dub-i-dub456 Reviews

Awake (2007)

This movie sucked.

[10 December 2007]

Really really sucked. That's all I have to say. First off, it wouldn't have mattered if the main character was even awake or not... the movie would've turned out to be the same way... which, by the way, was terrible in execution. I'm convinced that Jessica Alba was picked merely for eye candy, because she was horrible... unconvincing, and just plain annoying. I went with extremely low expectations... and they were satisfied. That guy who plays the main character.. he plays Anikan Skywalker in Star Wars.. what a bad choice because he was whiny the entire time. "Think about my wife THINK ABOUT MY WIFE THIS PAIN HURTS TOO MUCH"... Yea I don't really care guys. In anethesia awareness you're not really supposed to feel that much pain. And the medical procedures were laughable. One of the doctors leaves the room to tell his friends that he cannot make it to the Knick's game... how illegal. And some random person in street clothes walks into the room... if I'm correct, there's guidelines to that.

Please do not see this movie.

The Ring Virus (1999)

The Ring story with a mysterious twist

[3/10 · 1 August 2007]

This movie, a joint production between Korea and Japan, can be summarized in two words - try again. The director of this movie sought a more mysterious feel to the movie. That makes sense... Ringu was sort of mysterious and it scared us all half to death. However, nothing in this movie will scare you, creep you out, or even make you flinch. Because this wasn't what the director was going for. They even failed at the mystery part, because it can be so confusing for most viewers that they won't even care to wonder what the heck is going on.

However, I insist you watch this movie to know exactly what I'm talking about. I bought this movie at a Blockbuster, hooked by the tag line on the cover... "The scariest Ring of all!". I really wanted to enjoy this movie. Indeed, I spent more time trying to enjoy the film rather than enjoying the scarce bits in the film that will entertain few. The characters seem completely unmotivated, doing things or saying things that we would otherwise have no idea why they would do or say such things. There is also no darkness... we do not fear for Eun Suh (Sadako/Samara), rather, we wonder about her. This movie is bright and colorful. It may make the film seem more realistic, but it doesn't. It was a ridiculous move. This movie will not scare you, I guarantee. The characters are bland and it sounds cruel, but you probably want the Ryuji Takayama of this movie to die, because he is just so annoying! Also, if you're wondering, the TV scene sucks. Really, no suspense at all. No cringing, no heart racing tension, nothing.

We all know what the story is about, anyway. But, if you don't (and shame on you!), it's about journalist Sun-Ju, who is suspicious of her niece's death. After she realizes that three of her friends died the exact same time as her, she is quickly hooked onto the idea of an urban legend. Choe Yol, Sun-Ju's drunken friend, performs an autopsy on their bodies and deducts that their deaths were supernatural. No kidding. Sun-Ju discovers the video tape that she believes killed her niece and decides she will solve the mystery with Choe Yol.

*1/2 - *****

!!!SPOILERS!!! BELOW IS SPOILERS. EVERYTHING YOU HAVE READ UP UNTIL NOW SHOULD BE SATISFACTORY ENOUGH. HOWEVER, BELOW SHOWS MORE OF MY CONCERNS

Which movie is more dedicated to Koji Suzuki's novel - Ring or The Ring Virus? Well, Ring was made first, and shares some similarity to the novel. The Ring Virus is obviously a remake of Ring, copying the idea of the TV scene, as well as some other events and miscellaneous stuff in the movie.

Some examples of The Ring Virus ripping off Ring is when Eun-Suh climbs out of the well, through the television, and then murders Choe Yol, as well as when Choe smashes through the floorboards of the hotel to find the well. Both of these events did not happen in the novel. Aside from that, you will notice other events that are eerily similar to the original film. Coincidence? Yeah right.

Even though this film rips off the original, it does add some new stuff from the novel never seen in a Ring movie. An example is how they changed Eun-Suh's death from the film. Instead of being brutally attacked by her father, she is raped by the Nagao Jotaro of the book, but then throws her down the well after discovering that she has both male and female reproductive organs - something never made clear in the film. Something else burrowed from the novel is how Sun-Ju's senior reporter and close friend is included in the investigation. This was in the novel as well. While this movie may be something you've already seen, by ripping off the original film, it also contains things from the novel, and that should be the only reason to want to watch this film.

Ring 0: Birthday (2000)

This movie saves the grace of the series, which went horribly wrong with the last two installments

[7/10 · 27 July 2007]

Rasen tried its hardest to create an entertaining novel-based movie. Somebody learned their lesson...

Ring 2 tried its hardest to live up to Ring by explaining way too much. Somebody learned their lesson...

