD, that’ll solve that.) Either way, after the initial fright scenes, the biggest issue I had with the film was that it meandered on for way to long. When it seemed like we were going to learn more about Samara and the tape, we never did. When it seemed like a scare was coming up to jolt the audience awake, it never came. The sequel tried to expand upon the original, bringing the bigger and better, but rarely succeeded. The scene involving the suicidal horse from the first “Ring” is repeated with a group of angry deer in the second.
What’s more, the motif of the seven days is completely tossed out the window. With no real structure or established rules, Samara, with her wet hair and zombie look skin has free reign in the real world. If she can pop in and out of the TV at any given moment, why was the tape such a big deal in the first place? What’s more, if she was able to possess young Aiden, why not do that and be done with it? The sequel is an odd script, since it does make references to the original film but completely ignores the structure of that film.
However, not everything about this film is bad. The aforementioned character work from the two leads is one example. The other is the visual creativity that Director Hideo Nakata uses to tell the story. It’d be an odd thing to describe, Nakata being a Japanese horror director and Japanese horror being a different animal from American horror. However, the best way to sum up the pacing, atmosphere and visual trickery that Nakata employs would be an American jump-scare kind of horror film with a decidedly Japanese flavor. The story moves slowly, the pace is very deliberate and the camera work is very static. In a very American tactic, the music builds to a crescendo before a scare is coming. The Water theme is very heavy in this film, since that was Samara’s downfall and the movie even opens with shots of various ocean tides. Water coming from doors, TVs and seeping on the floor usually hints that bad things are about to happen. I’m also extremely impressed what Nakata was able to do with special effects and water floating up.
Speaking of effects, in this movie they’re hit or miss. While I loved the way Samara appears, like she’s composed of a static TV image, her victims took a step down in the makeup department. Thinking of the first movie, when we see what happens to Samara’s victims, as they look like they have the life sucked out of them, the makeup in the second film looks like a Halloween mask you’d find at the grocery store.
Overall, we’ve got a flawed sequel. Much of the problems with this film have to do with a shaky screenplay, and the simple fact that you can’t really top that first time when Samara comes out of the TV, from the first movie. Everyone knows at least one person who was a little nervous seven days after they saw “The Ring.” However, problems with plot and lack of impact scares should not take away from two very good actors and a host of impressive moments scattered throughout the movie. While not one that you have to rush out to see, a rental will do just nicely. Perhaps on VHS.
If you use this, call me Evil Ash
Take it easy.
Now we have JinXy Chaos with his take... He sent this in with the subject line "The Ring Two Now with 75 % Less Tension and Fear." Just so you know where this one is coming from!
Hey gang,
While I love this current surge of horror films coming out, but I have to say wading through the trash looking for gold can be a thankless job...CURSE YOU WES CRAVEN!!
having said that I got a look at The Ring Two the other night,
I should start this by admitting I’ve never seen Ringu 2, So I can’t compare this to it, but since it’s got the same director I can imagine the Ring Two and Ringu 2 must be similar is some aspects.
The movie starts off on a great note, the tape is out in the world, and people who’ve seen it must now deal with the moral issue set by the rules in the first movie make a copy and make someone else watch it or be killed by a little girl with bad hair in seven days. It’s a great beginning and if the movie had continued this way it would have set a seriously dark tone. The movie however does not continue on this path and instead take you on a slow building plot about Samara (bad hair Well dwelling girl) needing a Mother and taking over a little boys body.
There are some really great ideas and sub plots in this film about Rachel’s (Naomi Watts) previous depression, Samara’s origin, the connection between mother and child, and how the North American Deer just hates German cars. Most of which is only touched on and then forgotten. The movie instead depends on the cat jumping out from behind the garbage can formula for it’s moments of tension which after the first few times gets old fast. Gone are the uber creepy moments and imagery from the first film.
There’s no race against the clock to survive this time around and the only guides to drive this story are some Nuns and Sissy Spacek (really). Where the first movie takes you inside the tape itself to solve the mystery and find a way to survive, this one just sort of steals your car and takes you on a joy ride to Samara’s past to find the clues.
