Ringu 2 Reviews

• Not as terrible as some would have you believe...but still not great.

  
  By A638BD7GOG321 on 2005-07-06
  Sequels, to just about anything, usually have a tough hill to climb in order to actually be worth any sort of merit. Sequels to movies are usually the least rewarding of them all...and when you have to follow up a classic that makes things even harder.
  
  And on top of all that, it is a horror movie sequel. Horror being a genre where there is almost no middle ground. A horror movie that doesn't constantly scare in people's minds is a bad horror film. Period. End of story. It is also a genre that gets churned out en masse every year (since they can be made cheap by just about anybody) so much that like any protagonist in a survival horror film...the good ones are heavily outnumbered.
  
  Ringu was a movie that created a sense of dread and urgency about it. It didn't heap on the jump scares or anything but if you ask any horror aficionado the "sense of dread" a movie elicits is better than being "jump scared" every five minutes.
  
  It was a movie with a mystery to it. One that just didn't need to be solved but HAD to be solved at all costs...and mystery is an ingredient that makes any horror outing all the better.
  
  So what happens when you have to follow up a movie where the main mystery of the prequel gets solved? Having read the Ringu and Rasen novels respectively Rasen turns out to be the more interesting and dread inducing piece...and as you no doubt already know from other reviews the movie adaption to that one didn't fly so well. So how do you essentially "re-do" a sequel to a movie that already had one?
  
  For a movie that had just about everything against it Ringu 2 is one of the more competent horror movie sequels you will come across. Is it great? No. That is even RARER in horror sequels. But it is a worthy effort.
  
  The movie (while sadly not following the "viral" concept of Rasen) essentially deals with the idea that even if you get saved from the cursed tape you are still "imprinted" and effected by it in some way. So much so that if you are near TVs your body sends off a sort of transmission that plays the cursed video on television. It sounds a lot more interesting than it turns out. What would have made it better would be if people actually started dropping dead from this phenomenon...but, alas, they don't.
  
  I can also understand the issue another reviewer had with the character of Mai Takano not being all that interesting or likeable a protagonist. Though you have to consider the fact that the character was out of the loop (no pun intended) in Ringu and therefore -is- a rather clueless character when it comes to all that is going on.
  
  Long story short (too late) is that Ringu 2 while not being all that scary or dread inducing is an interesting attempt at a sequel. Some parts may drag a little and the ending may be a little too hokey, happy, and confusing (japanese horror and thrillers seem to consistently have a problem in this area) it is still a rather interesting sequel...and one where a friend of mine (who has a peculiar taste in movies) actually liked it better than the first. Yeah, I don't get it either.
  
  Do yourself a favor and rent it. If you loved Ringu you owe it to yourself to check it out...just don't expect a masterpiece.
  
  
  

• Ring around Sadako

  
  By A1D2C0WDCSHUWZ on 2005-09-22
  In 1998, the sequel to the hit horror film "Ringu" was made. The film "Rasen" was based on Koji Suzuki's sequel of the same name. Well, people hated the movie, and it tanked at the box office. So the succeeding year, the production company made a totally unrelated sequel: "Ringu 2."
  
  As a result, "Ringu 2" is not up to the standards of the original movie; it suffers from a case of sequelitis, and it has little connection to Suzuki's original books. Despite this, it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. It suffers from several weak spots (Mai, Mai, Mai), but has quite a few chills too.
  
  It picks up where "Ringu" left off: Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada) has died of the curse, and ex-wife Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) and her young son have vanished. Mai Takano (Miki Nakatani), Ryuji's girlfriend, is shocked by his mysterious demise. Soon she hears rumours of a cursed videotape, which kills anyone who watches it, seven days later.
  
  Searching for more answers, Mai sets out to find Reiko and her son Yoichi (Rikiya Otaka). But when she does, she finds that Yoichi is demonstrating psychic powers similar to the ghoulish Sadako. Unsurprisingly, Reiko isn't about to allow Sadako to possess her son -- and will sacrifice anything to keep him safe.
  
