The Ring 2
Funny, I liked it better until I had to explain why. It’s always tough to follow a huge smash hit, especially in the horror/thriller genre. Gore Verbinski did not return, but Hideo Nakata, who directed Ringu, the Japanese original did. The challenge of course is to come up with something while retaining the magic of the old. The Ring was a puzzle to be solved, so what to do now? I’m writing this review with the assumption that you saw the first one, so if you wish to avoid spoilers of the original, stop reading here, and go rent The Ring.
So, we know Samara spares you if you spread her message of misery to someone else. Don’t ask why, just believe. Apparently, our returning heroes Rachel and Aidan did, and we open again with an underground teen word of mouth campaign to get this tape watched. Talk about Please Be Kind – Rewind! The casual, selfish indifference of today’s teenagers is the perfect method to pay the deadly tape forward.
Samara has a new plan, which itself is the weakest element of the film. However, if you forgive the actual idea of the story (and I always have a tough time doing that), I found the rest of the ride to be very interesting, exciting, and spooky. It’s kind of an academic exercise in how to creep you out, with just enough character built in from the first movie to make it engaging. Rachel finds herself in an impossible situation with no solution, and anyone with a lick of sympathy will be wriggling in their seats with the horrible position our heroes find themselves in again.
The tone of the film is very true to the American original’s craziness and creepiness, and it relies very heavily on you having seen the first film. I mean, totally relies, maybe too much, which is a failing. The Ring 1 is a good enough movie that it bears up well with repeat viewings, luckily. The Ring 2, not so much.
To make up for this deficiency, however, there are some truly inspired bits of casting (Sissy Spacek, Gary Cole) and some great individual set pieces. An extended metaphor/image of water as a conduit of evil gives the mundane a more terrible feel, and the permeating darkness increases the unease we feel. (My friend is like, “what woman doesn’t turn on a light when she enters a dark room in a spooky house?” My response was to point out that there were easily 3 or more lamps lit in every room. Apparently Japan’s population density causes them to buy 10 watt bulbs.) The Ring 2 has some cool effects, and nice, artificial moments (lights and score only, nothing actually happening), but I felt nice and tense all the way through. So you could say mission accomplished, but it lacked its predecessor’s under-your-skin lovability.
David Dorfman as Aidan is fantastic. The character he plays has been through a lot, and has to go through more in this film. The way he gets into his trance states with regards to Samara is great. His performance is the highlight of the film.
Is it scary? I was more intrigued and stuck trying to figure out a solution to even be scared. I felt some of the menace of Samara was lost knowing all that we know after the first film. My companion did spend some notable chunks of time under her blanket (packed especially) but she was more anticipating than reactionary in her fear, it seemed. Some of her anticipation did not pay off, but even when it wasn’t “scary” per se, it was successfully cool or creepy. I’ve gotten a sense that other critics have been less than thrilled with The Ring 2. I walked out feeling pretty satisfied, but I think some mysteries do not bear reincarnating.
MPAA Rating PG-13
Release date 3/18/05
Time in minutes 107
Director Hideo Nakata
Studio Dreamworks
