The Ring 2

Saw The Ring 2 last night, and I’ll give it the typical sequel review: not as good as the first one.

There’s a lot to like about this movie. There’s good imagery, a lot of which ties it to the first film (so hopefully you’ve seen the first film, or you might feel a little lost). Also, the director uses a lot of clever camera angles and tracking shots, giving a bit of a fresh look to the film (this was mostly evident in the beginning of the film, and seemed to regress into standard shots later on). And, of course, Naomi Watts is typically good.

The main problem with the film is that it lacks a sense of urgency. In the first Ring, Naomi had seven days to figure out how to beat the evil videotape before she died (wow, the movie sounds really stupid when you sum it up like that). In this one, there wasn’t the same sense of impending dread. I didn’t really feel like Naomi had a time constraint in saving the day, and the lack of tension was noticeable.

Also, the evil Samara just isn’t really scary anymore. We’ve seen her too much. It’s like Jason or Freddy or Michael Myers–after a while, their image alone isn’t frightening enough. Oh, and seeing her crawl up the well? Sure, it’s cool and creepy, but if bitch could crawl like that then why couldn’t she have just gotten out of the goddamn well in the first place?

The Ring 2, unlike the first Ring, does not follow its Japanese counterpart. It’s a shame, because the Japanese Ring 2 is actually almost as good as the first one. Mind you, this one is pretty good–it’s got scares and a decent plot. It just isn’t an amazing film, and you could probably wait for the dvd.