Ready or Not 2: Here I Come attempts to continue the story from the cult classic original with the chaos that made it so successful.
The film brings Grace immediately after the events of the first film back into the deadly game, with a new cast of rich characters, and this time her forgotten emergency contact, and estranged sister played by Kathryn Newton, along with her. While the sequel and Samara Weaving return with the same fun moments, insane kills, gore, and audience entertainment, the film struggles to add anything new to the table to elevate beyond its cult classic original impact. The sequel for the Ready or Not franchise retains some of the chaotic fun of the first film and while some new actors spice up the intrigue, the film ultimately feels like a rehash with weaker writing that borrows from a lot of other projects.
To start off the Gillet and Bettinelli-Olpin co-directed sequel, Grace lands in the hospital with a ton of suspicion on her almost- families’ combustion from the first film, while dealing with her sister she fell out with seven years earlier. The two soon learn after a deadly hospital chase that six of the richest other families in the world are also connected to La Balle (Satan) and are preparing another game where Grace is again the target. The two find themselves in an Elijah Wood-organized hunt , similar to the first film, where they must survive until dawn while handcuffed together, in order to stay alive and prevent any evil families from having the “high seat”. The sisters dodge, run, and kill their way through the families in a bloody affair while reconnecting with each other in the process. It’s a premise that is solidly clever for a film that was not even planned on being created until the success of the first, but clearly felt like a forced concept and not something with passion behind it.
There are breaks of the film that are absolutely great, though many of those moments feel eerily similar to the John Wick franchise and a rehash of the first. Certain sequences capture the unique concept and chase sequences with all the gore audiences expected from the film with the comedic aspects of the riches’ out-of-touch mindset, and really succeed in its main goal. Samara Weaving is strikingly amazing in her role, standing out as real, and heart- pounding, it’s a type of role she has grown to be outstanding in and while she brings a repetitive trope to her career, audiences including me just can’t get enough of her loading up a shot gun and letting out her incredible screams. Lead by Weaving, the sequel’s positives are clear in the extreme fun moments and large audience reactions with laughs and gasps in back-to- back sequences, that perhaps don’t elevate the film to a high rating like its first, but avoid from it being a large flop and an unpleasant premiere experience.
Additionally, many of the kills from the film are outstanding and creative, the washing machine scene and brutal fight scenes from the seasoned Weaving are just unbelievably fun when they hit the way the directors intended them to. Perhaps, the biggest strength of the film is in its most original new character, Elijah Wood, playing the lawyer, game master, and minister of Satan giving a standout performance that is not only the most comedic aspect of the film but the most unique character progression, an idea that the film desperately needed more of. From start to finish Wood’s character provides the twist and reactions to all of the film’s craziest moments in a way that makes us feel connected to him as an audience but also opposed to his affiliation.
Unfortunately, Ready or Not 2 returns with quite a bit of problems as well, that the first did not include, and pulled the audience out of the entertainment quite a bit. Its biggest issue is that nothing really new was added to expand the shock factor that made the first film work. Most moments that are so fun about the sequel are simply just rehashes of the first, while not retaining the feel of the cult classic original because the audience knows what to expect from the start. The gimmick that is brought out of the all-out chase, and bride turning the tables and killing the families is still very much present, it just does not feel original anymore, its been done before, and the concept of introducing rich families from around the world is an idea ripped straight out of the John Wick sequels so nothing is really new. The plot and dialogue feel reused , which makes the sequel feel very predictable in its return rather than inventive. Moments such as the combustion are almost spoiled because of the first film so there are no stakes as to what will happen at dawn, everything is in the know making the anticipation much lower through the film’s climax. Additionally, Grace’s sister Faith is never really given a strong reason to exist in the story, she has a clear identity and importance to Grace’s character, but as a standalone new piece of the story she is undeveloped, unexplained, and underutilized. This is a trait that many of the characters from the rich families also possess, the more the new acts bring to the story for themselves, the better the action becomes, and we just don’t get enough from our new cast.
Overall, the film brings a common lack of purpose across many characters and plot lines. While the charm of the first film is clearly present and the packed world premiere audiences brought some incredible laughs and gasps, the sequel never steps up from the original, aside from its introduction of Elijah Wood’s character. The film ends up feeling much more like a step down than anyone expected. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come still delivers moments of fun, creative new kills, and audience laughs, however the film ultimately struggles with its repetitive storytelling, lack of originality, and underdeveloped new characters, earning it a lower score than I had hoped at a 65/100 from the Twilight Room.
Twilight Room Score: 65.9 / 100
