Ringu
2 (1/2
star)
review by Jon
Waterman
Mai is trying to find out more about her boyfriend’s
mysterious death. So, she heads out on an investigative mission
to see what’s really going on. Along the way she runs
into Reiko, who is hiding her son Yoichi, because he’s
exhibiting some very peculiar behavior. Even though Sadako’s
body was found in the well, is it possible that she’s
still haunting? The general public believes so. If you happen
to see the widely circulating tape, make a copy and show it
to someone else before seven days, or else…you may just
die.
That’s about all of the plot points that you really
need to know. However, the movie will give you a whole bunch
more. I’ve never seen so much filler exposition. By the
time anything substantial happens, the credits are practically
rolling and everyone’s fallen asleep. And any action
or potentially heart stopping sequences are too short to be
worthwhile and wouldn’t be exciting to begin with. It’s
not just that the film lacks any real element of horror, it’s
that it still tries to pass itself off as scary. Even if the
story were to be played out as a straight drama, it would still
fall just as flat.
Hiroshi Takahashi (who also penned the preceding “Ringu”)
can’t quite exude the same vibe or flow this time around.
The plot drags out and swirls around several characters that
we as an audience have no interest in. I don’t really
care about Mai and she doesn’t make me care about her.
She’s not really so much a main character as she is in
the background while other supporting characters do things.
I suppose she has the most lines, but she doesn’t personally
move the story along or contribute anything substantial. The
others don’t give anything worthwhile either, though.
The acting once again is lackluster, although not as screechy
and annoying. Instead Mai (played by Miki Nakatani) gives a “look,
this is me being scared” performance. Her facial expressions
substitute for dialogue quite often, which is good, because
I’d rather not hear anyone in this movie talk.
By the end of the movie, you’ll be scratching your head
at the strange litmus test of a solution. Questions will go
unanswered, but you won’t even care that they aren’t.
You’ll just want it to be finished. Don’t go into
this expecting suspense or horror. Expect a whole lot of extremely
boring talking, shots that look like they were taped on a pixelvision
camera, and some of the same situations you came across in
the first film. Honestly, it’s just not worth going back
to this well. It dried up long, long ago.
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