  Don't expect splatter-gore and undead monsters right off the bat. "Ringu 2" is a slow-cooking horror movie, which takes until the final act to make your hair stand on end. Unfortunately, that's most of the movie, and the slowness of it is a distinct drawback.
  
  Up until that final act, it's rather passionless, as if the scriptwriters were killing time with exposition. Alas, the potentially-possessed child isn't enough to scare us, and neither is the exposition-of-the-Ring-virus subplotting. Just wait it out, and eventually you'll get scared sleepless.
  
  Hideo Nakata, knowing when he's got a good thing going, retains a lot of things from the first movie: Creepy lighting, direction, colourless surroundings, nightmare worlds and family problems. He also retains that quietly creepy dialogue, and the minimalistic glimpses of Sadako. The less we see her, the creepier she is.
  
  Matsushima does the same thing she did in "Ringu," only more so. And she's good at the terrified, confused woman who will do whatever it takes to save her son. It's nice to see that Nakata retained that important theme from the first film. Nakatani is the flipside; while she's a pretty good actress, her character is rather naive and twerpy.
  
  Thankfully, in creating their own "Ringu 2," Hideo Nakata and Co. expanded on the story rather than repeating it with a new cast. And while the result is rather boring for the first few acts, the final parts are shocking and ghastly.
  
  

• 98 minutes of my life that I want back!

  
  By A1LZHP8M8NHMZ4 on 2005-06-22
  When I watch horror movies, I expect two or one of two things... To be scared and/or to be at least entertained. I want that bubbly feeling you get when you watch a great horror movie. That feeling we got when we first watched RINGU. Well you aren't going to get it here. It's no masterpiece, but however when was any sequel really good. With the exception of PSYCHO II, INDIANA JONES and maybe the first two PLANET OF THE APES sequels "BENEITH" and "ESCAPE". RINGU 2 is only a film for the "ringworms" and anyone who isn't really into the hype of the Ring series is probably better off leaving this one on the shelf of the rent store.
  
  Some elements of RINGU 2 were worse then what you find in RASEN (SPIRAL), the reject of the Ring series. Though RINGU 2 has been accepted as the true sequel of RINGU, RASEN has one thing that this one doesn't. Sci-fi that makes sense. However, RINGU 2 is much better then RASEN as the actors can both act AND keep us from wanting to kill them for two hours which, is an improvement from the first try at a sequel. Some will say that it doesn't matter what sequel it is you like, it's still a waste of money, time and I'd have had a lot more fun sitting in a boxed room for 98 minutes making up your own sequel in your head! In some cases, yes that's true, but if you think you've been bitten by the Ringu bug then you should watch this movie (and even RASEN if you're dedicated) just don't expect a masterpiece...
  
  RINGU 2 picks up a week after where it left off, Reiko Asakawa's father has been found dead and his daughter had gone into hiding with her son, Yoichi. The police suspect that Ms Asakawa might have been responsible for Takayama's death, if she isn't dead herself. Mai Takano, Ryuji Takayama's (you remember him) assistant and his supposed girlfriend. (Despite the fact [I might add] that there was nothing romantic between them whatsoever and Takayama was still in love with Asakawa... Hinting that it was a one-sided love on Takano's part. Ryuji never seemed love-struck like she was in the flashbacks). Mai teams up with Reiko's assistant to try and track her down to find out what happened to Ryuji.
  
  Okazaki wants to know where Reiko is, he agrees to help. Their travels take them to many places including the mental hospital where they are introduced to a strange doctor named Kawajiri. He harbours theories that emotions can be absorbed and transmitted through water, thus creating electricity. This is a very strange theory that in real life would be dismissed as rubbish, which is probably why Mai walked out on this theory and leaves it in the dark.
  
  After a brief message from Masami, Mai starts to realise that she came find Reiko and Yoichi. Indeed, not long afterwards she finds Reiko as asks her about Yoichi, who has become a mute as can speak. The shock of his father's death has left him completely traumatised. Reiko herself is in morning for Ryuji and her father, and in no mood to deal with Mai.
  
  Not only has Yoichi been a mute ever since his father died, and been doing strange things like wondering about in the town where Ryuji used work and blowing up TVs. Too scared that the police will find her, Reiko pleads with Mai to promise not to tell them where she is.
  
