Rings – A review

The video resurfaces when a college professor buys a VCR on a flea-market. He sets in motion a series of events that brings Samara to the digital age. A series of events that will change the lives of two young lovers forever.

Following the tradition of horror movies from the past Rings (the third outing in the series) is lesser than part two, which in turn was lesser than part one. I expect that in time we will get Samara in space.

Now I shouldn’t be too hard on the movie, it’s a fun outing. It’s just that this movie is brimming with excitement and love for the material yet it doesn’t really come to fruition. Like coloring a drawing with all the wrong colors.

 The story or Orpheus. One character called Gabriel. A clock set at 7:07. You can certainly tell that the creators wanted to add some cultural mythology to the video-legend.

Basically the biggest problem with Rings is, in fact, the title itself. Just going with the title I was certainly expecting several people getting Samara coming over. Considering our current youtube-era I was expecting some Samara vengeance on a worldly scale. Yet that doesn’t happen (until the final end).

For a moment there I really did think this movie was going to take the expected route. A college professor starting a club around the video; that’s a massacre waiting to happen. I couldn’t wait before Samara got to have some fun in the auditorium.

But then, suddenly, the movie shifts gear and turns back into an investigative plotline. The airplane-opening scene is never referred to again. All those college kids (who are probably going to die) never referred to again. Gabriel’s beef with the police –no mention.

So basically this movie managed to concoct itself into several story-strands. And I can’t see the reason why.

 It would have been far better if the movie had cut several scenes out. Like the airplane scene or the video-club.

Or added the title “two years EARLIER”…instead of “Later” to it.

Now I do like an investigative plotline in a horror-movie

Though Rings does oversimplify things: the protagonist talking to herself to inform the audience.

As any other audience member I like to know the back-story of the villain. But, to be honest, after a while you’ve got all the background  information about Jason, Freddy, Jigsaw and Michael Myers you need.

The same goes for Samara. I liked the back-story, but now we should stop investigating any more. Otherwise you have to resort to contrarieties like siblings or aliens. So basically with Rings the investigative angle for the Samara character is over.

 One question does linger though: How did Samara get her powers?

Is she the child of a water demon like the original version?

But, then again, do we need an answer to this question?

In good sequel fashion Rings didn’t dillydally with repeating the big reveal from part one (Samara is pure evil) early on. So in coming sequels we need to get a new plotline going. 

 Spoiler: Who knows, maybe because the video is now widely distributed, Samara stops killing individuals and has bigger plans.

Rings did end with a step in the right direction for that. Which, again, showcases the love the creators had for the original two (American) movies. Too bad they also filled this movie with some mindboggling tropes: a skype call that ends suddenly, a phone out of juice, one or two obvious plot elements that the smart people on the screen don’t seem to understand (the mark on Julia’s hand, the visions, Samara being evil), bad decision making (“there’s an evil ghost after me, let’s go out on my own!”), some plot holes (what about Julia’s mom?) and, of course, casting somebody known for playing villains as the…

But again, staying positive, I do like the fact that Rings kept itself bound to the fictional universe of the two previous movies. Despite the bad press I always enjoyed part two and Rings pretty much redid Samara’s plan. This is a consistency I like. Samara is an evil child ghost – she’s not a James Bond-villain plotting new ways of extortion. She has one goal and one goal only.

Spoiler: My theory is this: Samara wanted her video to be seen by many because she wanted to find the right candidate to bring about her rebirth.

The style of the movie is definitely on par with the rest of the series. Though I think that Gore Verbinsky (the director of the first movie) did the references back and forth between real life and the Ring-video (those little flashes) a bit more subtle.

The overall acting is perfectly fine, if a bit bland – but that has to do with the desired action and dialogue (and the editing at one time). Being cruel I do have to say that the two leading actors didn’t really leave a lasting impression on me

It was actually one of the extras in the auditorium-scene who couldn’t stop smiling I remember best.

But they weren’t annoying or terrible -and actually rather sweet together- just, sorry to say: forgettable.

Overall, It’s just the script that doesn’t really work. Being several stories at once. Because of that you don’t really know where the movie is going towards (Why do the two main characters break into the grave again?). And it looks like the movie doesn’t know either. Halfway through the movie actually forgets the looming danger of Samara being spooky altogether. And, by my count, the movie ends on day three.

But still, as a back-story to Samara, Rings is quite enjoyable. Yes, it isn’t the best movie out there. Yes, you can see the ending coming for miles. Yes, there are quite a collection of tropes to be found throughout the movie. And, definitely, yes, this movie doesn’t sell you what you actually want until the final ten seconds. But, then again, you’ve got to love Samara.