Review of The Ring Two (2005) by Bart & — 12 Aug 2009

Admirable followup to the first American film (this movie is not a remake of the Japanese original's own sequel), it is, nonetheless, even less scary than its predecessor, mainly due to the far more exploitative approach to the evil little girl, making this much more formulaic and lacking the quiet build-up of the first movie. This is interesting because The Ring Two is directed by the original Japanese director. I have not seen Ringu and its follow-ups, but if they're anything like The Ring Two, I believe I would have cause to be very disappointed if it's not as atmospheric as Gore Verbinski's (Pirates of the Caribbean) American remake of the first film. Nakata relies upon the creepy evil child possession far too often, and the overuse of water effects dampens its impact as an original and eerie indicator of Samara's presence (pun definitely intended).

The boy, however, has definitely gotten more tolerable - perhaps because he's supposed to be playing someone far more disturbed than the boy in "The Sixth Sense" - Cole never got possessed by the ghosts that tormented him! Naomi Watts does what she can with her role, but doesn't evolve too much by the time the movie ends, getting more to do in the movie's last fifteen minutes than she does throughout the rest of the film, despite being present throughout. She's just an attractive catalyst for the audience to put themselves in the movie. Simon Baker is even more dull in the mildly attractive love interest role who never has a chance to grow beyond his place in the story, either. Also watch for some rather out of nowhere cameos from a few big name actors. At least one of these roles (the doctor) would have been better off being played by a lesser known actor - somehow the actress playing her made her role far more predictable.

By the end of the film, I felt as though I had merely read the Wikipedia entry about how the story continued, rather than getting a satisfying depiction of it. It has the framework of a good sequel, but its execution is so abbreviated. I hear there's going to be The Ring Three, possibly with only David Dorfman, the son, returning in his role. If that's the case, the clean cut and hole-filled ending (***SPOILER*** The well has *always* been open!? ***END SPOILER***) is even more disappointing, lacking the first film's rather evil twist - though this film does begin with a rather clever opening sequence that sets in place the rest of the story. Overall, The Ring Two is an unextraordinary and predictable sequel to the better first film (of course), but if you're eager to find out what happens next, this movie can neatly summarize it for you.