Ring 0 tried its hardest to create a human-driven drama, while adding in the horror the series is well known for. Somebody knew their lessons!

You will feel emotionally for Sadako. Her performance, played by Nakama Yukie, is absolutely beautiful. She is able to manipulate your mind into feeling sorry for her, and then watching her in fear, and then feeling sorry for her... it's just one crazy ride. Unfortunately, we all know what has to happen in the end... sounds like Carrie.

This movie, fortunately or unfortunately, is more drama then horror... sounds like Carrie. In fact, there is only a couple of scenes that will scare you. We learned that this character we have feared is just another tortured woman with an unfortunate life... sounds like Carrie. The acting in this movie is just great. The characters are too convincing.

Too bad some people dislike this movie for the same general movie. It's slow burning. What this means is that it takes just about forever for the extremely exciting climax to start kicking in. For some, they just die for the suspense and do not feel cheated. For others, they just get so sick because they are bored out of their mind. The latter could be you, so take caution.

Sadako has just joined an acting troupe to "restart" from he old life. Unfortunately, a woman who's husband died at the infamous psychic test with Shizuko Yamamura, and is hell-bent on tracking Sadako down. The problem is that the Sadako she finds is a young girl who is clearly a "freak". The other Sadako is blamed for the mysterious deaths at the troupe. What is going on? What's with two Sadako's?

You owe it to yourself to watch this film, put up with the subtitles, and enjoy it

Ring 2 (1999)

If you didn't like "Rasen", watch this! Even if you did like "Rasen", still, watch this!

[5/10 · 25 July 2007]

Asmik Ace Entertainment had decided that because of "Rasen" and it's huge flop, being panned by viewers and critics alike, they would make another sequel. Billed by many as the "proper" sequel, Rasen was forever buried and this one had stood as the "better" one...

Hmm... it was better alright, but was it any good? Despite the fact that all the original cast and crew have returned, this movie still fails to live up to the success of "Ringu". Perhaps the scary thing about Ringu was how we had never seen this kind of movie before... or at least nothing that dark and mysterious and so wonderfully and colorfully shot. Now that we've sunk our teeth into it, we are craving more, and this movie falls short. Now that we are still questioning the events in Ringu, this movie attempts to tie all knots possible.

This movie still manages to pull off all the stops in terms of scares, however. But that doesn't shake off the fact that this movie feels irrelevant to the series. Very little here is related to the actual story.

It all starts when doctors are trying to identify the body of Sadako Yamamura, who was discovered from a well she was thrown into thirty years ago.

Reiko has taken Yoichi with her into hiding after the terror in Ringu. Mai, desperate for answers after her professor's (Ryuji Takayama) death, is out to search for them. When she discovers them, she is surprised to learn that Yoichi is starting to inherit the terrifying psychic ability of Takayama. Soon enough, scientists are using his mind to try to discover, and stop, the power of Sadako Yamamura.

**1/2-*****

Spiral (1998)

The worst in the series

[4/10 · 24 July 2007]

You ought to know that in Japan, this movie was released simultaneously to Ring. The idea was that you saw the original, and then saw the sequel, a great idea for money. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great idea for two separate crews to work on these movies, because this one is complete trash, when compared to Nakata's "Ring".

Though you might like it. A few people do. The characters are boring, the dialog is uninspired, and it's too complicated. However, people see through that and find the goodness this movie offers.

You should watch Rasen with no anticipation for it to live up to "Ring" because both movies head in different directions. Nakata uses the setting to darken the mood, while Iida concentrates on using familiarity and stagnant settings to give feeling. Lastly, this movie approaches science to explain the curse. This is why people banish this film from its existence - it abandons Nakata's horror and feels like it was slapped together.

But enough about comparison. Lets concentrate on the acting in this film. Sato Koichi (who takes on the role of Ando Mitsuo) acts well, overall. But his acting seems to get better, and then worse, and that is just no fun for anybody. Such as the sub-plot of his suicidal issues. Sometimes, you'll just feel edgy for how cheesy the situation, others, you'll feel compassionate about his issues. His character also feels undeveloped, but this is because this movie takes on different roles than the proper storyline in the novel. The main character, in essence, feels broken.

Tsurumi Shingo plays Miyashita, who is just great. He really does feel like his counterpart, and it just makes me want to cry. Seeing him and Koichi on screen is just excellent. Those scenes are the ones to look forward to. Later on in the movie, he gets to show off his acting skills as his character becomes a major counterpart in the story.