  Mai promises her, and goes to ask the doctor Kawajiri to find out how to help Yoichi. However, after one of the schoolgirls Okazaki was interviewing dies... Mai thinks that Reiko must have had something to do with it, and rats her out...
  
  Reiko and Yoichi Asakawa and Takeshi Yamamura, original stars of the movie were the only ones who held water in this film while the other characters seemed to waste minutes of screen time discussing theories that are never used and are useless anyway. I was also pleased to see some flashbacks that included Ryuji, as he's always a treat to watch.
  
  Rikiya Otaka was great to watch and really gave us true insight to the character of Yoichi. Otaka, at this point being the uncrowned prince of Japanese child actors really makes his mark in this film. The use of his eyes was wonderful and matched up to Sanada's beautiful way of using his eyes to convey emotion. Not only does it stick the feel that these two actors are father and son, but it shows Otaka's talent and that if he keeps working he may become a star himself one day.
  
  The lead female was a real disappointment, mainly because you expect the same strong, powerful and lovable Reiko-job you received from Matsushima from the first. However the writers bumped her down to such limited screen time and replaced with a secondary character from the first film, Mai Takano, who is not as much of a pleasure to watch. In the novel, her role seemed to be as the only acting woman in the tale. However, as you see in the first movie, her presence as the woman was smashed with the presence of Reiko Asakawa. This lives on in the second movie as when Reiko and Mai are together, you still find yourself resenting Mai for her actions and childishness from the first movie. Not because she's not a likable character but because she isn't Reiko Asakawa.
  
  The role of Mai in question has only ever been portrayed as shallow, boring, annoying and just plain pathetic. It's clear they were attempting to keep a strong female presence falls flat on it's face as too many memories of how strong and powerful Nanako Matsushima's Reiko Asakawa makes Miki Nakatani's Mai Takano a very weak character.
  
  Nakatani in question seems to be trying her hardest to make the character of Mai Takano appealing. She is indeed and nice enough person, who wants to help but Mai's help is unwanted, making her seem like an invader to story rather then the new protagonist. Sometimes she seems to be trying a little too hard... However acting was quite good, not Nakatani at her best but still much better then her first a second attempts as Mai Takano in RINGU and RASEN (SPIRAL).
  
  Often, I myself wondered why we didn't see more of Matsushima as her presence was so strong in the first one, she'd keep it in this one. When she was on screen she still seemed to keep dominance over all the other characters despite her little screen time. Her acting is still perfection and she's still a pleasure to watch. As too was Sanada when he made his final appeared. His strong and powerful character still remains centre screen. In the end, it was Matsushima and Sanada who stole the show, not Nakatani and Otaka.
  
  As for the film itself, it seems to never go anywhere. There are some many sub-plots going on that it draws attention away from whatever the main plot is supposed to be. The finale feels suddenly thrown in and rushed. The plot was so full of holes; you could market it as Japanese cheese. It feels like the story was thought up by; pardon my words, a blind chimp on a typewriter that doesn't have an "s" on it.
  
  Though the director was the same as the original, the film doesn't have the same feel as RINGU. Hideo Nakata seemed to be struggling with this film. Don't buy this film if you're expecting a masterpiece, as you'll be disappointed. It isn't worth it until you're a fan of RINGU. A serious fan. Like I said before, you'd have more fun sitting where you are now for the next 98 minutes making up your own sequel. The prequel RINGU 0 however is another story, and one that was more exciting, scarier and entertaining then RINGU 2.
  
  3/5 for trying to be good
  4/5 for acting
  1/5 for plot
  
  Nice try but only for the fans.
  
  
  

• Ringu? About as scary as Pingu.

  
  By A1B9ISLYYCHIVE on 2005-09-01
  Lord, I wanted to like this. I rate the original highly, in that you could really relate to the plot in a "what would YOU do?" scenario (like the "would YOU say Candyman five times in the mirror?") but when the plot goes so much up its own arse (I'm British, I'm allowed to say that) that one of the main scenes involves PLUGGING a boy into a swimming pool because "sea water isn't conductive enough" (don't ask) you just know your simple premise has jumped right down that damn well alongside old Marilyn Manson-features.
  
