The Ring Two



The Ring Two continues the quest of the Ringu/Ring series to be the most complicated franchise in the history of multimedia. This is a follow up to 2002's The Ring, and is the third completely unrelated movie sequel to a version of the original Ringu (1998). The Ring Two is directed by Hideo Nakata, who also helmed Ringu and Ringu 2 (1999), so he's certainly familiar with the material. Maybe too familiar, because The Ring Too is oddly spiritless for a ghost story.


Do you have a problem with Ring around the tub?

Two years after their first encounter with the cursed video tape, Rachel (Naomi Watts) and her son Aidan (David Dorfman) have relocated to a remote town somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Rachel is the editor of the local newspaper, and when she learns of strange local she is quick to discover that Samara's cursed videotape is to blame. (The events leading up to this are seen in "Rings.") Rachel angrily disposes of the tape, though I was left wondering what happened when she showed the tape to her father after the events of the first film. Did he die, or did the tape get passed on? If the latter, how can Rachel be surprised that the tape showed back up?

After the tape is gone Samara somehow changes her schtick from Pinhead to Pazuzu, and begins to possess little Aidan. Samara shows up in pictures of Aidan, and deer attack Rachel's car. With Aidan in the hospital Rachel begins another investigation into Samara's sad life, leading ultimately to Samara's birth mother.


"The cable is stuck on Spike TV! Run away!"

Ooh, sounds interesting! Too bad finding Samara's mother doesn't lead to any new information on Samara's origin. Much like the Japanese Ringu series, we're left with the "mystery" of who Samara's father was, and no one ever asks the kind of direct questions about the subject as they would in the real world.

I wouldn't care that much about this tease, but The Ring Two is not scary at all. Nakata shows almost none of the flair for atmosphere or tension he had in his previous films. The scene where Rachel and Aidan are inexplicably surrounded by deer is creepy, but that's about it. Nakata restages the "trapped in a well" dream chase from Ringu 2, but that's about the only evidence that the same man made both movies.

Posted: Sun - March 20, 2005 at      

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