I enjoyed the first ring film from Japan, it was eerie and sufficiently creepy. Then I watched Rasen, and it had a cool moment here and there, but was a strange and disappointing sequel. Now I have watched this one and it is bland and boring...sadly the American sequel was better and I usually prefer the Japanese version of films. I now know that Rasen is the official sequel and actually related to the book while this one was made because that film was received so poorly, so everything you saw in Rasen forget about it. Though strangely this film answers the question of why we went from little girl to adult creepy woman. In the end, though, I think I would have preferred never to have seen either sequel as both really just ruin what was established in the first film.The story is somewhat similar to Rasen as we are once again following Mai. People are still trying to do stories about the video tape and the mother and son from the original are on the run. Seriously, there really is not a whole lot of story here. Just people making discoveries and me being bored to tears. Not even a cool autopsy scene to at least satisfy the part of me that likes gore. For the most part it is little boy has key and lots of water.The American version was not a favorite of mine either, but it played out better than this one. This one just seemed to have no focus, we go form this person and that person. We keep having to look at stuff and flashbacks it just feels messy. There are only a couple of things in this one that carried over to the American version and that is the fact the boy is the focal point, water is pivotal and the strange chase scene up the well.So no, I did not like this film much at all. Rasen and this film keep trying to explain everything in scientific terms rather than it just being an evil spirit. I also have Ringu 0, but after watching these other two sequels I am not sure how up to the task I will be at watching a prequel.

In this sequel to Ringu (1998), Mai Takano is trying to learn more about the death of her boyfriend, Ryuji. She soon hears stories about a videotape haunted by the spirit of a girl named Sadako, who died many years earlier. Supposedly, anyone watching the tape will die of fright exactly one week later. After some investigating, she learns that Ryuji's son, Youichi, is developing the same psychic powers that Sadako had when she was alive. Mai must now find some way to keep Yuuichi and herself from becoming Sadako's next victims Ringu was the first horror movie I brought on video,, I sat really close to TV and Ringu the scared the hell out me, so bad then i had to look for sequel.It was not that good as Ringu at all, it didn't have the same feel to It.There were some good creepy moments here and there however that was is about it, those scenes were not scary.This movie did have some really dull moment, which did bore me.The acting was not great but still good from most of the cast.Okay sequel but could of been much better., I going this movie a 5 out of 10.

In more ways than one. When I saw "Ring 2" listed, I thought it would be the American they would air. And I certainly would not have guessed that I would wind up enjoying this anywhere near as much as I did. I had pretty much written off original(as opposed to remade ones... yes, I know) Asian horror films, sure that I wouldn't understand, and thus, not intending to pursue, them. Yet my eyes were just about glued to the screen, and it turned out to be one of the more engaging viewing experiences I've had recently. I haven't seen the first one, only the Verbinski version, so if you find any utter ignorance in this review, please chalk it up to that(and no, I don't have an excuse for the rest of my writing). The plot is well-written and develops nicely throughout. The pacing is good. The acting is great, even for the kid, which is arguably a bit unusual. The effects are all marvelous, nothing looked fake. The scares are well-done, and they work quite well. There is atmosphere and creepiness all over the place, herein. I'd still watch Gore's before this or the others in this particular series, but hey, I am a Westerner. And this still had me in a tight grip for the 90 minutes. I recommend this to fans of the genre and the people who made the movie. 7/10

In 1998, Hideo Nakata caused a stir with a horror/fantasy film: "Ringu". With a capacity to make shiver thanks to the suggested and the off-camera, this gem refreshed the Asiatic fantastic genre even the fantastic genre. One year later, the filmmaker stepped back into the breach to produce a (superfluous) sequel. A typical American trend and it is well known: sequels rarely match the brilliance of their elder brothers. Like "the Haunting" (1963) or "the Blair Witch Project" (1999), "Ringu" is a film that cries out to be left alone.However, at first glance, it's an alluring menu with first-class ingredients. One doesn't change a winning formula, especially if it isn't imposed by the Hollywood working conditions: Nakata reproduced the thrifty, sober style that had so well served him for his 1998 film. Patience was his prevailing mood when he directed his work and we are entitled to genteel, spooky moments. But the problem lies in the fact that the scenario appears sometimes as artificial even desultory in its conception and progression. The first chapter was clear in its goal: what was the source of these outlandish images on the cursed video tape? Here, the issues aren't well defined and more simply have a minor importance compared to the first film's major stake. Hence the nearly absence of a crescendo towards terror and an increasing lack of interest from the viewer.In spite of an elegant camera work and the molding of an eerie atmosphere, it is highly likely that this superfluous sequel will leave a good number of the aficionados of the first film unsatisfied. So, you'd better stick with the first film or even its American ambassador.