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Directed by: Hideo Nakata Starring: Miki Nakatani, Rikiya Otaka, Fumiyo Kohinata As you may have guessed Ringu 2 is the continuation of the story that began in the original Japanese horror film Ringu. Because of this, there will be some Ringu spoilers in this review. Also Ringu 2 is not to be confused with [url="https:// http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134928/"]Rasen[/url], the other Ringu sequel that opened on the same day as the first in Japan. After the mysterious death of Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada) by the hand of Sadako at the end of Ringu, his girlfriend Mai (whom we briefly met in the original) decides to learn more about the phenomena behind his demise by investigating the curse of the killer video tape that eventually offed him. Also of interest to her and her university colleagues is the disappearance of Ryuji’s ex-wife Reiko and his son Yoichi, whom we soon learn has begun to develop the same psychic powers inherent in Sadako in his very own self… Rather than being a rehash of the original plot with different characters, the filmmakers including returning director Nakata have decided to instead take the premise and plot threads from the original and work further with them, creating a new story that both expands and explores the concept of psychic power introduced in the first film as well as revisiting a number of plot points from the original including that of an institutionalised Sadako survivor only briefly mentioned in the first, as well as a very effective real time recreation of a sequence from the killer tape. The film also has what I thought was a cool little twist that even further evolves the killer tape premise, but I won’t say any more. Unfortunately, because of this Ringu 2 heavily relies on the viewer's familiarity of the original Ringu for it to work, so first-timers to the series may find this film very confusing. Also the film doesn’t come off quite as creepy as the original, offering only a few genuine scares. In the end Ringu 2 makes an interesting but generally average horror flick best seen as a complement to the original. 3.5/5 PROS: An interesting exploration and expansion of the original's premise. CONS: It's not that scary (or even creepy), you have to be familiar with the first. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218553/ mrkillboy fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Aug 1, 2004 |
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Aug 1, 2004 15:52
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Not as scary as the first one, and gets really silly and non-sensical with all the business about water. It was kinda cool, but you can definitely sense the writer and/or director running out of ideas. Rating: 3
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Feb 8, 2005 21:08
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