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The Ring Two
Metascore
44 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 37 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 37
  3. Negative: 9 out of 37
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  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    Watts is wonderful, and the story's forsaken-child theme still has plenty of horrific power.
  2. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: David Hiltbrand
    75
    An unusually atmospheric outing. Splatter fans may be disappointed, because Nakata isn't interested in a body count.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    70
    While nearly every shock comes at predictable moments, there is genuine ingenuity behind many, and the movie is surprisingly fresh for one made by a guy on his third go-round with the same material.
  4. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Carina Chocano
    70
    The movie is as side-splitting as it is creepy, especially when it ventures into surrealistic nightmare imagery.
  5. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    63
    You have to admire Nakata's skill at letting the dead run free while hinting that we may have more to fear from the living. With a braver step in that direction, this middling movie would ring more than box-office bells.
  6. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    The charm of The Ring Two, while limited, is real enough; it is based on the film's ability to make absolutely no sense, while nevertheless generating a real enough feeling of tension a good deal of the time.
  7. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    63
    Watts has proven herself a Lady of the Rings, but twice is enough. No burning need for a trilogy.
  8. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    63
    Watts evokes a classic Hitchcockian virgin-whore duality.
  9. Empire
    Reviewed by: Kim Newman
    60
    Delivers a decent puzzle and enough jumps to keep you enjoyably jittery.
  10. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    60
    Isn't a great work of horror, but it's admirable simply because it serves the genre so serviceably. It's nicely constructed, and it doesn't have one of those ridiculous extended endings.
  11. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    60
    It's passably gripping and occasionally lively.
  12. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    60
    The movie works while you watch it, with plenty of scares both sudden and psychological.
  13. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    60
    Somewhat sluggish but reasonably scary.
    All this critic's reviews
  14. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    60
    It's hardly the best film in the world but you can have fun with it.
  15. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    50
    Despite some impressive technical achievements, it too looks like a movie with little reason for being.
  16. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    50
    An uneven story undermines this horror franchise, despite high-quality performances by Naomi Watts and David Dorfman.
  17. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    50
    Borrowing liberally from the "Exorcist" and "Omen" movies, and with little regard for credibility, The Ring Two has a familiar ring to it.
  18. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    50
    Remember mood rings? The Ring Two is a mood movie - a bad-mood movie.
  19. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    50
    One-scene guest star Sissy Spacek packs enough genuine madness into her brief screen time to make the surrounding film feel like so much listless play-acting.
  20. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    50
    The scariest thing in the not-scary-enough The Ring Two is the notion that even smart, attractive adults - yikes, even mothers - just never learn, either.
  21. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    50
    Half-intriguing, half-tedious.
  22. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    50
    Kruger's elaborations on the original mystery are superfluous, but Watts gives this everything she's got.
  23. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    42
    A mild disaster.
  24. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    42
    The film is a dud in the tradition of such weak horror sequels as "Exorcist II" and "Dracula's Dog."
  25. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Pete Vonder Haar
    40
    Doesn't do much besides giving original "Ringu" and "Ringu 2" director Hideo Nakata the chance to strut his stuff in front of a wide-release audience.
  26. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    40
    Might have something interesting to say about cultural ambivalence by and toward the maternal impulse if only it had a spark of originality or verve.
  27. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ed Park
    40
    This poorly conceived sequel to Gore Verbinski's "The Ring" ditches that film's scariest conceit.
  28. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Anthony Lane
    40
    A perplexing compound of the silly and the glum.
  29. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    38
    As far as I'm concerned, it's official: Hollywood has lost the art of how to make horror films.
  30. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    38
    Goes wrong in less than two minutes, which may be a world record for sequels to decent movies.
  31. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    30
    Despite Mr. Nakata's track record and the radiant presence of its star, Naomi Watts, The Ring Two is a dud.
  32. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    30
    Illustrates the law of returning diminishments.
  33. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    25
    Terrifyingly dull movie.
  34. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    25
    Perfunctory, thrill- free sequel.
  35. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    25
    Scares up few chills.
  36. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    25
    For a horror movie to work, it has to be ABOUT something.
  37. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    20
    It's only at film's end that you realize the whole soggy, overlong mess isn't going to go anywhere.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 81 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 60
  3. Negative: 21 out of 60
  1. GlynnH.
    10
    Not as perfect as the first, but miles beyond anything else out there. I think that some of the things that don't make sense are because we have still yet to find out a bunch of stuff that will come in the form of the 3rd movie being a prequel. Because we still need to know why Samara is the way she is, that is not answered in this movie.… Full Review »
  2. Nick5414
    10
    Naomi Watts is great and the movie is incredibly scary.
  3. kaydenxmcg
    5
    Naomi Watts acted really well throughout the film, but that's about all that is good about it. The film has plot holes everywhere, and after a while, everything becomes a bore. A huge disappointment, especially compared to the original "The Ring", and the Japanese "Ringu".… Full Review »
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