  The scares just aren't here either. Instead of watching behind your fingers at Sadako like in the first movie, here you just feel like telling her "you know what? Get over it. And brush your hair".
  
  I've yet to see the third installment of this never ending franchise, but if this bloated mess is anything to go by I won't be missing much. No funny comments here, because it's a real shame. It's always fun to rip into bad movies and CD's, but The Curmudgeon gets no pleasure from mocking movies that COULD, and SHOULD, have been great. It's just part of the job.
  
  [...]
  
  

• Does it stink in here?

  
  By A528K1ZX15P1V on 2006-05-12
  Reiko and her son Yoichi are back in Ringu 2, but after more of her family succumbs to the cursed tape she left with her father, they find themselves under suspicion and wanted for questioning by the police. Reiko decides to go into hiding to save her son. Mai Takano (Miki Nakatani; Ringu, Chaos) returns, as the film's lead, to investigate the her boss' death in conjunction with Reiko's disappearance. She meets a local television reporter Okazaki (played by the somewhat nondescript Yanagi Yuurei) who discovers the cursed VHS continues to be circulated, begins tracking it's use and the deaths that surround it. The joint mission becomes first to find Reiko and her son and next to find the solution to end Sadako's Curse.
  
  The trouble I have with the film, (and I honestly tried to not immediately cut into it), is that during, and as I revisit the movie, my takes tend to manifest as direct comparisons to Ringu. It's inescapable, and I apologize in advance. We have people watching the VHS. They pass it on in an attempt to save themselves. We have some purposefully watching it, and we have some accidentally seeing it. Warnings are given about it's content. We have an investigation. And again, someone returns to Sadako's home for a finale. Sound familiar? Add in a visit to a mental institution to interview a survivor of "the tape", where the Mai & Okazaki meet a doctor who seems to have an inside track on solving Sadako's Curse, and you have your sequel in a nutshell. I won't say it's a predictable movie by any means. I can say however, that with few exceptions, surprise will not be the order of the day. If an extra 20 minutes were added to Ringu, this film might be rendered unnecessary. Or better yet, I would be satisfied that the complete story was told.
  
  The better portions of Ringu 2 are definitely the scenes concerning the VHS and it's history. There is nothing more chilling than watching the grainy, stuttering flashes just before "The Well" appears! And we all know what happens after that... The remainder, I'm afraid, succumbs to Nakata's hurried screenplay; which, is saddled with forced material. (Let's not mention the failed first attempt at a sequel; 'Rasen'). Which is unfortunate. The oft written about pressure to follow Ringu with a rock solid and timely sequel is most assuredly spot on.
  
  Ringu 2 isn't as bad as all that, if only for the simple fact that it's visually magnificent and sports a monster soundtrack. My subwoofer was working overtime on the deep effects during those creepy Sadako scenes and those shots of the VHS sent chills down my spine! Again, the scariest moments surround the tape and the short revisitation of Sadako history, once Mai travels back to the Yamamura home. In the end though, it's barely a sequel that needed to be made. It's also a sequel I wouldn't spend an inordinate amount of time tracking down. At the very least, make sure you've seen it's infinitely better predecessor.
  
  
  
• A decent yet over-complicated attempt at a sequel.
  By A1OUEDUZ4AHVIZ on 2006-11-07
  After "Ringu" knocked my socks off a few years ago, I was very much looking forward to the sequel, but not really sure where they were going to take the story. It would have been all too easy to simply take the Sadako character after the immense impact she had to the climax of the first film, and make a horror movie where she goes on a rampage of death and destruction. As it turned out, the creators took a much more subtle approach, choosing to continue with the first films creepy atmosphere and mystery. Unfortunately, "Ringu 2" doesn't match up to the original on almost any level and I feel it massively overcomplicates the scenario.
  
