While this sequel to the 2002 hit features the same haunting entity and all of the main characters who didn’t die in the first movie, little of the style and flair from the original American release made the trip.

The Ring Two starts with the same plot device, sort of. Two teenagers, this time a boy and a girl, are all set for an evening of making out while the parents are away. But there’s a twist: this boy does not want to make out at all, but instead wants the girl to watch a very scary movie. You know a sequel is bad when you run into textual inconsistencies within the first five minutes. It turns out that you not only have to make a copy for the ghost to leave you alone, but you must also make another person watch it, thereby passing on the curse.

The movie follows the opening vignette with the introduction of the blonde sparkly-eyed heroine from the first movie, Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts). Watts is an unquestionable beauty whose acting skills leave a little something to be desired. When watching Watts I always get the feeling that there is a big, blinking neon sign above her head flashing the words "acting in progress." Her character has transplanted herself to a smaller, quieter Washington State town to get away from the hustle and bustle of big city life and spend more time with her son - at least, that’s the line she gives the new newspaper she works for, where she has taken up residence as the big-city reporter turned bitchy small-town newspaper editor.

After the briefest of set-ups the plot lurches into motion. A call comes in over the police scanner, detailing the horrible death of a high school student. The death is strange due to the grotesquely distorted face of the victim and the appearance of water at the crime scene. As this information slowly sinks into Keller’s head and realization begins to dawn we are treated to the silently mouthed words "Not here," delivered with the appropriate amount of facial contortions. Being the reporter that she is, Keller takes off to start sticking her nose in where it does not belong in an attempt to make things better, when in actuality she makes things worse.

Where the first movie used suspense and story-telling to generate truly scary moments, this version doesn’t even try to capture the same emotional intensity wrought by it predecessor. The anemic intro leads into a severally anemic movie that is not so much a horror flick but a history lesson, giving us all the background about the ghost we didn’t have and didn’t want in the first movie.

The Ring Two appears to have been made purely for its money-making potential. With a movie as well crafted and as integrally linked to a singular piece of film as the first Ring was, this movie could not help but fail. There was absolutely no reasonable place for this film to go and the result is a bunch of garbage. Hopefully, you will read this or any other review of the film before you see it so you can be spared the boredom. The film deserves no stars on any level, as it was nothing but a Hollywood money grab and a completely uninspired effort.

Photos courtesy of DreamWorks Pictures "THE RING TWO"

Directed by Hideo Nakata
Written by Ehren Kruger
Starring Naomi Watts

Art: 0 stars
Entertainment: 0 stars

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