"Ready or Not 2:" If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

Radio Silence is probably a few years too late to their own party when it comes to coming out with a sequel to their 2019 critical and financial hit, Ready or Not. Obviously there have been some external world circumstances since 2019 that have delayed every aspect of our industry, but for a film that picks up the literal moment where the first one left off, 6 years is a long time to wait. Especially when story-wise, it’s quite literally the exact same thing. But also, in my view, it’s a solid groove they seem to have found, and as long as they don’t get a big head about it, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

The new sequel sees the return of Samara Weaving’s Grace, as she and her newcomer sister (Kathryn Newton) are once again thrown into a self-proclaimed “double-or-nothing” round of hide and seek to compete for a seat on the rich elite illuminati high council. Their key adversaries in this new scenario include performers like Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Elijah Wood, and David Cronenberg. 

Samara Weaving is perhaps the most iconic modern scream queen we have at the moment, often finding herself giving a better performance than the movie deserves; Case in point: Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. The film, despite its intense derivativeness is still quite a bit of fun, but if you were to remove Weaving from the cast and replace her with nearly anyone else on the metaphorical scream queen dart board, the quality would tank immediately. At a certain point, it’s clear that the filmmakers are only really making her scream just because she has a particularly memorable one, but even when it’s clear that’s the case, she still sells it. She’s not only our best scream queen, but she’s one of our best nepo babies as well. 

Newton, Gellar, and Hatosy in particular are turning in absolutely amazing supporting work here as well. I don’t know if there’s been a performer I’ve seen have more fun in a role this year than Sarah Michelle Gellar here. I’ve missed seeing her in roles like this, and it’s clear she missed doing them. 

For the most part the film actually looks really pretty. It's very dynamic, cut nicely, and the action has some pretty decent choreography. The film certainly has a habit of reusing the same camera “whip with the punch” style trickery, but once again the motto of this entire thing is “if it ain't broke, don’t fix it.” There’s one sequence in particular involving a can of pepper spray that is both a really funny dig at hand to hand combat scenes, while still being a really intense, well blocked hand to hand combat scene. 

With that said, the comedy here is very hit or miss. There is quite a bit of humor embedded in the dialogue that seems to still be married to the bygone awkward millennial style humor that just simply needs to end. It’s not the movie's fault that it exists, but I can still fault them for clawing to it like Mufasa on the side of the cliff. The dialogue in general could have used some serious touch-ups. There’s character arcs introduced early on for Weaving and Newton that attempt to give some form of depth to their relationship, but every time the film pauses to give them a scene together to hash out their differences, the analysis is so surface level and repetitive that it starts to get grating quick. 

Now the big question: could there be a Ready or Not: Tokyo Drift? They could absolutely find a way to justify it...but should they? Who knows? I would love it if they went the Smile route and upped the ante, stakes, and scale like crazy and did something genuinely fearless with the story. But my intuition and overall pattern recognition seems to steer my thought process towards the opinion that that probably won’t happen. But here’s to hoping. In the meantime, the craft and action here offered just enough to keep me invested for the whole time, and if you’re a fan of the first film, I don’t see you not finding at least something to enjoy here.