THE RING TWO
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After making a copy of Samara's cursed videotape to save her son Aidan
(David Dorfman, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake), Rachel Keller (Naomi
Watts, "I Heart Huckabees") moves both of them to the coastal town of
Astoria for a fresh start. The new home and job at the local paper don't
assuage her guilt, however, and she's horrified when a teen turns up dead
in circumstances that are all too familiar in "The Ring Two."
"The Ring Two" is enhanced by the introduction of original "Ringu" series
director Hideo Nakata (also known for "Dark Water") but "The Ring's"
writer, Ehren Kruger, circumvents the series' mythology in his new take on
the sequel (this is not based on "Ringu 2"). After a very effective
prologue, which implies "Ring Two" will ramp up its AIDS metaphor by
tackling the consequences of consciously passing the curse along, the
Samara antidote of tape copying is dropped in favor of a possession story.
While this turn of events is disappointing, "The Ring Two" has some
genuinely creepy moments and is more focused than Verbinski's original
despite some lapses in logic.
In a scene that fairly screams 'this is a dream sequence!,' Samara (Kelly
Stables) once again shows herself to Aidan, who gradually begins to exhibit
signs of hypothermia as her spirit takes hold. Rachel turns to new
coworker Max (Simon Baker, "The Affair of the Necklace") for help, but
Rachel's dealing with Samara's spirit within her son makes Max suspect
child abuse. When he insists Aidan be hospitalized, Rachel goes on a
search for Samara's birth mother via the old Morgan horse farm. She
succeeds in finding Evelyn (Sissy Spacek, "In the Bedroom") in an asylum,
but the distraught woman gives her unnerving advice. Meanwhile Samara has
sidestepped Dr. Emma Temple (Elizabeth Perkins, "The Flintstones") with a
nasty bit of hypnotism and Aidan slips out of the hospital back to his new
home.
"The Ring Two," with its focus on postpartum depression, 'listening to
voices,' and child drownings invites uncomfortable comparisons to the
Andrea Yates case. Although it has been proven time and time again that
Aidan is psychic, Rachel insists he sit in a hot bath even though he is
clearly terrified. Then she leaves to fetch personal belongings! Rachel
is wracked with guilt over copying the videotape, but when she comes across
a suspicious looking one at a local fair, she just leaves it there.
Although the videotape concept is quickly dropped, the filmmakers
prominently feature a television set in every room, even that of a solitary
psych ward patient. The introduction of Evelyn is great for stunt casting,
but does nothing for coherence.
Still, Nakata achieves some very startling set pieces. A buck which had
seemed to communicate with Aidan attacks Rachel's car in a scene which
plays like live action Miyazaki. A merry realtor (Gary Cole, "Dodgeball: A
True Underdog Story") conducting an open house at the Morgan's farm adds a
great dash of black humor. A series of digital pictures taken by Aidan
reveal an animated Samara and tie back to the first film's distorted
pictures of the doomed and never has the phrase 'I love you mommy' had such
chilling innuendo. Even Nakata, though, falls into the extra ending trap,
with another lapse in logic that implies a neverending cycle. The extra
ending also includes reuse of the infamous "Exorcist" anniversary edition
of the 'spider walk,' but so effectively (done by aptly named
stuntwoman/contortionist Bonnie Morgan) the additional climax seems less
extraneous.
If only "The Ring Two" had continued with the level of tension it begins
with, when teenaged Jake (Ryan Merriman, "Spin") attempts to seduce Emily
(Emily Vancamp, TV's "Everwood") with a scary tape, saving his life by
trading hers. This may be the first sequel where I actually wish they'd
made another copy.
C+
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