The Ring: Review By Brian

I have seen Gore Verbinski's The Ring and survived.

Dreamworks knew what it was doing by remaking a Japanese horror film that became so popular in Japan, it spawned a prequel, a sequel, and a TV series. I personally never experienced any of the aforementioned incarnations of the original story, but I can say that horror/suspense fans will be thoroughly impressed by this remake. Though I'd like to hear what fans of the orginal think...

The Ring tells a story of a group of young teens who die 7 days after watching a forbidden video tape. In search for answers to why the group of kids had died, a family member to one of the kids goes in search of answers to the baffling deaths. Through out the film she puts together pieces of the puzzle together, only to find herself drowning deeper into the mystery. This of course being after viewing the tape herself which hexes to kill her in 7 days, and showing it to the father of her child.

The Ring takes you on a huge roller coaster ride through all of it's plot twists and turns, and manages to scare up some unsettling imagery along the way. With it's flashy editing, beautifully detailed gore, and it's persistence in keeping you on the edge of your seat utilizing the music and the tone, a nice handful of key sequences make the movie worthy of seeing.

Of course the movie did have some flaws. And while I won't go into too much detail, I will say that the last 30% of the film lacked luster in my eyes. The plot line wasn't really defined in where it was taking the audience. I mean, I'm all for plots that keep you guessing by shrouding itself in confusion until the end, but this didn't feel like that. It felt like the filmakers knew what they had to do, but they didn't how to get there. I've always hated the movies that you thought were gonna end 3 or 4 times through out the film but you find yourself sitting through 20 more minutes each time you come to that realization! Sadly, The Ring puts you through this.

With that said, I will say that the end of The Ring is phenomenal. The end sequence alone is worth forking over your hard earned cash to see, even if you don't care for the rest of the movie.

As far as the acting was concerned, it faired a lot better then I expected. Naomi Watts carries this film hands down as the lead female. In the same respect, Martin Henderson, while quite satisfying in the lead male role, I don't think he brought anything special to the movie. I think if their was a stronger suppoting male lead, the film would have had a more interesting feel and would have presented less campy. But, on the other hand, Henderson's character did bring a hint of relief to the intense quest that WAS Watts' character.

Without giving away too many spoilers, The Ring reminded me of Stir Of Echoes in more ways than one. And since the film was originally created in Japan in 1998, and Echoes didn't hit theaters until 1999, I suspect many elements of Echoes might have been borrowed from the original Ring film, or the novels by Suzuki Koji from which the movie was based.

I have not seen a creepy thriller as satisfying as this since the likes of Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko, or even Alejandro Amenabar's The Others, but that really isn't saying much since Hollywood hasn't pumped out any consistently good edge-of-your-seat films in quite some time. Maybe The Ring will help change this.

Why only 3 stars? Well, although the movie was good, and it's something I'd probably own on DVD, it wasn't as ruthless as I would have liked. I like when a movie pushes the audience to the extreme, and while many scenes in the film were pushing those limits, I don't feel the filmakers kept us in the "uncomfortable zone" long enough.