![14th Mar: Back to Black (2024), 2hr 3m [R] (6.15/10)](https://occ-0-1787-132.1.nflxso.net/dnm/api/v6/Qs00mKCpRvrkl3HZAN5KwEL1kpE/AAAABYbdpZousCQpypy5DsjOZqQf13dOA6mXFx_V6NzoBXjjw8QQ2HYyU2ffJZgg4wdpCKx4Hc6CLji4qnWjXZfTMDxiTI8VHdE-9mL6ySC7unFkzbA9b4v3Gzj4EOUUMbyTpcfO_HALklbKLOrYnRpT3EpKxdbgrXHpzo27ECzvSvuznQ.jpg?r=500 "14th Mar: Back to Black (2024), 2hr 3m [R] (6.15/10)")
PLOT: Fresh off surviving her brutal, life-or-death game of hide and seek with her now-former in-laws, Grace (Samara Weaving) once again finds herself forced to participate in a deadly game. This time, she’s up against four families, each of whom is vying for the position she’s on the verge of winning — the head of the devil-worshipping council that rules the world. To make sure she plays, her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), is forced into participating as well.
REVIEW: Ready or Not proved to be something of a sleeper for Searchlight when it came out in 2019, grossing $57 million worldwide on a reported $6 million budget. Now, directorial duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (aka Radio Silence), fresh off two successful Scream movies, are back with a bigger and bloodier follow-up, which seeks to expand on the demonic mythology by introducing a much larger organization controlling the world, with the patriarch played by none other than David Cronenberg.
While it’s not as surprising or innovative as the first movie, it’s still a bloody good time, with Weaving once again a delightful action heroine to follow around. The wrinkle this time is that not only is she wounded after her first game, but now she has to protect her sister, played by the ever-spunky Newton, who proves to be cut from the same cloth as her tricky, tough sister.
One thing that really works is the action design, which makes it more palatable that Weaving and Newton could hold their own, given that the families hunting them are well-armed but not especially proficient. They are the demonic equivalent of nepo babies. Some of the fights are a lot of fun, including a scrap between Grace and the woman her ex-fiancé jilted in favor of her, Maia Jae’s Francesca, with their fight being scored by Bonnie Tyler’s classic “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
Yet, unlike the first film, the tone of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is sometimes inconsistent. While a light action-comedy, one of the fights takes a disturbingly gruesome turn when Shawn Hatosy, as the most formidable opponent, brutally beats up Newton in a harsh, one-sided fight. The fact that it crosscuts back and forth with Grace and Francesca’s sillier, more comedic fight is jarring.
It’s also too bad that Sarah Michelle Gellar, perhaps wanting to save her action comeback for the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer, doesn’t really get too involved in the physical action, with her brother, played by Hatosy, more active. Perhaps knowing that topping the first film in terms of action would be tough to pull off, the movie also scales back on the fights in the third act in favor of a franchise-expanding twist, which is still nicely done, suggesting the franchise can go on. Elijah Wood also steals scenes as the unflappable lawyer assigned to enforce the diabolical rules, with him a nice addition to the franchise.
In the end, Ready or Not 2 isn’t quite the blast the first movie was, but I had a great time watching Weaving and Newton, who are both always easy to root for, do their thing. Gorehounds will appreciate the barrels of blood used, while the pace and momentum never lag. It’s a fun action-comedy (it’s lighter on the horror this time), and if the franchise continues, I’m more than ready for round three.
