TL;DR – While it does not nail its universe-upscaling, it is still an entertaining, bloody action comedy.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription used to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come Review Introduction

Ready or Not was one of those films I entirely slept on, which was a mistake. It was one of those few films that completely understood the power and limits of dark comedy. It was a riot of gory fun, but one of those films that I was surprised it got a sequel, but it did, and this time I am not sleeping on it.  

So, to set the scene, we start right after the end of Ready or Not as Grace (Samara Weaving) is rushed to hospital suffering from shock and blood loss. What she doesn’t know is that by winning the game of Hide and Seek, she has triggered a rare clause in the agreement that binds all the powerful families together. Now, ultimate power is up for grabs, and every family wants a bite of the apple. Grace was hoping to go home, but when her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) arrives at the hospital, none of them was ready to be kidnapped, dragged to the hotel of Chester Danforth (David Cronenberg), and forced to hide again, handcuffed together.

A Whole New Bunch of Characters

One of the hallmarks of this and the first film is that they are filled to the brim with a wide cavalcade of interesting characters. For example, our twin antagonists Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Titus (Shawn Hatosy). Each of them completely understood the assignment and what it means to be a villain in this world. I loved Elijah Wood as the “Lawyer”, this needy guy who is the footman and accountant for the devil. Every time he hid the ‘book of bylaws’ from an upcoming explosion of blood was an amusing delight. Also, Varun Saranga as the cowardly Madhu Rajan was also quite amusing.

Action Still On-Point

What people were not ready for in the first film was how quickly and brutally the violence escalated. But you can’t surprise people with that on a second round; you need to escalate it or subvert it in some way. This film tries both routes at times. We have brutal beatdowns and grizzly murders, and people exploding at a whim. But then there are also more silly moments where two people are trying to fight, but they can’t see through the pepper spray, so it all is a comical farce. Nothing quite reached the heights of the first film, but I think it was also a bit more gross in places.

Universe-Upsizing

Whenever an essentially stand-alone film gets a sequel, it tends to obtain a case of universe upsizing. The classic example of this in recent times is the John Wick franchise, which kept revealing new aspects of the universe in each instalment. I am not quite sure this film sold its upsizing quite as well. The double-of-nothing-esque feel to the film felt more like retracing the same territory than charting a new path. While it does not torpedo the movie, it does constrain how well it can succeed.        

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Ready or Not 2: Here I Come? I think if you liked the first film, you will have a good time here. I am not sure it is going to be a good jumping-off point for new people to the now potential franchise, but it is a solid action film regardless.  

Have you watched Ready or Not 2: Here I Come? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, we would recommend The Roses to you because it also knows how to escalate tension to a point where it all explodes.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
Directed by – Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett
Written by – Guy Busick & R. Christopher Murphy
Based on – Ready or Not
Music by – Sven Faulconer & Brian Tyler
Cinematography by – Brett Jutkiewicz
Edited by – Jay Prychidny
Production/Distribution Companies – Vinson Films, Mythology Entertainment, Radio Silence, Disney+, & Searchlight Pictures
Starring – Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, Néstor Carbonell, Kevin Durand, Olivia Cheng, Nadeem Umar-Khitab, Varun Saranga, Juan Pablo Romero, Masa Lizdek, Maia Jae, Dan Beirne, Antony Hall, & James Vanderbilt
Rating – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: 16; New Zealand: R; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R