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Funny how some movies seem to slip under the radar. Ready or Not came out, was pretty good fun, but then forgotten about. Well, not forgotten enough to stop them making a sequel.
I have seen the first one, once, and kind of enjoyed it. Grace MacCauallay (Samara Weaving) marries into a wealthy family. Sadly, after her wedding, the new family try to hunt her down and kill her. Talk about ruining her big day.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come continues from the end of the first one.
The sequel stars Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Elijah Wood, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Olivia Cheng, Dan Beirne, and David Cronenberg.
The Story
I’m going to hint at mild spoilers, which I remember being in the first movie, but it’s not a huge spoiler.
After surviving one deadly game, Grace and her sister Faith must now outrun four rival families competing for a powerful throne – winner takes all.
We join Grace at the very end of the first movie; the Le Domas family are all dead, and Grace is covered with blood. The police turn up to investigate what on earth happened.
We then meet Chester Danforth (Cronenberg), who seems to be in control of, well, everything. He’s watching the news, sees there is a world conflict, makes a phone call, and the conflict ends.
He then gets a message saying that Le Domas and all are dead, so a new family can ‘take over’. The only caveat is that the families must fight for control. They must get together, hunt each other, and the winner literally takes all.
Sadly, for Grace, she is officially a Le Domas, which means she must also take part; she’s released by the cops, as they all own the cops. Because of the rules of the fight, they also bring in Faith (Newton), Grace’s sister.
Ready or Not, the Games Begin
The second act is about the hunt; there are rules to follow, which are all explained by The Lawyer (Wood), and must be strictly followed. Any breaking of the rules ends up, well, with an explosion, usually involving the entire person who broke them.
As the story goes on, we learn that the families are battling for a sacred rite that worships Satan. In the first movie, Grace was supposed to be a human sacrifice (which I said I couldn’t remember from the story). Because she killed the other family, it means Satan needs a new family to run the world.
I assume he’s busy in hell with admin and overcrowding. That’s all I’m going to spoil about the story, but it’s pretty solid and good fun.
The Cast
The entire cast for Ready or Not 2 is great! Weaving is just being herself, and having bloody good fun with it. Everyone else is doing the same; they all know that this movie is tongue-in-cheek, and they all just go with it.
Newton didn’t really have much to do, I mean, they needed Grace’s sister to help the plot along, and give a bit of a back story, but that’s about it.
Wood was really good in this, as the Lawyer, he’s just there to make sure the rules are followed. His comic timing is spot on and just a joy to watch. Same with Cronenberg, he doesn’t do a lot of acting, but when he does, he shines.
Pick a Tone
Ready or Not 2 is a very dark comedy, again, like the first. As I said, everything was dialled up to 11, but including the comedy. However, there’s dark comedy and dark comedy.
To set up the third act, there’s a tonal shift, which then goes really dark. I’m not spoiling the ending, but it has to happen to finish the movie. However, the tone really changed, so much so that it almost takes you out of the movie.
This is a minor gripe, as the third act goes back to the dark comedy and is funny, very bloody, but also very funny. It was nice that the story also made sense; they actually put a bit of thought into it. It all ties up nicely.
Overall
As I said, I have seen the first one and had fun with it, but I couldn’t tell you much about it now. That’s not a huge issue going into Ready or Not 2; it’s a continuation, but you don’t have to have seen the first one to stick to the lore.
It’s more of the same, bloody good fun. If I had seen Ready or Not before seeing the second one, it probably would have made a great double feature. From what I remember of the first movie, this one is just as good, maybe even a little better.
The entire premise is stupid; it’s Hard Target with a woman. At one point, one of the family members says how they have been training their lives for a hunt like that, but Grace and Faith managed to evade them at every point.
Is it ridiculous? Yes, but are we having fun? Also, yes. Basically, if you liked the first one, you’ll like this one. They have made a solid sequel, with a descent story and take it to the next level. It didn’t feel like just a cash grab.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come gets a solid 3.5 out of 5, maybe even a 4; it’s stupid fun, but fun nonetheless.
It’s now on VoD.
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