Review of Rings (2017) by Orlando O — 04 Feb 2017

Rings is that unnecessary sequel that fails on capturing an engaging plot, scares, and barely delivers some decent performances. I have never found (2002) The Ring or The Ring Two scary or could not have figure out what was so shocking about a supernatural girl known as Samara coming out of the tv screen to kill her victims. I was hoping Rings would be able to improve on delivering some thrills and scares. Sadly, Rings is the worst out of the three. If your looking for something new than its clearly not this film which follows the redundant plot like the previous two films.

The film follows Julia (Matilda Lutz) after not hearing from her boyfriend Holt (Alex Roe) for a long period of time when he is away at college. She tries to find him and only discover that his biology professor Gabriel (Johnny Galecki) has found a VHS tape that after viewing. You have seven days before you die. Only Gabriel has several followers of a group that has discovered and viewed the video. They were able to figure out a solution on surviving this week of terror. Julia and Holt are trying to discover the origins of Samara and trying to set her free from this curse.

Some new concepts like one of the professors Gabriel has an experiment study group that are focused on the video and figuring out solutions on how to survive the week. Especially, how technology has changed over the years. When the original movie focused on that VHS tape that kills. Now, it's a video that is streaming online or by a link sent to your email. Which can cause mayhem when many people receive a link from someone they know.

Rings is a terrible supernatural horror film that is not any better than its predecessors. The plot is redundant in a formulaic concept. Julia learns about the deadly video, wants to learn and discover about Samara. And figure out a way to stop her from harming others. Its something we seen in the previous films. Except this time around, we see that disturbing video over and over again which becomes annoying. Rings was not as scary or thrilling. It was really boring, even though we learn a little bit more about Samara's disturbing past. It did not help make the movie any better.

Everyone of the casts performance was dull and forgettable. Even Vincent D'Onofrio acting was cheesy. Director F. Javier Gutierrez tried to create that eerie atmosphere using flashing camera shots. But the previous films worked a lot better in that creepy tone. The plot twist was not as surprising; it was hard to be engaged to its tedious story. "I want to see it through," as Julia tells Holt about trying to learn about Samara. This is definitely one of those horror films that it is not worth sitting to see it through. It was dull, lacked in scares and thrills, and a tired plot that does not work the third time around.