Movie Review: Ring 2 and Rings

he DVD contains also short movie "Rings" that is the introduction to the world of "Ring 2." 

Rings

Catchlight Films, 2005, USA.

A subculture has been formed around the killer videotape. People want supernatural experiences and they must show the tape to someone else in seven days or Samara's ghost will kill them. Jake (Ryan Merriman) wants to see how close the seven day limit he can go. The visions get more scarier and he begins to see Samara everywhere. Will someone agree to watch the tape before it is too late? 

It is an interesting short film and a fresh take on the video tape curse phenomena. Still Ring 2 does not fully connect with it as huge plot holes follow.

Rating: Good

Starring: Ryan Merriman, Emily VanCamp, Kelly Stables, Alexandra Breckenridge, Josh Wise, Justin Allen,
Andrew D'Amico, Dusty Sorg 

Director: Jonathan Liebesman 

Ring 2 (a.k.a The Ring Two) 

DreamWorks SKG, BenderSpink, Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, USA, 2005.

(There's no title card!)

Just minutes before the deadline Jake (Ryan Merriman) shows his friend Emily (Emily VanCamp) the deadly video tape. Emily does not dare to watch it, too bad for Jake. 

Jake

The survivors of "The Ring" Rachel (Naomi Watts) and Aidan (David Dorfman) are living peaceful life in a new town. They survived by copying the video before the time limit was up. Rachel works in local newspaper with  editor-in-chief Max Rourke (Simon Baker). The idyll is ruined as the video curse is spreading again. 

Aidan and Rachel

Max Rourke

Samara (Kelly Stables) has found Aidan and Rachel again. She tries to possess Aidan to get back in the land of the living. Samara wants mommy to watch TV with. Soon it is time to escape murderous deer (?) 

Killer deer

Rachel goes to search for answers and meets a real-estate agent Martin Savide (Gary Cole) Samara's real mother Evelyn (Sissy Spacek). She tells that there is a rather unpleasant solution to end the possession. How appropriate, if "Carrie" had a daughter, she would be like Samara.

Martin says hello

Evelyn

Hideo Nakata brings the element of water that looks like recycling ideas of "Dark Water." Water was also important in "Ringu 2" but it was more natural part of the story then as Sadako's birth and death were related to water. In Japanese (and also Western) myths water separates the land of the living and land of the dead. In "Dark Water" water was essential part of the mystery behind the haunting. Even in "The Ring" the water effects were more restrained. In "Ring 2" it feels like a gimmick to get keep the special effect crew employed. 

Bridge symbolising the pathway between the land of the living and land of the dead

Shower should not work that way

The supporting actors are not used as interestingly as in the previous film. Gary Cole and Sissy Spacek just quickly pop in without much importance to the story. Also the new revelations about Samara's past do not bring much new to the Ring mythology. The messy script has unrelated horror clichés with plot holes big enough to drive a tank through. Some of the scenes have creepy atmosphere with good scares but as a whole the story does not work well as the mystery of the first film is gone. 

Rating: Average

Starring: Naomi Watts, Simon Baker, David Dorfman, Elizabeth Perkins, Gary Cole, Sissy Spacek, Ryan Merriman, Emily VanCamp, Kelly Overton, James Lesure, Daveigh Chase, Kelly Stables, Cooper Thornton, Marilyn McIntyre, Jesse Burch, Michael Chieffo, Steven Petrarca, Michael Dempsey, Kirk B.R. Woller, Jeffrey Hutchinson, Chane't Johnson, Mary Joy, Michelle Anne Johnson, Teri Bibb, Jill Farley, Aleksa Palladino, Victor McCay, Brendan Quinlan. Brendan Tomlinson, Phyllis Lyons, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Amy Haffner, Ted Detwiler, Stephen Holland , Omer Stephens III, Jonathan Coburn, Caitlin Mavromates, R. Michael David , Krystal Katz, Bill Kelley, Sherilyn Lawson, Betsy McIntyre, Adrienne Smith, Alan Winston 

Director: Hideo Nakata