Year: 2017
Genre:
Horror
Directed: F.
Javier Gutierrez
Stars:
Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Vincent D’Onofrio, Aimee
Teegarden, Bonnie Morgan, Chuck Davis Willis, Patrick Walker, Zach Roerig,
Laura Wiggins, Lizzie Brochere
Production:
Paramount Pictures
Twelve years have passed since we last caught a glimpse of
the waterlogged Samara clambering out of the well; twelve years. I want you to
remember that because evidently the makers of Rings, the newest installment in the series forgot. They forgot
that the origin of their vengeful specter has already been told and the
supposed rules of Samara’s curse need maybe a refresher at most. Yet given the
fact this film simultaneously ups stakes and downplays expectations I have to
ask, what are we supposed to be looking at: a reboot? A sequel? A spinoff?
I can’t honestly tell you what we’re supposed to be watching,
but what it looks like is a really s***ty horror movie – one that plum forgot
to bring the scary. Jump scares abound in this movie and if that’s all it takes
to jolt you out of your seat then watch out for the loud claps of car doors
closing and umbrellas bursting open. Otherwise the second scariest thing about
this movie is it makes an entire rural Georgia town look like the McPoyle’s
from It’s Always Sunny (2005-Present).
Why you got to be comparing us to this movie? |
To think, I could have been in Hidden Figures (2016) instead. |
After an absurd opening hook provided by the single worst
in-flight movie ever, the film begins with a young teenage couple inexplicably
agog about the legend of Orpheus. Male Meatbag #1 (Roe) is headed off to
college leaving Female Meatbag #1 (Ingrid Lutz) to wait for the inevitable
turkey drop back in their hometown. The film insinuates she’s taking care of a
sick family member but we never see them and the plot thread drops as soon as
Male Meatbag #1 stops answering his phone. Female Meatbag #1 becomes upset and
makes her way to the guy’s college where we meet (or rather re-meet) Male
Meatbag #2 (Galecki). #2 is a biology professor who in addition to barely teaching
classes also somehow managed to start an experimental death cult to protect
himself from the cursed tape he recently found. Male Meatbag #1 is involved;
Female Meatbag #1 sees the video, Female Meatbag #2 (Teegarden) dies and we all
go on a glorious adventure to stop our flat screens from attacking.
Now on Blu-ray... |
The main problem that every film in the Ring Series (2002-Present) has to try to overcome is finding a
second act that matters. The concept all but requires the main source of fright
and threat to bookend a narrative dead zone whereby victims anxiously await
their fates. The Ring (2002)
accomplished this with an engaging mystery. The characters were given a clear
time clock, elevated stakes and clues within the cursed video to give the
audience something to play with.
Rings attempts the
same thing, but since the audience should have some context (again it’s been
twelve years), we’re all just twiddling our thumbs waiting for the characters
to catch up. The mystery is a slightly different take on the curse (it’s also a
slightly different video), but it hardly justifies this airless, soulless cash
grab. Especially since the gothic atmosphere of the first is completely absent
and all we’re left with to mull on is a late appearance by Vincent D’Onofrio.
For what it’s worth, supporting players Vincent D’Onofrio
and Johnny Galecki outshine the leads in this insipid film like rusted tin cans
in a rubbish tip. They’re not by any means good, but they wisely play to their
strengths unlike Ingrid Lutz who looks like she’s about to burst a blood vessel
trying to fake an American accent. Of course in comparison to Roe, she actually
looks like she’s trying to sell her role. Roe ambles onto the screen like a
last place relay racer who suddenly decided “I just don’t give a f*** anymore.”
This film is a redundant farce lacking any of the inspiration
that made the first American remake not just good but a J-horror trendsetter.
The chills and thrills are non-existent and story can’t help but flounder in a
sea of inattention and indecision. What is Rings supposed to be? I honestly
think it might just be a bad joke twelve years in the making.
Final Grade: F
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