Ready or Not 2: Here I Come review
Ready or Not…here comes a bunch of additional lore to drag down the proceedings.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy
Starring Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, Nestor Carbonell and Kevin Durand
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come Review
It’s hard to watch Ready or Not 2: Here I Come and not walk away thinking it’s that most disappointing kind of sequel. An unnecessary one. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. It’s mostly fine. More of a good thing can work out pretty well as the basis for a sequel. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come doubles down on the wrong thing too often for the best parts of the original to shine through, however.
When I mentioned more of a good thing…I mean that literally. This direct sequel picks up immediately following the first story…and involves another round of Hide and Seek. It’s an unoriginal way to revisit the world of Ready or Not. It’s also the best thing about this sequel. Unfortunately, it only takes up about half of the film’s runtime. It’s bookended by a lot of exposition involving the strange lore of the world Grace (Samara Weaving) has found herself stuck in. Like I said…Ready or Not 2: Here I Come doubles down on the wrong thing.
This time, Grace isn’t alone. Her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) arrives after being contacted by the hospital Grace is admitted to following her ordeal with the Le Domas family. Being Grace’s emergency contact leads to the first encounter the sisters have had in seven years. There’s animosity between them caused by the way Grace left home when she turned 18. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come goes to the fractured relationship card early and often…despite only having roughly one thing to ever say about it. It’s fine for the character arcs of the sisters…but it takes up a lot of space within the narrative.
Not as much space, however, as the lore about the Satan worshipping high council and it’s six (now five following the explosive ending of the original) families that comprise it. Long story a lot less long than Ready or Not 2 spends telling it…Grace’s victory in the Hide and Seek game has triggered a second round of competition. This time…the highest chair on the council is up for grabs. Whoever controls that seat…controls the world. The first act of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is full of exposition about this. It’s…not very exciting.
The good news is that the game begins eventually. Grace and Faith need to survive to sunrise…a member of each family hunting them along the way. If Grace makes it again…she will win the seat and the families will, once again, pop like a blood balloon. There are some fun violent action scenes in Act 2 of the movie. Weaving and Newton are likable and easy to root for. The antagonists aren’t as interesting this time around. Especially the character that the movie suddenly decides to turn into the ultimate evil of the piece.
Unfortunately, Act 3 slows the movie to a crawl once again. The lore takes over…specifically a loophole that changes the terms of the game. That might sound interesting…but it ends up being the opposite. The fun dissipates and Ready or Not 2: Here I Come bogs itself down in more of that lore that isn’t nearly as interesting as the creators of the franchise seem to think it is. An invisible evil hand controlling the most powerful families in the world? Sounds great. And you can stop right there like Ready or Not did and get everything you need out of it. This sequel explores it further…and suffers for doing so.
Which is all just a long way to bring us back to the word that best describes this sequel. Unnecessary. It’s basically built out of three ideas. Another round of Hide and Seek, deepening the lore surrounding the game, and the relationship between Grace and Faith. That’s more of the same, doubling down on the wrong thing, and character arcs without more than one real idea to explore. Even the charm of watching Weaving fight off evil characters can’t elevate Ready or Not 2: Here I Come beyond “fine”.
Scare Value
Everything about Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is a reminder of the old adage “less is more”. It features a bigger cast, bigger location, deeper lore, double the protagonists and control of the whole world as the grand prize. At some stage of development…someone probably should have recognized when bigger becomes too much. The charm of the original is largely lost in the unnecessary glow up. What’s left is a decent movie with a few inspired moments…mostly dragged down by an obsession with aspects of the story that simply aren’t that fun.
2.5/5
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come Link
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