The irony is not lost on me that audiences gripe about Hollywood not taking risks, yet they cheer when a thing they love is brought back in a new form. We don’t like it when things end, even when they end in a perfectly satisfying manner. Case in point is 2019’s delightful horror/comedy Ready or Not. 

In that film, we meet Grace (Samara Weaving), a young woman preparing to be married. Her fiance’s family is fabulously wealthy, and they’ve made their money by creating a wealth of games. The Le Domas family has a tradition – when someone new marries into the family, the new member must pick a card for a random game to play. The card grace picks is hide and seek. She quickly discovers that the Le Domas family is hunting her, and she must survive until dawn. At the risk of spoiling a movie from 2019, Ready or Not ends with Grace’s triumph over the Le Domas clan. She staggers from the burning wreckage of the family mansion, defiantly lights up a cigarette, and when the police ask just what in the hell has happened to her, she replies, “In laws.”

Great movie, right? Great ending, right? No need for a sequel, right? Wrong! Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is here, and this sequel doesn’t seem to exist simply to make a quick buck.* The original writers and directors saw a way to tell more of the story. That’s good, yet to a degree, we also have a film that’s not better or different, simply more of the original.

This film begins as the original is wrapping up. Grace, battered and bloody, is wheeled into an ambulance and whisked to a hospital. She awakens later and discovers she’s been handcuffed to the bed. The bad news is that a suspicious cop believes Grace murdered the Le Domas family and lit their home on fire. 

The worse news for Grace is the arrival of her younger sister Faith (Kathryn Newton). The two of them have been estranged, and the only reason Faith showed up is that Grace listed her as an emergency contact years ago and forgot all about it. The two sisters begin squabbling, then stop as the suspicious cop is suddenly killed and they’re taken into custody. But why have they been sibling-napped?

It turns out when the Le Domas’ were wiped out, it destabilized everything. They were part of a Satanic cabal of wealthy families who controlled the world. When he learns Grace survived the game, Chester Danforth (David Cronenberg**) makes a phone call and announces, “The ball is in play.” Danforth is all-powerful and has plans within plans, so he’s got a good reason for his daughter Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and son Titus (Shawn Hatosy) to kill him. 

Since Grace survived, a new game must be played, one where the prize is Danforth’s seat and ultimate power. Ursula and Titus arrange a new pursuit of Grace and Faith, and a Lawyer (Elijah Wood) explains the rules in granular detail. Along with the Danforth siblings, a few of the hunters are:

• Ignacio El Caido (Nestor Carbonell), an enthusiastic and lousy sniper.
• Wan Cheng Xing (Olivia Cheng), a scheming industrialist who’s discovered a loophole.
• Party boy brothers Madhu Rajan (Varun Sarunga) and Viraj Rajan (Nadeem Umar-Khitab)

They, along with assorted spouses, cousins, and ex-fiancees, will give Grace and Faith a very hard time.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have returned to direct Ready or Not 2, and if I’m being dead honest with you, they’ve made a perfectly fine time at the movies. They’re clearly having a blast mocking dopey rich people, having dopey rich people explode in a torrent of gore, and seeing just how much punishment our heroines can endure. One moment in particular with Kathryn Newton’s Faith features her taking such a beating that it crosses over from “fun action movie” violence to “Oh, this is becoming a real problem” violence. Speaking of the action, on the one hand I felt that some of the sequences dragged on a little too long, and could have used more of the berserk energy of the original. On the other hand? There’s a sequence involving two combatants who have accidentally maced themselves trying to have a fistfight that’s one of the most entertaining things I’ve seen in a minute.

Screenwriters Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy are also back, and the screenplay mostly works. A lot of it is very funny, particularly the moments involving Elijah Wood’s oily Lawyer. The problem I kept thinking about as I watched was, “This is ultimately Ready or Not But More.” Grace, now with her sister, is on the run, again, at an estate, again, pursued by demonic rich people. Again. Murphy and Busick do strong and amusing work explaining why this is all happening.*** A little less strong is the relationship subplot between Grace and Faith. I see what the writers are going for, yet the end result never made me feel a connection between the two of them. I would have preferred either a more original and surprising sibling rivalry, or something mirroring the relationship of the Danforth siblings but that’s ultimately non-toxic.

The cast is game to run, shoot, scream, and have gallons of blood splattered upon them. This being a horror/comedy, you would expect that the actors don’t need to try too hard. Some of them didn’t get the memo and turn in performances that are, frankly, better than the movie earns. Samara Weaving continues to carry this franchise with humor, intelligence, and feral aggression. She’s become one of the masters of playing someone who’s been pushed way too far. Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Ursula is Grace’s shadowy mirror. She plays a woman skilled at anticipating all of the angles, except for plain old human stupidity. Perhaps my favorite performance comes from Elijah Wood as the unnamed Lawyer. Wood is totally unflappable here, and his preternaturally calm attorney in the midst of these rich dingbats makes everything even funnier. 

One of the sins of the internet is that every move has been reduced to “it sucks/it rules.” Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is a perfectly nice time at the movies, and if you and your friend/spouse/sibling/non-binary social companion see it, I think you’ll enjoy it. I think one film was enough, but if there absolutely had to be a sequel, this is about as good as it’s likely to get.

*You don’t wait seven years, and then make a sequel if you’re all about a cash grab.

**Yes, that David Cronenberg, who also appeared in Jason X.

***From what I understand, the filmmakers were developing a horror/action project involving two sisters when the studio came to them and inquired about a sequel. As a result, the projects were merged.

Tim Brennan Movie Critic

Tim has been alarmingly enthusiastic about movies ever since childhood. He grew up in Boulder and, foolishly, left Colorado to study Communications in Washington State. Making matters worse, he moved to Connecticut after meeting his too-good-for-him wife. Drawn by the Rockies and a mild climate, he triumphantly returned and settled down back in Boulder County. He's written numerous screenplays, loves hiking, and embarrassed himself in front of Samuel L. Jackson. True story.