I have to admit I was shocked when I first heard that this film was disappointing audiences in the US, but after seeing it today I can understand why.
Picking up a little while after the first film, this latest Japanese remake which bravely goes in a completely new direction (almost too far, as it even neglects the cursed video tape in favour of a possession storyline) is more of a mysterious drama without the mystery.
Rachel and Aidan have left their old lives behind and have moved to a small town to start a new life. When a student is found dead, Rachel discovers that the curse is still in motion and sets about trying to end it before Samara takes over Aidan’s body and mind. I kid you not, this is the plot!!
The film plods along as Rachel revisits her past, and many of the first film’s locations as the audience are ‘terrified’ by CG deer and bath water, and don’t even get me started on the waste of talent!!
Talk about getting butts in seats….Sissy Spacek’s return to horror equals about 3 minutes of screen time, and we had bloody seen it all in the trailer!! Gary Cole has one scene and Elizabeth Perkins has two. Simon Baker is basically standing in for Martin Henderson, and poor Naomi Watts has to go around spouting dialogue similar to that of a feel good Hilary Duff teen movie…..’Just follow my voice and I’ll find you’. What the hell was Ehren Krueger thinking?
By far the worst aspect of this bland movie is the fact that Hideo Nakata directed it. How could the man who terrified the world with ‘Ringu’ have made such a redundant piece of tosh?
OVERALL SUMMARY
The Ring Two manages to be different from all other versions of the Ring films by being a depressing version of ‘Dark Water’. If Hideo wasn’t keen to remake his own movie why did he make ‘Dark Water’-lite? The bloody film has already been remade!! The biggest shock here is that the short film ‘Rings’ which was directed by Jonathan Liebesman of ‘Darkness Falls’ fame, manages to be far better than this tosh. Buy the collecter’s edition DVD and watch that instead!!
