Reiko takes Yoichi into hiding when her son begins to display frightening powers. Meanwhile, Mai Takano and the authorities begin a desperate search for them, as the mysterious Ring curse spreads. Ringu 2 unfortunately not only is an even more disappointing follow up to the very muddled first film from 1998 but it's also quite boring and pretty uninteresting to say the least and i was expecting a bit more effort to be honest but then again it's a horror sequel and most sequels either truly suck or somehow do well and shine once in a while kinda. (3/10)

This not scary. I did not why it got a 6. That is just overrating it. The Ring (1998) is better and that was an awful movie. If this movie had not been made the remake would not have been made and that is only good thing I can say about this movie. The Ring (2002) is also a lot better. That one is very scary. This movie has an awful story line. It has awful acting. It is not scary. Do not waste your time. Do not waste your money. Do not see this movie. It slow and boring and not scary. I give 4 out 10 because it is a horror movie that is not scary. If you want see something scary See The Exorcist. Do not see this movie. It is not scary at all.

I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed Ringu after years of only having the Hollywood remake and its sequel to deal with. When the opportunity arose to finally view the original Japanese versions I turned the lights off and got ready for a scare-fest. What surprised me about Ringu was the fact it was different from The Ring (or should I say the Hollywood remake was different from the original film?) Ringu made a bit more sense than its Hollywood remake, it relied more on the Rosemary's Baby School of Scares and delivered a creepy, satisfying film. This sequel? Not so much.Perhaps it's the difference in cultures, but having seen (and enjoyed) the Hollywood sequel The Ring Two, and being intrigued by its concept of connection between Samara, Naomi Watts' character's son and water, I figured Ringu 2 would have some sense of familiarity. Instead, Sadako is relegated to almost nothing until the finale, the story (if you can call it that) hops all over the place and character motivations come out of nowhere (Sadako's father embraces death like a martyr after standing around doing nothing for the whole film), and while the main actor in Miki Nakatani has a great face for horror films (her scared face is thoroughly enjoyable!!) the connection to the mother established in the first film dissipates, and we don't even get to see what could have been the most harrowing scene in any horror movie ever (the implication Reiko copied the cursed video, got her son to make her father watch it, essentially making her kill her father), it's all glossed over and thoroughly unsatisfying. While the Hollywood sequel had crazy water effects and, yes, CGI deer, at least it still had the backbone of the mother-son relationship. While this is technically the third film in the Japanese series, made only a year after the original two, it feels like it's already running out of fuel and I walk into the final film with what are quite possibly the lowest expectations I've ever experienced for a horror sequel, and that's saying something.

In very unusual fashion, the film adaptation of the sequel of Japanese smash hit novel, "Ringu", began production and was released at the same time as "Ringu"'s own film adaptation. As the novel, this film was called "Rasen" (the spiral) and while it kept the characters from "Ringu", it followed Kôji Suzuki's novel more closely than the first. However, this move didn't bring the results the producers were expecting as while "Ringu" became a bigger hit than the novel, "Rasen" soon was destined to oblivion. As a result of this, the produces decided to reunite the crew from the first "Ringu" and shot a sequel that followed a new story based on the first film's plot instead of Suzuki's novel. "Ringu 2" was the name of the sequel and director Hideo Nakata did the miracle one more time."Ringu 2" picks up where "Ringu" ends, with Mai Takano (Miki Nakatani) discovering the dead body of her boyfriend Ryuji Takayama (Hiroyuki Sanada), death under mysterious causes related to the video that Ryuji and his ex-wife Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) were investigating. Mai decides to investigate what exactly happened to her boyfriend and starts looking for clues about the cursed video. Troubles arise when she discovers why Reiko went into hiding: her son Yoichi (Rikiya Otaka) is beginning to develop the same psychic powers that Sadako, the girl who supposedly created the video, used to display. Sadako's curse is not finished yet.Reunited with most of the crew from "Ringu", Hideo Nakata returns to complete the tale of the cursed video expanding what he experimented on the first to truly make an improvement over it. While he keeps the subtle, almost minimalist style of the first film, the bigger budget allows Nakata to try new things and play with suspense in exciting different ways. Moving away from "Rasen", "Ringu 2" is like better executed "Ringu", and it almost feels as if Nakata was really happy with the chance to give a proper ending to his own "Ringu". While it lacks an "iconic scene" like the first one's famous ending, "Ringu 2" is a better balanced and overall improved example of Nakata's particular (and very influential) style of the New Wave of Asian horror.Written by Nakata himself and Hiroshi Takahashi, "Ringu 2" acts like an extended epilogue for "Ringu", with the character of Mai Takano trying to find the missing pieces of the puzzle that Ryuji and Reiko tried to complete, and finally facing the evil supernatural force that Sadako was revealed to be in the first film. Like in the first movie, the film bases a lot of its power in the relationships between characters, and while the bond between Yoichi and Mai may not be as strong as the one with his mother in "Ringu", it is very well-developed thanks to a cleverly written screenplay. Avoiding the mistakes of "Rasen" (that tried to give a proper scientific explanation to the Ring curse), "Ringu 2" keeps its mystery as the driving force of the film, and delivers a conclusion that, while probably less shocking than the first one, it's no less satisfactory.To be fair, Miki Nakatani does a remarkable job filling the shoes of Nanako Matsushima as main character, and probably a better job than her, as Nakatani shows a freshness and charm that Nanako never showed (in this aspect, Naomi Watts was also better than her in the American remake). Most of the cast from the first "Ringu" returns, which gives the film a nice continuity. Nanako Matsushima feels more comfortable as a supporting character than carrying the entire film, and the same is true for Hiroyuko Sanada (who plays Ryuji) and the late Yoichi Numata (again as Takashi Yamamura). Newcomers to the series like Yûrei Yanagi and Fumiyo Kohinata deliver a good job that fully completes a well-rounded cast."Ringu 2" is far from a perfect film, but in many ways it is a complete improvement over the influential first part. Still, as "Ringu 2" is basically an extension of the first film's ending, it's definitely pointless to watch it without having seen the first movie, as it's plot is completely dependent of the first one, and it can't stand on its own without the knowledge of the events of "Ringu". Another minor quibble, is that the film moves to a very slow pace (even slower than the first one did), so those expecting a scary experience like the first one will probably be disappointed. "Ringu 2" plays heavy on atmosphere, even more than the first ever did, so it's slow pace is actually beneficial in this aspect.Probably it won't become a classic as the first part did, but judging it as part of the "Ringu" series, this film is definitely a winner. Overall an improvement over the first one, "Ringu 2" is definitely a film to see on a dark night with no lights on. Fans of the series (specially those disappointed by "Rasen" or "The Ring Two"), this is the sequel we demanded. 8/10