  The good news is that the film "feels" very much like the first one. Nearly all of the actors have returned and the story just continues exactly where it left off. The police are still trying to figure out what is behind the strange deaths and who the body that was found in the well belonged to. Scientists are also looking into the phenomena, which brings a different spin to it. One of the survivors from "Ringu" can be found in the psychiatric ward, petrified by TVs. Reiko (the star of the first film) and Yoichi (the little boy) are also involved, and this all makes "Ringu 2" a living, breathing part of the series. The challenge was always going to be finding a way to scare the audience a second time and this is where I feel they have failed. But not through a lack of trying!
  
  With "Ringu", once you accepted that someone would die a week after viewing the tape, the rest of the film (apart from one of the main character's ability to read minds to move to plot forward) was intensely frightening and real. The second film unfortunately takes further liberties, with another couple of characters suddenly gaining special powers and Sadako starting to appear in random scenes for shock value alone. A character that died in the first movie appears as an apparition to help Mai and the little boy appears as an apparition even though he is still alive. This just doesn't work as well in my opinion with the viewer's ability to suspend disbelief made far more difficult. I can't help but think they should have stuck to the world they'd created in the first movie, without over-complicating things. There's no need to explain how Sadako does what she does and yet they spend far too much time analysing it instead of letting her mystery and shocking appearance do its work.
  
  These flaws included, I still found the film to be somewhat creepy and mildly entertaining. The minimalist approach to music and sound still works well. The acting is passable in the most but certainly not exceptional. I don't completely understand everything that happened, particularly towards the end but I get the general idea. It's simply another case where the cast and crew have made a decent, honourable attempt at a sequel, yet fallen a fair way short of the original, which turns out to be exactly what happened to the American remakes as well.
  
  
• Enjoyed This Too!
  By A1PJS10X4W1KDT on 2005-12-20
  It wasn't as good as Ringu but I did enjoy this to a certain extent. It gave you better than more than the same but I thought they could've expanded on the story of Sadako better, I thought. But there were some truly creepy moments in this one, especially when that guy is editing that tape, that part absolutely freaks me out everytime! It has some good chill factors but it's missing the suspense in the first one, I think
  
  
• Take this ring and toss it
  By A1DTNYGTWIN4DS on 2007-05-03
  It started out pretty good...it was engrossing and interesting...then it lost all sence about the time the little boy shot a psychic blow and knocked a cop down. Then he ran like hell with his mother and somehow she gets hit by a bus...and no one gets off the bus to see what happened. The boy just watches the blood run down the street. That made no sence.
  
  Then it went to hell in a handbaskey FAST!I honestly don't know which was more boring...the Japanese or the American versions. Or which offered the most off the wall scenerios and wanted us to believe it fit the story.
  
  
  
  
• Far Better than the American Ring Two
  By AZFXEB4CGUJG7 on 2005-08-28
  While Rasen is the better of the Japanese sequels, this is far better than the garbage that is the American Ring Two. This movie does not follow the book (see Rasen), but it is an entertaining, creepy story, and not a bad sequel. This movie was released simultaneously with Rasen in Japan, and features the same characters from the first movie (as does Rasen), but follows a different story line. There is little gore, but the mood is heavy and chilling. Very recommended if you have seen the original Ringu and enjoyed it.
  
  
• Not as good as the first.
  By A39W3263A9HCMN on 2005-06-17
  Gotta admit, I recently picked the Tartan DVD at a video store recently, and I liked it. But I didn't think It was as scary (and as entertaining) as the first!
  
  Storyline: Takes place a year after the events in the first movie. Yoichi has been doing some weird and twisted stuff lately and Reiko is desperate for some help to find a person to help him. But then *SPOILER ALERT!* Asakawa dies, and a young woman named Mai Takano takes over. But then she discovers she is the only one to break the curse of the ring virus.
  
  Thoughts: Pretty good, not as great as the first.
  
  So I'm hoping you'll see it when it comes out...
  
  UPDATE:
  So far, this movie's avreage is 2.5 stars. WTF??? I liked this movie! I was expecting the rating to be at least 4 stars but THIS IS JUST STUPID! You guys need to stop hating this movie. PERIOD.
  
