I am going to be frank, when it was announced that 2019’s Ready or Not was getting a sequel, I was concerned. Not only was the first film a perfect, eat the rich horror satire, but I was afraid that it was going to ruin the film’s cult legacy. But when it was announced that the original crew was returning and that it had an incredibly stacked cast, I was intrigued and hopeful. Thankfully, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is bigger, bloodier and a helluva good time.
Moments after surviving an all-out attack from the Le Domas family, Grace (Samara Weaving, Ready or Not) discovers she has reached the next level of the nightmarish game with her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton, Abigail). Together, they must survive the night as four rival families are hunting her down for the High Seat of the Council that controls the world and whomever wins rules it all.
One of my main concerns with this sequel was that it was going to be a repeat of the first film. Where Grace is being hunted by the rich as a sacrifice to Satan and if her hunters fail, they spontaneously explode in an eruption of blood and guts. And while the foundations of Here I Come are the same, as well as a loss of the intimacy of the first film, Radio Silence manages to add a bit of spice in this sequel.
The new rules explained by the High Councils and Mr. LaBelle’s Lawyer, played brilliantly by an enigmatic Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), explains that in this new game, whoever kills Grace first before dawn will not only control the High Council, but the entire world. And by the world, it means all of it. The power to end a ceasefire on a whim, end world hunger, crash the stock market, etc, etc, etc. With Grace, Faith and the entire fate of the world on the line, the stakes have never been higher than ever. And Radio Silence manages to pull it off in a glorious bloodbath of epic proportions.
The key to Radio Silence pulling it off isn’t just the uptick in blood, but the dynamic between Grace and Faith. These two haven’t spoken in years. Grace left for college leaving Faith alone, left to defend herself in the foster system. Faith carries that abandonment while Grace feels shut out. Now chained together the pair must work through their shared baggage to survive the night. The characters, both played brilliantly by scream queen Samara Weaving and the impulsive Katherine Newton, make for genuinely compelling protagonists. One moment they are fighting to survive, the next they are making up for lost time, only to be followed by them at each other’s throats. Their trauma bonding and chemistry gives Here I Come the edge to prevent it from feeling like a straight retreat of the first film.
What also keeps this from feeling like a retreat is how Radio Silence continue up the ante with their set pieces. They didn’t just go bigger, they went harder than they have ever gone before. With over 300 gallons of blood at play, the duo stages a series of elaborate set pieces that are bloody, gnarly, unhinged and will have your audience cheering from the top of their lungs. Sure it is not going to land for everyone, but there is no denying how entertaining this sequel is. The unhinged gore plus the over-the-top villainous performances from Shawn Hatsody (The Pitt) as Titus and Sarah Michell Geller as Uruasl (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Here I Come is a helluva good time.
Overall, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is a straight-up good time at the cinema. Is it a repeat of the first film? A little bit. But do I care? Not even a little bit as it’s way too entertaining for that matter. If you’re kind of horror is when you love watching rich people meet very messy ends or just want a couple of hours of pure, chaotic fun, go ahead and grab a ticket to Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.
My Rating: B+
In Theaters March 20th.
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