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"OK vastly underrated."

Written By: Steven C. Huskins

I too, was a little disappointed with the SECOND sequel. I thought Nakata would have learned from Rasen's mistakes. But it pains me to see this movie averaging 2.5 stars. I mean the American sequel of the ring 2 gets 3. Yet this sequel, not only waaaayy better than Rasen, is also better than the American sequel. It deserves more than this, as the film, while not as effective as ringu, is still a chilling film and is better than 95 % of horror sequels. And, there are also more scary sequences in this sequel too. Ringu had very few except for the end.... it was the tone and sense of fear that made it so scary. So take it for what it is, it still is the best ringu sequel out of any country. easily topping rasen and the ring 2. I'm sure even the one star reviewers will agree.

"No better or worse than the first one"

Written By: Libretio

RING 2
[Ringu 2]

(Japan - 1999)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Theatrical soundtrack: DTS Stereo

A young student (Miki Nakatani) and a TV journalist (Y»rei Yanagi) go in search of the evil spirit which caused mayhem in the original RING (1998), only to unleash a fresh wave of supernatural horror.

Hideo Nakata's commercially-driven sequel employs the same funereal pacing and one-dimensional characters which stifled the first film, and the results are no less disappointing. Denied the element of surprise which invigorated RING's closing sequence, Nakata and screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi are forced to rely on a dissonant music score, creepy sound effects and a handful of traumatic set-pieces (such as a nightmarish vision outside Nakatani's apartment window, and a heartstopping encounter with supernatural horror in a dilapidated well), though much of the material feels contrived and superfluous, and the climactic sequence (in which rational science is defeated by paranormal forces) is wholly inadequate. Clearly, Nakata understands the concept of 'creeping dread', but is unable to deliver a satisfying pay-off.

Already the subject of a comprehensive TV series ("Ringu: Kanzen-ban", 1995) and a theatrical spin-off (THE SPIRAL, directed by Nakata and released in Japan at the same time as the original RING), the series represents little more than a millennial update of old-fashioned Japanese kaidan, though its ghostly villain ('Sadako') is now a part of the cultural lexicon throughout SE Asia (rather like Freddy Krueger in western society). For some, however, the international success of Nakata's humdrum 'spook show' is baffling, to say the least.

RING 2 was followed by the Korean/Japanese co-production RING (1999) and another Japanese entry, RING O: BIRTHDAY (2000), before the series relocated to America for Gore Verbinski's THE RING (2002), bringing the mythos to a wider audience than ever before.

"Sadako Wishes You WELL..."

Written By: Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein

Is RINGU 2 as good as RINGU? No, but as sequels go, it outshines most of them. It's a miracle R2 was even made considering the utter revolt against RAZEN, the "official" sequel. Besides, look at how weak the american RING 2 was! At least there are no ultra-fake, CGI deer-attacks in RINGU 2! Yes, some of the stuff was a bit kooky, and I for one wanted Sadako herself to rise from that swimming pool like the hideous, petrifying ghoul she is! Still, there were enough chills and new story elements to more than keep my interest. A worthy addition to anyone's japanese horror collection...

"Effectively Creepy"

Written By: Lee Armstrong

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!

"Strike three."

Written By: Jonathan Appleseed

You hate to see good movies exploited into multiple sequels of varying worth, all of which tend to reflect poorly on the original. The Exorcist, Rocky, and Thomas Harris's character of Hannibal Lecter come to mind. We have a not-so-new group to add to this, and that's the Ringu Anthology of Terror (Rasen/Ringu/Ringu 2/Ringu 0).

Ringu was a good movie. To an unsuspecting American audience, it reinvigorated the horror genre, which year-after-year churns out more garbage than a sewage plant. But Ringu 0 failed in its attempt to bring Sadako to life in a satisfying manner. We saw her, a rather demure figure, but the explanation provided for her backstory was neither persuasive nor reasonable. There was, for those interested, a different explanation in the book that did make a bit more sense, but given the overall quality of the film, I doubt that it would have made a difference. Sadako does creep us out in the end with her disjointed zombie/skeleton walk, and it's unsettling, but two seconds of unsettling film doesn't cut it.

Rasen, the original sequel to Ringu, the two films released concurrently, gave us answers to how Sadako spread the curse, but the film degenerated into such unbelievable ridiculousness that they decided another sequel was in order, so here we are with Ringu 2.

Like Rasen, this picks up where Ringu left off. But instead of introducing a new character, it focuses on Ryuji's girlfriend, who we met briefly in Ringu, Mai. It also completely dismisses Rasen, as if the film never existed. Key plot elements that happen in Rasen don't happen here, and we see much of Yoichi, who we know from past films (one of them being Rasen, mainly) inherited his father's telepathy. Like Rasen, Ringu 2 attempts to explain Sadako and the curse. We learn that Sadako was alive for about twenty-eight of the thirty years that she was entombed in the well, although how she survived without food is anybody's guess.

This film fails for the same reason that Rasen failed - it tried to define the paranormal.

I've now seen all four films that comprise the Ringu Anthology of Terror, and am unsatisfied. They should have stopped with Ringu.

It doesn't seem that we're getting the picture on this side of the ocean either, as another Ring movie is being made. The second movie didn't do as well as the first, critically or financially.

1 1/2 stars.