Review: The Ring
Before I die I will see the ring, after all, you would want the last thing you see be the symbol that represents the circle of life, cue Phil Collins.
The Ring is a remake of one of the most successful movies ever released in Japan, at least one of the highest grossing. When I was tortured with Warner Bros. awful knock-off, FearDotCom, earlier this year, I could only hope that the true remake of the Japanese classic would do, what I had heard about the film, justice. The Ring not only does the original justice, but, by all accounts, adds up to one of the whacked out, scariest movies of the season with one of the most original storylines to come around in years.
I do seriously believe the writer of this movie must have had something bad in his Wheaties the morning he came up with the corrupt ideas that make this movie. For those of you who haven’t seen the preview, here’s a rundown. There is a video tape that, seven days after watching it, you die, of course, after you see the ring. While it would be easy for me to tell you just why you die, I can’t for two reasons. Number one, I just got back from the theatre and starting writing this review immediately, before I have completely digested what I just saw. Reason number two is the simple fact that I don’t want to ruin the movie for you, this is one of those movies that leaves you guessing till the very end, then turns around and makes you think it is over, yet it is just beginning.
I will give the cinematographer props for this piece of art, there is such an overuse of the “dirty-static” on the market today that seems to prevail itself on the web and on TV, it was nice to see it done with some craftsmanship. If you don’t know what I’m referring to, when was the last time you saw someone try to use static as an art, or use scan lines (those little lines you can’t see on your standard TV) to try and be “cool.” Film students and wannabe directors use these touches all the time to try and give their film and “edge,” but in all actuality the overuse of this effect was about to drive the movie-going public off of an edge.
Speaking of edges, The Ring manages to keep you on that part of your seat for a better part of the movie. After the main character, Rachel (the luscious Naomi Watts), views the aforementioned tape she has to set out on a quest to find out just what all of the symbols mean and find a way to reverse the curse that has been put upon her by whatever created the tape.
There are some genuine scares during the movie that even got me to jump, this coming from a man who can sit through just about anything with popcorn in hand and keep it that way. There is one part on a ferry with a horse (that fits into the main theme in a way you wouldn’t think) but the horse freaks out and what happens next is interesting to say the least.
It is fairly obvious that some editing had to be done to keep this one a bit tamer than it could have been. Some of the more disturbing shots are only flashed on the screen from time to time. Whether this is by the choice of the director or by the MPAA to keep the PG-13 rating it might never be known.
All I know is I have seen one of the better movies to come out this year, and with it kicks off the glorious Fall movie season that includes some of our anticipated sequels like Die Another Day, Star Trek: Nemesis, and the grand daddy of them all, The Two Towers.
I can die happy knowing that I have seen The Ring, and lived to tell you about it, for now at least.