  
• Agree
  By A2A14RBCFGMV7L on 2005-08-07
  I agree with Johnny, Kira, and Sophie Lee. This is NOT what I think, anyone expected. The story of Sadako had to continue obviously, but there was no story here. That would be why the US remake almost never was. (They had to call in help from Japan to rewrite a new story!) At the turning point (i don't want to spoil anyone), the movie was over for me. I was asking why? Why taint Ringu? For the disappointed, take comfort in the fact that The Grudge 2 is even worse a sequel than this. Rent Rasen/Spiral instead, or the deeply sad Ringu prequel: 0 Birthday.
  
  
• Horrible, boring, no thrills whatsoever
  By AQDB6KMVED9PS on 2005-08-12
  I was surprised to find this movie on Region 1. I guess Dreamworks wants to milk the franchise as much as possible, coupled with the upcoming Ring Two on DVD. I watched Ringu 2 with an open mind, hoping they wouldn't just rehash the first Ringu. Nakata didn't, but what he did was make an incomprehensible, reprehensible piece of garbage, that goes nowhere with the story of Sadako, and wastes the main characters from the first movie.
  
  My boyfriend fell asleep halfway through and I could barely stay awake for the appalling third act (and I'm the horror freak). Even the so-so Ring 0: Birthday was a good movie compared to Ringu 2. Don't waste your money if you're expecting any remotely resembling the scares of the original or The Ring. Ring Two, while not entirely successful, was at least an attempt at a good sequel. Believe or not, for once the Hollywood product is better than the Japanese version.
  
  Seek out the Ring 0: Birthday import DVD if you prefer a decent Japanese sequel. Or wait until the third American Ring comes out on DVD and they might release 0 in Region 1 then.
  
  
• Effectively Creepy
  By A1IWWRZJOXOSYP on 2008-03-18
  I am in the unique position of watching Ringu 2 without having seen the first film. But I did see both English versions of "The Ring." I liked Rikiya Otaka as Yoichi. He seemed alternately vulnerable and scary as the little boy. The sequence where he knocks the policeman down was simple but powerful. Miki Nakatani plays Mai Takano, the assistant to Hiroyuki Sanada's character. The actress seemed to play it safe and never generated a great deal of emotion despite the weird scenarios like the TV's going crazy in the mental institution. Hitomi Sato plays Masami Kurahashi who was a schoolmate under the power of Sadako. She was scary in her brief appearances. That scene where she's holding out her hand to Mai and begging for help was scary. If Mai had taken the hand, it wouldn't have surprised me to have her sucked into the TV, which might have been more interesting. Fumiyo Kohinata plays Dr. Kawajiri, the psychologist. I liked his character very much as one of the supporting roles. I thought his corpse floated on the water in a most flattering manner. Kenjiro Ishimaru played the police detective. He was interesting as the crusty gumshoe whose investigation was more barrier to Mai than help. In his flashback scenes, Hiroyuki Sanada is amazing. He won the Japanese Best Actor award for The Twilight Samurai and always gives a deep performance. For me, the weakness of the second film was that it was so dependent on the first in order to understand the story. If it'd been written to stand on its own legs a bit more, I would have been less confused. Overall, it was an effectively creepy piece. The well scenes were scary. Enjoy!
  
  
• what!!!!!!
  By A904U83ZBAFJ0 on 2005-08-29
  geez people i mean what's wrong with you? the movie you say you hate isn't that bad you just have to understand the plot or is it you can't read you illiterate idiots!!! not all horror movies have to be overly grotesque i mean look at carrie and rosemarys baby they weren't gushing out blood for every freakin minute this is what a movie used to be in the old ages but i have to agree with the dvd packeging reviews the ring two has more features but the ringu two only had movie but the u.k. version got a special edition with eastern asian real so yeah you don't want to spend money just for this but people it is still a good movie i mean you just have to know the plot and the ideas going in by far this is a pretty good sequal that most movies would go for plus this is much better than stephen spillberg's "war of the worlds" there were to many plot holes on that so please don't turn down this movie till you see it still is a good kind of it's genre from most...
  
