While a decent enough sequel, Ring 2 is a bit of a disappointment in that it tries to weave too many threads and characters, tries to have too much going on and too many characters and ultimately gets a bit muddled and incoherent towards the end. Another thing that disappoints, after the masterpiece that was "Ring", is that it lacks any one big scare or standout sequence to match the first film's finale or most memorable moments.
One thing that Ring 2 scores in is it's series of little scares. There is still a creepy atmosphere (just without the pay off of the first film). The scene with Shizuko combing her hair, gliding along the floor and peering round the corner with a eerie expression is a genuinely chilling moment. There's also an effective sequence where a survivor from the first film sets off the hospital television
and the other patients start to panic at the sight of the infamous well. The confusing ending also gives us the
return of Sadako (now with the clayface of her real corpse) climbing up the well. The continuation of style, situations and characters from the first film, prevents this from just being an unrelated sequel, but it tends to ask new questions and then provides no answers. A certain hint of ambiguity is introduced to the story of Sadako, who was a convincingly malevolent presence in the first film (despite the beautifully poignant scene where Reiko finds her body in the well and the skull almost appears to cry the gloop off from it). The more sympathetic view of Sadako is successfully followed up in the prequel "Ring 0: Birthday".
One of the film's assets for me was Kyoko Fukada as Kanae, a young student who makes the mistake of trusting a reporter to keep his word. Apparently she's some kind of pop star in real life but I was unaware of that before being impressed with her performance. Kanae is sweet and cute and seems undeserving of the fate that the reporter gets her into, by shamefully manipulating her and then lying repeatedly until it's too late. The scene where the reporter then tries to conveniently erase his guilt along with footage of Kanae backfires on him and provides one of the film's memorably eerie scenes (but also one of the confusing plot threads that I didn't really understand until reading the FAQ at RingWorld). Later there is a certain satisfactory poetic justice when Kanae appears, giggling and smiling, behind the reporter in the hospital. Ultimately much of the satisfaction to be had from this
sequel, comes from the groundwork and impact of the original film. However it is a decent, if flawed effort and still proves to be fascinating and creepy in places. A far better sequel than many. Just needed a bit more overall coherency.
One thing that Ring 2 scores in is it's series of little scares. There is still a creepy atmosphere (just without the pay off of the first film). The scene with Shizuko combing her hair, gliding along the floor and peering round the corner with a eerie expression is a genuinely chilling moment. There's also an effective sequence where a survivor from the first film sets off the hospital television
and the other patients start to panic at the sight of the infamous well. The confusing ending also gives us the
return of Sadako (now with the clayface of her real corpse) climbing up the well. The continuation of style, situations and characters from the first film, prevents this from just being an unrelated sequel, but it tends to ask new questions and then provides no answers. A certain hint of ambiguity is introduced to the story of Sadako, who was a convincingly malevolent presence in the first film (despite the beautifully poignant scene where Reiko finds her body in the well and the skull almost appears to cry the gloop off from it). The more sympathetic view of Sadako is successfully followed up in the prequel "Ring 0: Birthday".
One of the film's assets for me was Kyoko Fukada as Kanae, a young student who makes the mistake of trusting a reporter to keep his word. Apparently she's some kind of pop star in real life but I was unaware of that before being impressed with her performance. Kanae is sweet and cute and seems undeserving of the fate that the reporter gets her into, by shamefully manipulating her and then lying repeatedly until it's too late. The scene where the reporter then tries to conveniently erase his guilt along with footage of Kanae backfires on him and provides one of the film's memorably eerie scenes (but also one of the confusing plot threads that I didn't really understand until reading the FAQ at RingWorld). Later there is a certain satisfactory poetic justice when Kanae appears, giggling and smiling, behind the reporter in the hospital. Ultimately much of the satisfaction to be had from this
sequel, comes from the groundwork and impact of the original film. However it is a decent, if flawed effort and still proves to be fascinating and creepy in places. A far better sequel than many. Just needed a bit more overall coherency.