Famous for having a hand in both the recent Scream and V/H/S/ revivals, Radio Silence is a collective of filmmakers mainly made up of directors Matt Beittinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett—and I’ve been a huge fan of their work since seeing their film Ready or Not in 2019; it’s got a great sense of humor, it’s got legitimately good drama, and an amazing performance by Samara Weaving—but despite how much I enjoyed it, I’ve never really thought it needed a sequel. It’s pretty self-contained, what would Ready or Not 2 even be about? Well, wonder no longer. Despite releasing almost seven years later, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come picks up mere seconds after the first one ended—and once it gets going, it goes a mile a minute.
Ready or Not 2 very wisely takes the basic concept of the first movie and does something different while still building upon the universe; it’s still about Grace (Samara Weaving) being hunted for sport by rich people in the name of Satan, but it’s bigger, grander, flashier—and most importantly, bloodier. They never forget the first movie (almost detrimentally, I feel like this isn’t as beginner-friendly as most sequels tend to be (not necessarily a criticism, just an observation)), but it still has just enough of its own identity.
Not all of the new characters get time to shine (personally, I wanted way more of Kevin Durand), but the ones that matter are very enjoyable. Sarah Michelle Gellar is third-billed after the leads (and is a treat), but my favorite newbie is absolutely Elijah Wood; Frodo Baggins may be his most famous role, but I love that his recent career has largely just been playing condescending little jackasses—he’s endlessly entertaining.
The returning Samara Weaving is fantastic in just about everything she’s in—and unlike some actors (like Sam Worthington in Avatar), her American accent is so good that you wouldn’t even guess she’s Australian. However, Weaving’s co-lead, Kathryn Newton, isn’t quite on the same level. I don’t like to criticize acting (I’ve tried it before, I know it’s difficult) but having seen Newton in a number of films at this point, I really just don’t think she’s the strongest actress. Again, I feel bad saying that because she seems like a lovely person, but her introductory scene here has some really odd line deliveries; you get used to it at a certain point, but it makes for a really awkward first impression. I think Newton is perfectly fine in other movies where she’s allowed to act a little campier (Abigail, Freaky, etc.)—but when you’re acting against Samara Weaving, you need to get your head in the game.
I don’t want to come across as too harsh here, because I did enjoy the dynamic between Weaving’s Grace and Newton’s Faith (even if Weaving is doing a lot of the heavy lifting); truthfully, I enjoyed the whole movie. It may be pretty simple, but the action is cool, the jokes mostly land, and the spontaneous combustion gag will never not be funny to me. While you do feel the length of it towards the end (it’s a good 15 minutes longer than the first), it’s still a pretty solid movie—although it doesn’t quite reach the highs of the original.
That’s sort of the paradoxical thing about Ready or Not 2; it’s not quite as good as the first movie, but when judging it on its own merits, it’s a really fun time—but it’s also so inherently tied to that first movie that you can’t escape it (and thus can’t escape comparison).
Ready or Not 2 is just Ready or Not cranked up to 11—and your mileage may vary on how much charm is left in it. I enjoyed both very much, but I recognize that I also have weird taste. I don’t know if they needed to make a sequel, but I’m still glad they did—and on the off chance they make Ready or Not 3 (even though, like I felt after the first, I can’t imagine what that would even be about), I’ll probably still be there opening weekend. Check it out if it looks cool to you but make sure you watch the first one beforehand.
4.5/5