  
• Hmmm
  By ANBQIWHO9JRFS on 2006-02-09
  Man, I watched this movie 2 days ago and already I can hardly remember a damn thing about it. Anyway, 'Ringu 2' has a pretty bad reputation, and it's kinda deserved and kinda isn't. It's not very good, but it's kinda creepy at some points, and during the first hour or so I was fairly curious to see where it was going. Sadly, it turns out it wasn't going anywhere. This film is essentially a melange of subplots that don't really add up to much of anything, nor do they even necessarily resolve themselves properly. The scares are also way, way too random in nature, and after more than a few scenes I just kinda sat there wondering what the hell was the point of all that. And keep in mind that this is coming from someone who doesn't necessarily insist that a horror film have a specific set of rules that must be followed precisely. For example, many, many people complained about the excessively random nature of the scares in the American 'Ring Two', also directed by Hideo Nakata, but I didn't mind it there. It's way, way worse here. 'Ringu 2' also has an irritating tendency to reiterate the first film too much with out adding anything new. At times the film seems to say, "Remember this locale from Ringu? Well, here it is. Again. Ehh? Ehh?" A few individual scenes are quite interesting or effective, but after a while it gets pretty frustrating and repetitious. They also play up the technological aspects of the movie way, way too much. I may be alone in thinking this, but the various other Ring films proved effective in spite of the bizarre tech horror aspects, rather than because of them. Finally, the last 20 minutes prove to be particularly disappointing. Not only do they fail to really put everything together effectively, the horror scenes here just weren't very good in and of themselves.
  
  One gets the impression that Nakata and company were trying way too hard to just cash in on their success immediately. It's like they took 4 separate incomplete scripts for a sequel and just combined them all. Nakata does have a talent or this kind of thing which does shine thru in a few moments but it's just hopelessly muddled as a whole. All in all, never too boring, but definitely pretty unsatisfying, in the end.
  
  Grade: C
  
  
• Sadako Is Back!!!!!!!!!!!
  By AHOL2RH2MT51T on 2005-10-14
  This movie is much better than most people would have you think. I suggest you see it yourself before judging. I can't wait for Ringu 3 to see what is up with Yoichi!!!
  
  
• The final Ringu
  By A1JH5J1KQAUBMP on 2007-04-21
  The first "Ringu" was a superb horror film that really didn't need a sequel. Hideo Nakata, who directed both films, seems to understand that the less we see of Sadako, the ghostly villain of this series, the scarier she is. However, that fundamental truth is directly at odds with the production of more films about her. This installment is mostly dull and incoherent. It becomes silly at times, such as the sequence in which a scientist attempts to drain the "Sadako energy" from a cursed victim into a swimming pool. I can't recall a single film that has successfully wedded empirical scientific method to the supernatural; it always comes off looking ridiculous. Having seen the entire Ringu cycle now, I can say that they--and you--should stop after the first film.
  
  
• HORRIBLE!!!
  By ACW798N1UUXQO on 2005-07-05
  There are two sequels to Ringu: The Spiral (AKA Rasen) and Ringu 2. Neither of them are very entertaining and this one is even less entertaining than The Spiral; in fact, it isn't entertaining at all. It is extremely hard to follow, very very boring, and not even the slightest bit scary. It is everything that Ringu isn't. It is one of the biggest wastes of my time and money that I've ever spent. I am a huge fan of the entire Ring series, including the American remakes and the novels as well. I'd recommend the American version of Ring 2 before I'd recommend this piece of garbage. That one also isn't scary, but at least it's entertaining. However, I highly recommend the prequel to Ringu, which is Ring 0: Birthday. That is highly entertaining and (IMO) scarier than Ringu and The Ring combined.
  
  
• Not even close to being as scary or as good as the original Ringu!
  By AVR3F6VQYIMZW on 2005-09-07
  I had been waiting for this film to be released on DVD for years after having seen the original Ringu, I thought the original Ringu was very well amde and scary. A much better film than the American remake The Ring. Well this time around I have to say I was very disappointed in Ringu 2. When I watched this film I had recently seen The Ring Two which was made by the same director but I found to be somewhat boring with very few scary scenes. But it turns out that Ringu 2 was not only boring but had no scary scenes at all. When I watch a horror movie I hope to see something scary on the screen. It doesn't have to make me jump out of my seat but it could at least accelerate my heart rate a little or something along those lines. But instead with Ringu 2 I found myself falling asleep and I wasn't even tired, I was bored. This film was nothing like Ringu and I was hoping it would be. It is a shame that such a good film has such a bad sequel.
  
