The Ring

I have to preface this review by saying that I didn't actually see Ringu, but I've often heard that Ringu is scary as all hell.  So one day I'll see that.  On the other hand, I did enjoy The Ring and I thought some of its instances were quite good.  However, it is worth saying... The Ring has been branded (unfairly so) as a horror movie.  It isn't actually that much of a horror movie.  It's a Mystery/Suspense.  It has a couple of scary moments--some of which terrified audiences.  But the movie doesn't really seem to hit the chord of being a true-blue horror movie.  The Ring is a good mystery of a movie.  And yes, for those who jump you might find yourself scared. 

I've never been big on whether or not adaptations get everything right.  I've always believed that two entities must stand on their own.  Not only is there a japanese film called Ringu which this one is based off of, but there's also a book on this movie as well.  But most people have probably never even heard of it.  So just keep in mind that even if I had seen Ringu or read the book it was based off of (I've tried to find it... no luck) I'd still believe The Ring should be viewed as its own thing and not necessarily as something else.  I suppose the reason why I enjoyed The Ring when it first came around is because it was very different at the time.  Nowadays the whole, "Let's Americanize a Japanese Horror Film," has become so standard and annoying that it's no fun anymore. 

On the other hand, at the time, The Ring was a little different.  The story is pretty well known nowadays.  Rachel (played by Naomi Watts) is a journalist who has a niece who died after watching a mysterious tape.  It turns out there's a lot more to Rachel's niece than she thought.  She went to a cabin where they found the tape and watched.  Did her niece know she was going to die?  Apparently so.  Rachel, being an investigative journalist, decides to check this out.  It seems like nothing more than a high school rumor.  Until Rachel goes out to the cabin and watches the tape herself.  It's filled nothing but strange, obtuse images that she doesn't understand.  After the tape is done she gets a phone call from a girl that only whispers "Seven days."  Once that happens, you've only got seven days to live.  For Rachel this becomes a race against time.  Can she unravel the mystery of The Ring and save herself?  Or is she doomed?  This becomes the premise.  And as she roams around she begins to see the very images she sees on the tape.  After copious amounts of research, Rachel slowly begins to piece things together.

If there's anything about The Ring which does work, it would be that the movie moves at a really good pace.  We see each and every day that Rachel goes through after viewing the tape, and all the images that she sees but for the most part, there's not a moment when the movie moves slowly.  There are a couple of creepy images, but there's nothing about the movie which screams true-blue horror.  There's no blood and gore or anything like that (it is rated PG-13 after all), but there is a lot of suspense.  It's easy to become curious as to how Rachel will solve the mystery.  The real fear from the movie comes from us worrying about the main character than not.  Perhaps the only part that is truly scary is the film's unique climax. 

Despite not really being horror, it is nice that The Ring does separate itself from some of the typical horror stuff.  It gets labeled a horror because it's scary (as if being scary is the only thing which defines horror), but perhaps why it gets that way is because we become curious about the mystery ourselves.  And as a result of this we're getting a different kind of horror.  A more psychological kind of terror.  There's no mad man running around with a blade or anything like that, but you are getting a story that tries to engage your mind.  Most of it isn't scary... but the fear bone--like the funny bone--is located in different places on different people.  This first film happens to have a more psychological kind of fear.  Some people describe this kind of movie as a "mindfuck," but The Ring is hardly that.  It doesn't do much to try to trick you or mess with your head.  It simply gives you a lot of images that all come together and mean something.  Along with Rachel you're engaged in trying to figure it all out.  For the most part, the story is fairly straightforward.  It has a few twists and turns, but it never once rises up or even tries to be a bloodfest.  There's no running from Point A to Point B or anything like that either.  In fact, throughout much of the movie none of the characters seem to panic at being in the situation they're in.

For the horror enthusiasts that feeds off blood and gore and characters screaming and running from whatever it is that happens to be after them... The Ring isn't for you.  The movie is actually quite subtle.  It moves at a pretty fast and moderate pace, but it's not an action packed film that will end up making you scream.  You may, from time to time, feel anxious or even fear for how Rachel will get out of her situation, but that's really about it.  For the most part the only real fear the movie provokes is your curiosity for how Rachel will survive.

In spite of its interesting premise and mystery, The Ring does have a couple of things that can be bothersome.  The mystery is enticing and intriguing but the movie certainly doesn't put forth a lot of effort in the character development.  We become curious as to how Rachel survives, but many of the movies characters just come off as being wooden.  In some cases (such as Martin Henderson's Noah) they're introduced unexpectedly.  It comes off more as a convenience that Rachel knows him.  They clearly have history but the movie almost never touches upon it in anyway.  So much so that when you find out that the kid in the movie is actually Rachel and Noah's son it comes off as tacked on more so than anything.  And this is primarily because we learn NOTHING about these characters.  Speaking of which, something can also be said about the "creepy child," that you see in this film.  In a time when the creepy kid was already overdone, The Ring manages to make the child creepy but also not very human at all.  He is by far the most wooden and stale character of any of the cast.  In fact, many of the people that Rachel runs into and questions are more interesting than Rachel, Noah or their son.  We don't learn anything about them either, but they still manage to come off as more interesting.

Were it not for the mystery of the tape, or wondering how Rachel would survive the ordeal, The Ring might not be much of a movie worth watching.  It has a great situation... just not great characters thrown into the mix.  At the least, Naomi Watts does give a pretty good performance, and while her character is dull, Naomi Watts is talented enough and charismatic enough to be worth watching on screen.  It's actually a rare moment where the premise and situation is good enough that the characters don't have to be.  On the other the movie might've been infinitely better had we not had to deal with Rachel's son... who's so robotic that the Terminator looks really cute and cuddly. 

It's worth watching at least once. The mystery isn't nearly as interesting otherwise, but you might pick up on more of the hints that are sprinkled throughout.  You might not care about the characters so much (and to an extent they're pretty forgettable) but you might still be curious about Rachel's own survival.  Is it scary?  Parts of it can be, but on the whole, The Ring keeps you much more entranced with suspense than anything else.