2008 Woodie Awards
Two repeats what it already started in Ring
Marta Bunse
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It opens with the same old scene: a couple of stupid high school students who don't know any better than to put a deadly video tape in, which will eventually lead to tragedy and disaster. It's okay though; they didn't actually know that after they watched the disturbing video, an evil little girl would appear and haunt them until seven days later when she would proceed to scare them to death. The Ring Two follows in the same tradition as all sequels do: same old plot, same old actors, same old lines that we heard in the last one. Although the previews for The Ring Two seemed promising, don't be fooled; one may find that they are watching The Ring all over again. Boring!
Six months following the deadly wrath of the evil videotape, Samara (Daveigh Chase) returns full throttle, this time seeking revenge...and as a mommy (awww!). Just when Rachael (Naomi Watts) and Aiden (David Dorfman) thought the nightmare was over, a mysterious death occurs, and all clues point to Samara's return! Aidan begins to have awful dreams at night and soon begins to see Samara following him. Soon, Samara inhabits the body of Aidan and it is up to Rachel to put a stop to it, before Samara kills other people...and Aidan!
Just like the first Ring movie, Two provides plenty of jump-out-of-your-seat scenes. But, taking a different approach from the first Ring movie, Two focuses more on Samara's family, rather than on her (it's assumed that viewers already know all about Samara's tragic past). This thickens the plot and helpfully provides more insight to the dysfunction of Samara's family. However, Two falls a tad to short of the first movie, which shocked viewers and had them fearing their televisions for months after watching it.
Two is not entirely predictable, but it also doesn't possess the uniqueness that the first movie managed to accomplish. In fact, many of the thrilling scenes in the movie are very similar to that of the first film. There are also some subplots in Two that are not explained, are not needed to intensify the movie and some that are kind of corny (What is with the elks?).
It appears that director Hideo Nakata has picked up a bunch of good actors (Watts is a superb actress, and for a young boy, Dorfman is quite impressive) and wasted their talents on this shitty plot. Two has so much potential, but it doesn't seem to pull through with a convincing storyline.
For viewers who are looking for a good scare, The Ring Two will not disappoint. However, one may find themselves wondering whether it was worth spending 110 minutes of their time and $10 out of their pocket to see this less-than-worthwhile movie. Hint: Wait for it to come out on DVD; nothing that exciting really happens!