All in all this is not a bad movie, to be fair it’s quite easy to see where scenes were cut to fit this into the PG-13 set thus making a directors cut a sure bet. Even the beginning of the film was edited out of order (you’ll see).
It’s a decent movie just don’t expect the same thrills as the first film.
Now for the first truly mega positive review!
Attended a press screening of Ring 2 a couple of days ago and was very pleasantly surprised. Yes, there are some plot holes and the almost requisite horror film moments of seemingly smart people doing dumb things. But all in all, a worthy successor to the first film, and substiantially different in terms of style, tone and technique. So hats off to Nakata.
Some standout moments. The zero-gravity water in the bathroom sequence kicks ass! Samara scaling the well is CREEPY! And the deer sequence really knocked me out of my seat. In response to an earlier aicn.com criticism, I'll say that the deer aren't 100% photoreal. But to a halfway discriminating eye, few cg characters (especially furred animals) really are. But they look pretty damned good, imho, and given how the sequence plays, you don't have enough time to stop and wonder about it anyway.
Overall, an A-/B+! Worth the price of ticket, so much so that even though I saw it free, I'm taking a friend this weekend and will gladly pay the price of a tix.
Sean
Venice, CA
Now for a polar opposite opinion!
Hey Harry & Herc,
Just wanted to write you and let you know I went to an advance screening of the Ring 2 last night. I have been a long reader of this site and thought it would be time to send in my own review. This is my first review so bear with me, and I will try to keep this short and to the point.
Was the Movie good?
Not really
Was I disappointed?
Yup
Was it remotely scary?
No
I had high hopes for this one. Largely due to the fact that it was directed by the guy (can’t think of his name at this moment) who did the original version of Ringu and its sequel. I may be one of the few people out there who thinks the remake of the first movie was far better than its original, Ringu. To me the American version was one of the best scary movies I had seen in a long time. I was not that impressed with the Japanese sequel. But I had read earlier that the sequel to the American sequel was supposed to differ greatly from the Japanese sequel. But I feel the same about both movies now.
Let me give a brief synopsis of the films story line. It is about six months after the events of the first film. Rachel and Aiden have moved to the Oregon town of Astoria. In the beginning of the film we see two high school students on a date at home. The boy wants to show the girl a scary movie. He forces her to watch the infamous video and leaves the room while she watches. As it turns out he has already seen the video seven days prior. He has two minutes to get her to watch this copy before Samara comes crawling out of the television and gives him her own extreme makeover. It seems that he made it through those two minutes, but as it turns out, she covered her eyes through the whole video. So Samara comes a calling.
This beginning felt more like a typical teenage horror movie than anything else. I felt like I was watching Scream or some other Wes Craven movie. This was the whole problem with the movie.
Next we see Rachel at her new job as editor of the Daily Astorian. She over hears a police transmission about a crime scene involving two teenagers and they keep talking about his face. Rachel of course goes to investigate. Her suspicions are confirmed and she breaks into the house and gets the video and destroys it. This pisses Samara off, who then begins to posses Aiden. This is the whole premise for the movie.
The problems I had with this film is that it never seemed to go anywhere. It had no mood, and no feeling. I don’t even know if the makers of this intended it to be good. It feels more like one of those Hollywood movies in which the studio said “hey the first one made money so lets make some more ASAP!”
This movie never got scary. Not once. There was a few creepy images don’t get me wrong. The scene in the final sequence involving Samara crawling up the walls of the well was the main one that comes to mind. It was more like a redo of a scene from it’s Japanese predecessor. But a bit creepier, that was it.
Many of the scenes that were supposed to be scary had the audience giggling. There was one involving a bunch of deer that had me almost in stitches. Don’t even get me started on the part where Rachel tries to drown Aiden. Also Aiden turns into one of those creepy yet funny creepy kids we see in horror movies from time to time.
Another big problem was that I kept expecting the film to have some big revelation. But there never was one. I thought when Sissy Spacek had her cameo this will be a pivotal scene in the movie, but no, it came and went with no big shock.
