THE RING TWO
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
Sheeeeeeeeeeee's baaaaaaaaaaaack! Samara, the girl drowned by her mother in THE RING, is back again and still starring in her own video, which is a real killer. Also back is Aidan Keller (David Dorfman, a look-a-like for THE SIXTH SENSE's Haley Joel Osment), who all but announces, "I see wet people." As it did in the original, THE RING TWO features lots of water. The biggest difference this time appears to be a dramatic increase in the special effects budget, almost all of which is spent on tricks with bathtub water.
The best scene in this lumbering, would-be horror thriller occurs on a lonely country road. Almost the only scary moment in the movie, this episode would make a good driver's training video to show how dangerous harmless-looking situations can quickly become. Naomi Watts, repeating the role of Aidan's mother, is the driver in this briefly hellacious trip down a heavily forested road.
Hideo Nakata, the director of RINGU, the Japanese original upon which THE RING was based, directs THE RING TWO, but he can't find much of anything original to do. This formulaic film features the usual bet-we-can-make-you-jump tricks, which almost never make you move a muscle, as well as the canonical fake first ending. You're right, the monster is not dead yet' kiddies. But, if you can somehow stay awake through twenty more minutes, we promise we really will kill her the next time. (Although not permanently. If enough of you buy tickets to THE RING TWO, we'll happily keep making sequels -- to THE RING TEN and beyond. After all, other lucrative horror movie franchises refuse to die.)
THE RING TWO runs a long 1:51. It is rated PG-13 for "violence/terror, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, March 18, 2005. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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