Ready or Not 2: Here I Come Review
Ready or Not storms back onto screens this month with the swagger of a sequel, fully aware of the cult status it’s inherited and one that’s not going to mess with the formula that made the original so good. The long-mooted sequel, brilliantly titled Here I Come, is everything fans would want from a follow-up: louder, slicker, funnier and undeniably confident in its own unique world. The film embraces its macabre sense of humour and candy-coated brutality with gusto. Still, as with many sophomore efforts over the years, its quest to outdo the original trips over its own excesses.
Stylistically, the film is another wonderful, decadent, delicious feast. Picking up immediately where Part 1 left off, with Grace (Samara Weaving) thinking she had finished her game but unaware there is a “big boss” still to defeat, Messrs Matt Bettinelli Olpin and Tyler Gillett once again lean into their unique visual identity with supreme assurance. The camera moves are slick, the editing crisp, and the comedic timing as sharp as the assorted weapons used by the players. Even if once again setting Ready or Not 2: Here I Come primarily in one location might feel lazy, the film feels bigger, more polished and never loses its sense of fun. When its absurdness kicks in, it’s genuinely hilarious once more. When the tension comes, it’s done with supreme flair.
And yet, something feels off this time, and despite it keeping its originality and unique spunk, the signature gore that was so outrageous and gleefully silly has now taken a darker tone, and, at times, it feels awfully overdone. The violence escalates so rapidly – and all too frequently in places – that its satirical edge not only becomes much more sinister but feels uncomfortable and unnecessary. Two sequences in particular, while highlighting the motivations and true intentions of one character, border on nasty. Thankfully, the humour balances it out – just – but it’s a close call.
Plotting, too, is where the follow-up shows perhaps its weakest hand. Following Sequel School 101 to some degree, its eagerness to expand its mythos and raise the stakes even further ties up the story in knots, and whilst you can still have a supremely entertaining time at the cinema, there isn’t quite enough depth or narrative strength to keep you truly invested Indeed, whilst the strained relationship between Grace and Faith has some substance to it, it feels too surface-level to scratch any deeper. Its crescendo, however, is as balls-to-the-wall as anything Radio Silence has done, and we are here for it.
The biggest draw comes from its leads, Weaving and Kathryn Newton, whose spunky double act is the shining light and elevates proceedings with performances that feel precision-tuned for the Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’s tightly wound mix of horror and humour. Weaving, returning as the franchise’s resident survivor with a sardonic streak, once again showcases why she’s become such a force in modern genre cinema. Charismatic, slightly unhinged and comically sharp, she delivers once more. Newton, though, confidently refuses to play second fiddle. She’s mischievous, magnetic, and wildly entertaining and together, the two form a dynamic duo that gives the film its spark.
While it might stumble under the weight of its own ambitions and make some dark turns that don’t fit its singular vision, it’s hard to deny that Ready or Not 2: Here I Come isn’t an undeniably fun ride. It’s messy and flawed, but still sufficiently entertaining to keep fans just about happy, and thanks to Weaving and Newton, it keeps the game afoot enough to be worth playing a second time.
★★★
In UK cinemas March 20th / Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood / Dir: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett / Searchlight Pictures UK / 18
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