swilliky
Deadly video tapes and the creepy long-haired girl crawling out of wells and televisions return for the sequel to the 2002 hit horror film. The sequel continues to follow Rachel (Naomi Watts) and her son Aiden (David Dorfman). They've left behind the horrors of the original film and started a new life in a small town. Rachel is a journalist at a small newspaper when she hears of a gruesome death of a teenager and a flooded house. Investigating the death, she sees the same deformed face she found on her niece and her son's father.Feeling guilty, Aidan has visions of Samara continuing to stalk him. Rachel tries to dispose of the evidence and move on with her life but she can't help but notice the strange behavior of her son. Animals continue to act weird like the horses in the first one but this time deer outright attack them, one of the more exhilarating scenes of the film. The horror in this film comes from Samara popping up repeatedly as she attempts to take over Aidan's body and received motherly love from Rachel.Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com
Filipe Neto
This film tells how a young journalist, a single mother of a gifted child is affected by the story of Samara and the video tape that kills those who see it in seven days. Directed by Hideo Nakata, the film is the sequel to "The Ring", has a Ehren Kruger script and Naomi Watts in the lead role.We are facing a sequel to one of the most popular thrillers in the recent years. Despite that, this film is far from expectations. I believe that the change of director (Nakata is the producer of Japanese film in which "The Ring" was initially inspired) has been a key factor for this failure. The film does not bring almost anything new, except to give Samara a more fierce and cruel aspect of what was in the original, with its huge hair remember me "The Grudge". But the truth is that the film intrigues more than scares, leaves the audience more curious than uncomfortable.The actors were at a good level. Naomi Watts is an experienced actress and was perfectly capable of handling her role. David Dorfman continues to do a great job as Aidan, and how the young man handed the role is a lesson for many child actors aspiring to a career in the seventh art. Visually appealing, the film has a deliberately dark picture, away from light and warm colors. The sun rarely appears, the fog and rain are almost a constant. Everything contributes to thicken the atmosphere. The soundtrack, created by Hans Zimmer, contributes decisively to the public's rare moments of discomfort. The problem of the film is, decidedly, the script and the absence of a director who understands the aspirations of a public hungry for emotions. The film does not have emotions, never heats or cools. Worse, there are certain elements of the story that almost collide against the original film, cutting its logical connection, necessary for the understanding of the story.
poe426
THE RING, despite being a "dumbed-down" American version of the Japanese Fright Film RINGU, was that rare exception to the rule: a dumbed-down American version of a Japanese Fright Film that was actually very good. THE RING II is still another exception to that rule: it's the second half of a whole, as it were, and isn't hindered one bit by its Big Budget (Big Budget Fright Films often tend toward Horror Light). Rachel (the always very watchable Naomi Watts) has relocated with her son, Aidan, in an attempt to put the horrors of the first film behind her- but, no sooner has she arrived in town than she discovers a disfigured body that proves she HASN'T put the past behind her; instead, the horror has grown exponentially, spreading out to all four corners of the country (the World...?). Sissy Spacek is genuinely creepy in a small part as Evelyn, the institutionalized mother of the ghost girl, Samara. "The dead never sleep," she tells Rachel: "They wait... and watch for a way back. But they never sleep. That's why dreams are safe." "You let the dead get in," she adds. When Rachel asks what she can do, Evelyn tells her: "Listen to your baby." Director Hideo Nakata does a Great job with THE RING II (it is, after all, his third go-around with the story; the fourth, overall), but the clearly (and cheesy) cgi deer assault should've been dropped (it adds absolutely nothing to the movie) and the ending seems a bit wishy-washy (I'll have to go back and look at it again to see if I missed something, but it seemed a big vague to me- and this was the second time I've seen it). Betamax versus Video Home System or Analog versus Digital, a good movie is a good movie- and THE RING II is a good movie.
SnoopyStyle
Aidan (David Dorfman) and Rachel (Naomi Watts) have moved to a small town in Oregon. However the videotape seems to have followed them after Rachel finds another one of those strange deaths. Rachel takes the tape and burns it. Samara starts coming after Aidan, and Rachel must dig up the past to put it to rest.The great thing about this sequel is that the actors came back to finish the story off. It's interesting to go back to the source story. However the franchise can't surprise the audience any more. It was a nice fresh idea in the first movie, but the sequel can't shock us anymore. It's a good wrap up. I hope they don't keep dragging this out like other franchises.
AD
