Format: Streaming video from Hulu Plus on Fire!
I love a good subgenre, the more obscure or personal, the better. When I say I love a good subgenre, I’m including things like “zombie” of course, but I’m really talking about subgenres that are more about finding connections between movies that are otherwise unrelated. “Good for her!” is one such subgenre—movies where the female protagonist overcomes something terrible. It includes movies as diverse as Swallow and Happy-Go-Lucky One of my current favorite subgenres like this is “Samara Weaving covered in blood.” Based on that, you should realize that we are talking about Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (which I will be referring to as Ready or Not 2 from this point forward).
There is no way to discuss this movie without discussing the original film. So, while I’m not going to offer up any spoilers for this movie I am necessarily going to have to at least mention important plot points from the original Ready or Not. If you don’t want that movie spoiled, you should stop reading at the end of this paragraph. Or, just skip the next two paragraphs—I’ll keep the spoilers limited to that.
So in the first Ready or Not, we learn that Grace MacCaullay (Samara Weaving) was about to marry into one of the most powerful and wealthiest families in the world. After the wedding, she needed to play a single randomly chosen game. She drew hide and seek, which changed everything, since that was the one game that was actually a death sentence. It turns out that the family she was marrying into maintained power and wealth specifically because of a pact with “Mr. Le Bail,” which is an anagram for Belial. Yep—they’re all devil worshippers. If they manage to kill Grace before dawn, everything stays the same. If Grace survives, the entire family (aside from her) dies by being exploded.
The fact that we have a sequel should tell you exactly how the first movie ends. As Grace is being investigated by the police (after all, she’s the only survivor of what turned out to be a bloodbath), she discovers that she’s not quite done. While her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) visits her in the hospital, Grace learns that there are other families who have the same pact. And, not just that—there is a whole council, and when a family dies off, the seat of high power is in play. So it’s another game of hide and seek, this time also including her sister, with the winner essentially getting limitless worldly power.
And that’s really it. Grace and Faith now have to survive a new game of hide and seek while being pursued by the heads of several extremely powerful and wealthy families. The rules are simple and cannot be violated—only the heads of households participate in the hunt; if a hunger is killed, the next person in line in the family joins the hunt. Hunters cannot kill members of other families, but are allowed to kill members of their own families. And whomever is wearing the signet ring at dawn inherits limitless earthly power.
Ready or Not 2 has a fun cast and it has a lot of bloody fun with the premise. Grace and Faith are going to be beaten to absolute pulp, something that happens to Grace in the first film. There’s a lot of blood here. But Grace and Faith are going to give as good as they get, which is exactly what we expect.
Ready or Not 2 keeps the tone of the first film. What is happening is vicious and terrible, and the people who are hunting our protagonists are vicious and terrible as well—but they are also inept and comic, and that’s part of the fun here. These people are the most powerful and influential people in the world, and they are unable to handle basic tasks on their own. They are rude, silly, and incompetent in addition to being immoral and venal. Those of us who, in the world of the movie (and presumably in the real world as well) would live under their thumb would want them to be ridiculous and easy to laugh at.
In addition to Weaving and Newton, Ready or Not 2 includes appearances from Elijah Wood, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nestor Carbonell, Kevin Durand, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, and more. The cast is solid front to back and a joy to watch.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is, honestly, more of the same, but if you enjoyed the first movie, isn’t that what you want?
NOTE: Blogger is having some issues with comments here and replying to other blogs. I’ll update you on this when I can.
Why to watch Ready or Not 2: Here I Come: It keeps the energy of the original movie.
Why not to watch: Our heroes take more damage than Bruce Willis in all of the Die Hard movies combined.
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