When I go to a movie I will usually try to find something interesting to enjoy about it. If I am going to give 90 to 120 minutes of my life to something I want to enjoy it for one reason or another. But I found that hard in this film. There was no interesting mystery, no suspense and no character to relate to.
They also made Samara out to be this horror movie villan much like Freddy or Jason or Mike Myers, which to me ruined the whole feeling. Samara was not that type of character. That’s what I loved about the first movie.
That’s about all I can say about this one. If I keep going I will probably say the same thing over and over. So in short again, this was not a good movie.
Thanks,
Swifty
And one more!
Hey, AICN geeks.
I just got back from a "special" sneak preview of twO (otherwise known as The Ring 2). My wife got some tickets from a local radio station, so we got to see the film a whole 3 days early. Special!
First of all, let me preface this review by saying I might not have been in the best mood to see this movie tonight. I was very excited until I got in line, where my nose was assaulted by one of the worst cases of body odor I've ever been witness to. Not only did the guy in front of me stink, but once inside the theater, the whole auditorium smelled like they were pumping in air from a post-game NFL locker room. My other problem was the obviously gay man sharing an armrest with me. He literally pulled his coat up around his face (leaving only his eyes exposed) during the scary parts of the movie. It annoyed me.
Another aside - The Ring 2 takes place in beautiful Astoria, Oregon, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from Portland where I live. I drove up there once to see where The Goonies was filmed (along with Kindergarten Cop and Free Willy), and the town is amazingly beautiful. But even though The Goonies and this flick both feature Astoria and people stuck at the bottom of wells, they aren't even in the same league.
Rachel and her son Aiden have moved to Astoria to escape their memories of SaranWrap (or whatever that ghost girl's name is... I just watched it and I already can't remember). One night Rachel learns that the evil video tape has killed a teenager in Astoria, so she tracks it down and burns it in a trashcan. The movie was moving along nicely up until this point, but when the videotape began to quietly screech in pain as it burned, I began to feel uneasy. It reminded me of the sounds the disembodied hand in Evil Dead 2 makes, but not in a good way.
Anyway, the ghost gets mad that Rachel burned her tape, so she decides that she wants to possess Aiden and make Rachel her new mommy (since her real mommy threw her in a well - see the first movie if this is surprising to you). The scenes where Aiden starts noticing Samara (I took the time to look up her name! I get a cookie!) and creepy things start happening are effective in a way very similar to The Sixth Sense. In fact, I was really enjoying the vibe and effectiveness of the movie...up until the last 20 or 30 minutes.
You see, this is a case of what I call "Stephen King Syndrome." Stephen King writes good books. They are engaging, interesting, freaky, etc. But for some reason, almost every one of King's books has a stupid ending. The main one that sticks out in my mind is The Stand, where just as an apocalyptic showdown is about to begin, the "hand of God" magically appears and saves the day.
The Ring Two has the same problem. And to really explain it, I'm going to SPOIL the craptastic ending with a bunch of SPOILERS!
SPOILERS!
For some reason, Rachel has to drown her son in the bathtub to get rid of Samara. This doesn't make much sense, but it is pure genius compared to the final showdown: Rachel gets teleported to the bottom of Samara's well. She starts climbing out, and Samara starts chasing her towards the top of the well. Rachel gets to the top, closes the lid on Samara...and that's it.
All she had to do to stop this ghost that can teleport, kill through technology, etc. was to close the lid on the well. What the!? It doesn't make any sense! My brain hurts!
Oh, and there's also a random scene where a herd of deer run at Rachel's car and attack it. They smash the windows and even charge the car while it's moving, then they stand in the road menacingly while Rachel drives away. This is never explained. Why would Samara have control of deer? Why are there so many male deer in the woods, but only one female (that I could see)? Never explained!
END SPOILERS!
So that's that. This movie is creepy enough to warrant a rental, but go into it expecting the ending to suck. If I had paid money to see it, I would have been ticked off when I left the theater.
Sincerely yours,
TacoDave
