Ring 2 (1999)

Ring 2 is the official sequel to Ringu, the 1998 adaptation of Kôji Suzuki's novel of the same name.  It wasn't the first, with the original version being a Japanese television movie and, to make things even more confusing, Ring 2 isn't the first sequel to the feature film version.  That was a movie called Spiral.  Released at the same time as Ringu, it failed at the box office, resulting in writer Hiroshi Takahashi and director Hideo Nakata, who made the first film, being tapped to make a quick sequel. 

Shortly after Sadako's (Rie Ino'o) body is found in the well her father Takashi (Yôichi Numata) is brought in to identify the body.  It is soon confirmed through facial reconstruction.  The only thing is that the police are baffled by the fact that it appears she had been alive in the well for 30 years.  Meanwhile, they are continuing to investigate the death of Ryûji Takamara (Hiroyuki Sanada) and disappearance of Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) and her son Yôichi (Rikiya Ôtaka). 

Masami Kurahashi (Hitomi Satô), who was also saved when the curse was broken, is the focus of research by Dr. Kawajiri Ishi (Fumiyo Kohinata), who has discovered that Sadako's energy is still within her.  Mai Takano (Miki Nakatani) is also looking into Reiko's disappearance, discovering her through a psychic connection with Yôichi, who also appears to be carrying some of Sadako's energy, to the point that he has become quite dangerous.  Also wrapped up in the proceedings in a journalist named Okazaki (Yûrei Yanagi) whose methods leave a lot to be desired.

As one can tell from the description there is a lot going on here and, though Suzuki is credited with inspiring the story, this does not follow on from his books.  Instead, it attempts to appease the audience, and studio execs, by giving everyone more of what they want.  That means less sci-fi elements and more supernatural.  They forgot, to the detriment of the film, that what the audience definitely wants is more Sadako.  This time around she is little more than a background character.  Her energy causes things to happen but there is little of her usual method.  It does happen, thanks to Okazaki making a bad decision, and what results from that is interesting.  However, I don't know if it was ever followed up on in any of the Japanese sequels. 

There are elements throughout that are interesting, such as Sadako's video playing when people touched by her are near a television set and the idea of binding her spirit to water to banish it.  There is also the interesting idea of Yôichi becoming some sort of psychic destructive force.  Problem is that this is all mixed together to the point that the plot becomes muddy and, in the end, becomes less and less interesting as everything plays out.  It's not surprising that, other than the child being somewhat possessed, Nakata went in a different direction when making The Ring Two, the sequel to the American version of the film, although he pretty much failed to continue with the best elements of the original on that one as well. 

After this one it appears that Nakata again went his own way while a prequel was made, with Takahashi again writing.  For a series that introduced the long-haired ghost child to the world it seems that both the Japanese and American versions took pains to avoid using that creature as much as possible.  It's a shame since there were always more avenues that could have been explored rather than throwing everything at the wall to see what would stick. 

Ring 2 (1999)

Time: 95 minutes

Starring: Miki Nakatani, Rikiya Ôtaka, Fumiyo Kohinata, Yûrei Yanagi

Director: Hideo Nakata