The Ring 2 film review

certificate_15

THE RING 2

When the American remake of the Japanese Ringu became a huge hit three years ago, it seemed inevitable that a sequel wouldn't be long in coming. With Gore Verbinski busying himself on the set of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Hollywood turned to the film's original creator Hideo Nakata for help. What is most perplexing about the result therefore is the singular lack of tension and horror that Nakata brings to this reworking of his own film. Something has clearly been lost in translation.

The sequel picks up events six months after the end of the first episode. Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) has left Seattle and escaped from the clutches of Samara, the evil dark-haired girl who appeared in the mysterious video that set off all of the horrific events in The Ring. Trying to live as normal a life as possible with her son Aidan (David Dorfman), she takes a job on a local newspaper. But when a mysterious death is reported Rachel's suspicions are raised, and finding the video nasty at the scene of the death confirms that Samara may still be exerting an influence from beyond the TV screen.

While Gore Verbinski had a striking success with his adaptation of Nakata's work through brilliant cinematography, moody lighting and first class editing, Nakata makes a poor fist of the job. An opening sequence mimics the first film's beginning, but the notable lack of tension it creates sets the tone for the rest of the picture. At times the direction seems like that of a television film, with jarring cuts, some poor CGI and worst of all, a total reliance on shock jump cuts to scare the audience. And while the first of these is effective, their use becomes quickly predictable.

The script also hampers affairs. Several unlikely scenarios are left unexplained, and the original premise of the video that will scare you to death plays only a minor role here. Instead, the emphasis is on Samara haunting Rachel and her son (although no solid reason is given for this). The notorious film plays on their television screen at random, and characters now have the ability to jump both in and out of the video.