  
• Worthy sequel continues the cycle
  By A2P49WD75WHAG5 on 2006-07-06
  
  Ringu 2 was released as a result of Japanese audiences panning Rasen, the legitimate followup based on Koji Suzuki's novel. For anyone having seen both, one might see them as parallel universes, or alternate realities in the Ringu canon.
  
  Immediately following the conclusion of Ringu, the police are investigating the happenings of Ringu. Sadako, she with the long black hair hanging down her face, has been identified by the elderly Takashi Yamamura, the cousin who tried to profit from Sadako's mother's paranormal abilities. Reiko Asakawa, the protagonist of Ringu, and her son Yoichi are nowhere to be found, and the recent death of Reiko's father have police really baffled.
  
  The central character this time around is Mai Takano, the lab assistant and lover of the late Ryuji Takayama, Reiko's ex-husband. Still haunted by Ryuji's death, she becomes entangled in the police inquiries and we find out here that she has the same psychic abilities as Ryuji, meeting up with Reiko and Yoichi. In contrast to the first film, one sees a frightened but overall weary Reiko. Mai recalls a scene where her mentor tells her that her abilities won't help anyone. The movie plays out so that her abilities are of use.
  
  Continuing Reiko's story on the killer videotape is Mr. Okazaki, who interviews a cute but frightened high school student, Kanae Sawaguchi. She pleads with him to get him to watch it. He promises, but being a jerk, just shoves the video in his file cabinet. Guess what happens to poor Kanae later? She figures in the two most frightening scenes in the film, one when her contorted face is seen on the gurney, pretty scary, and in a video editing scene when she gets her revenge from the grave. Their interaction provides poses a continuity question. The solution to counter the curse was established at the end of the first movie. In Ringu 2 then, does watching the video for someone who had already seen it another solution? Given the parameters and outcome of Ringu, it can't be. So is this then a misguided plea from Kanae due to desperation, especially as she tells him he has to show the video to someone else or else he will die?
  
  Meanwhile, Masami, the girl who was with Reiko's niece Tomoko in the opening scene of the first Ringu, is in the hospital, mute and deadly scared of TVs. She is under the care of Dr. Kawajiri, who believes that intention can be a form of living energy, and thus did Sadako's will continue to live thirty years past her death. However, he is one more obsessed with his research than what happens to his patient, especially when he experiments with Masami and later with Yoichi.
  
  Miki Nakatani, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rikio Otaka, Nanako Matsushima, and Yoichi Numata, who died this year of a heart attack on 29 April, reprise their roles as Mai Takano, Ryuji Takayama, Yoichi, Reiko Asakawa, and Takashi Yamamura. With a reserved yet gentle and empathic demeanor, small wonder Nakatani shines in her overall low-key but appealing performance as the sensitive Mai. Nakatani and Otaka make just as great a pair as Matsushima and Otaka did in the first Ringu.
  
  If the girl playing the cute yet ill-fated Kanae looks familiar, that's Kyoko Fukada (Momoko in Shimotsuma Monogatari) with black hair and chubbier cheeks. And the elderly cab driver who takes Mai and Yoichi to the Yamamura Inn is Isao Yatsu, who played the senile silly face-making Mr. Sato in Ju-On, as well as the incompetent caretaker in Dark Water. Trivia: the train station where Mai finds Yoichi is Asagaya, which is on the Chuo Line and two stops west of Shinjuku, after Nakano and Koenji.
  
  While nothing tops Ringu, this is a worthy sequel with enough scares and scenes of a crawling Sadako for those who like that stuff. I prefer Rasen, which gives a genetic concept to the ring, but I wasn't disappointed with this sequel either.
  
  
  

• Ringu
• Ju-On 2
• Ju-on (The Grudge)
• Dark Water
• Ringu 0 (2000) / Rasen (1998) (Double Feature)