Ready or Not 2: Here I Come review: It’s not all fun and games
‘Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’ puts its final girl back in the game as she’s forced to survive another round of hide and seek.
Meeting the in-laws can be nerve-wracking. There’s always the worry that if they form a negative opinion, it could affect your partner’s feelings for you. But it’s potential heartbreak that fuels that anxiety. Concern that this new family could be the one to hurt you never occurs to most people. That’s what catches the main character in Ready or Not off guard when she spends her wedding night hiding from her husband’s relatives so they can’t sacrifice her to the Devil. But she survives and they pay the piper for their failure. Only now, it’s starting all over again in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.
Grace (Samara Weaving) made it to sunrise, outlasting her hunters and winning the game. Now she’s in the hospital, in police custody and there’s no way they’ll believe her story. But her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), might — especially when there’s another assassination attempt before Grace is even discharged. It turns out her survival activated another of Mr. Le Bail’s clauses. The Le Domas family was not the only house who made a deal with the Devil. Now, there’s a power vacuum and they must play another game to decide who will sit in the high seat. So, Grace will be hunted again, but this time she’ll have her sister at her side.
The sequel picks up at the end of the previous film. It replays the final minute then continues the scene with Grace’s perfect response to the officer. The existence of a larger cabal of Devil worshippers is not shocking. Nor is it surprising that they’d be affected by the loss of one of the sect’s great families. However, it is curious that their interest in Grace is not revenge, but something that is once again not at all personal. It’s simply still a case of wrong family, wrong card.
In addition to a previously unknown sister, a new cabal means a whole new cast. They include acclaimed filmmaker David Cronenberg, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Kevin Durand, Olivia Cheng, Néstor Carbonell, Maia Jae, Varun Saranga and Elijah Wood. Where Durand lumbers around like a murderous gorilla on coke, Gellar repurposes some of her slayer skills, including a classic staking.
More so than in the previous movie, this picture portrays the elites as a bunch of greedy, sadistic idiots. Some of them try to distance themselves from the task by calling the sisters things, while others revel in the opportunity to hunt and murder. But the increased attempts to villainize the cabal and make them all appear too incompetent to wield such power is heavy handed. The first film’s reliance on organic proof of their ridiculousness was more effective. The comparisons to the Trump children only underline this departure from the less ambiguous but more disturbing depiction of the entitled rich.
The consolation is their foolhardy greed results in a lot more people exploding. Though Weaving and Newton were likely less enthusiastic about repeatedly facing the blood cannons for our amusement, even if it is consistently funny. It turns out Mr. Le Bail is very particular and requires everyone strictly abide by the rules. Consequently, the rule book in nearly a foot thick, accounting for almost every situation. The extent of the regulations makes his lawyer’s (Wood) knowledge of each statute all the more impressive. Perhaps the only thing more extraordinary is his ability to regularly avoid all the blood splatter.
One of the rules that carry over from the first film is they may only use weapons that existed when their ancestors made their families’ deals. This produces an interesting range of arms and quickly identifies the “new money” amongst them. The fights range from silly sight gags to extreme acts of violence. But there’s a particularly conflicting section that gives rise to some troubling feelings. Two scenes unfold in parallel — a laughable bout of fisticuffs and an appalling display of brutality — and its difficult to continually switch between amusement and horror.
In spite of some predictability, the film delivers a comical comeuppance fitting of the franchise. Even though a deleted post-credit scene planted the seed for this narrative, it took six years to come to fruition. It will be interesting to see if they find a way to continue the story once again.
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Starring: Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton and Elijah Wood
