Some great set-pieces here (notably the even more watery climax than the original), and I'd argue Nakata deciding to zig instead of zag for the sequel is a net positive, but the reduction of the Asakawa character to a mere cameo is a huge problem for the movie's dramatic heft. Sure, one could argue her story had wrapped up in RINGU, but I was never compelled by Takano, nor her actress (no shade to Miki Nakatani, she's brilliant in WORLD OF KANAKO, for instance). The expansion of the Sadako myth never felt wholly complete nor satisfying, either. That being said, I rather enjoyed Nakata's quick-cut horror shots (not jump scares as we know them in America) and his Jungian nonsense as his foundational tools, and honestly, as a sequel to one of the great horror films of the last forty years, RINGU 2 could have been a whole lot worse.
Some great set-pieces here (notably the even more watery climax than the original), and I'd argue Nakata deciding to zig instead of zag for the sequel is a net positive, but the reduction of the Asakawa character to a mere cameo is a huge problem for the movie's dramatic heft. Sure, one could argue her story had wrapped up in RINGU, but I was never compelled by Takano, nor her actress (no shade to Miki Nakatani, she's brilliant in WORLD OF KANAKO, for instance). The expansion of the Sadako myth never felt wholly complete nor satisfying, either. That being said, I rather enjoyed Nakata's quick-cut horror shots (not jump scares as we know them in America) and his Jungian nonsense as his foundational tools, and honestly, as a sequel to one of the great horror films of the last forty years, RINGU 2 could have been a whole lot worse.