Saeki Hinako plays Sadako Yamamura, who delivers one of the best performances any Sadako/Samara has. Yes, there is things to like in this movie.

Nakatami Miki plays Takano Mai, who is a mixed bag. When she is by herself, she is all over. You'll be impressed. When she's on screen with somebody else, she just looks like her mind is focused on other things, like as if she's staring at some crew equipment. But she does improve, at the end of the movie. (I did mention spoilers, and that will be the last three paragraphs. Don't worry, I'll warn you) This movie does have something to tell, but fails to execute it. I've questioned if the crew responsible for the movie even read the book properly, because it is so unfaithful to the source material (explained in spoilers) that it makes me sick. But after all, this is a movie adaptation, and it does not fail at that.

So, what is this even about? Ando Mitsuo is a pathologist who has to perform an autopsy on Ryuji Takayama early in the movie (his fate is explained in proper fashion in "Ring", unless you haven't already guessed). They were classmates in medical school, and Mitsuo feels burdened with the task of cutting his body open. While investigating, he finds an unusual tumor in his neck as well as a slip of paper laying in his stomach, revealing a code. Mitsuo, with his partner Miyashita, explore and find out about four teenagers who died under suspicious circumstances. They also bear the same unknown virus as Takayama. Then Yoshino steps into the picture, claiming information about Sadako Yamamura and a copy of the cursed video with a ridiculous premise. Mitsuo watches the tape, and then is forced with a decision dealing with humanity's extinction with Sadako pulling the ropes in the background.

**/*****

SPOILERS! Below is spoilers to the movie. These last paragraphs reveal even more concerns with this movie, but are unnecessary to read. If you have not seen this movie, everything read until now should be satisfactory enough

You should know the real story behind the cursed video. In short, 30% of it is Sadako's DNA, since she was the one who made the video. The other 70% is smallpox. The smallpox comes from the man who raped Sadako prior to her death. Therefore, the viewer can successfully become pregnant to Sadako if she is a woman and is ovulating while watching the tape.

In fact, in the novel, it is clearly learned that Mai Takano was the first person to impregnate Sadako. One thing that irritates me is that when we see Sadako re-born on screen, she looks EXACTLY LIKE MAI TAKANO. What were they thinking? I was so confused when I watched it! I've never liked this decision, because it is so unthoughtful of the crew to have left something like this in the movie. It just doesn't make sense. Since the host, Mai, acts like the incubator for Sadako, and since Sadako's DNA is not modified in any way with Mai's... it is just too confusing. And this isn't the only movie guilty of this "crime"... the Rasen TV series has also built upon this idea.

If you have read Rasen, you will probably enjoy it because it's an intelligent medical thriller, explaining the supernatural ways of Sadako with science. However, this movie makes the explanation feel like excuses. This is because Iida has destroyed the explanations and modified them... and god knows why. It would've just made more sense if he hadn't tampered with the formula.

Ringu (1998)

A very different approach to the source material

[10/10 · 23 July 2007]

I'm going to say it right from the get-go.

This story is very human and character-driven. If you were looking for a movie with real depth, I'm glad you found my review. The characters in the movie, with great acting and dialog, are very deep and you can tell how they will act and react as if you actually knew them. This gives a sense of familiarity, and you will be comfortable with it. But I highly doubt you will be comfortable, because this movie is probably one of the scariest you will ever see. The tension between Reiko Asakawa and Ryuji Takayama can be eerie at times because of their current relationship and history with each other. Aside from dealing with the threat they are faced with, they must also deal with each other and their anger with one another.

This movie also discards the scientific approach to Sadako Yamamura's curse, by focusing on the supernatural aspect of it. This is probably the reason why people tend to like this movie better than "Rasen" (Spiral). Since the story is modified so much, do not expect an adaptation of the novel... expect a re-interpretation of it. If you want to watch an adaptation of the story, watch the television version... but have fun finding it! Because of Hideo Nakata's wonderful directing, Koji Suzuki's stories finally got the attention they deserved. People have become so familiar with the story, it's astounding. There is also many knock-offs of Sadako (Grudge/Ju-On, anyone?); saying it has become a worldwide icon would not be an overstatement. And even if you know the ending of this movie, it will scare the hell out of you. If you knew the budget of this movie, you'd be even more scared.

Asakawa is in the midst of a new urban legend - a tape that murders in a week's passing - and must get the scoop on it after her niece and her friends die (at the exact same time too, I might add).

Her investigation leads her to a rental cabin they had stayed at, but ends up getting more than she bargained for when she actually discovers the tape and innocently watches it. She knows that something specific must be performed before the deadline is up, and so enlists her ex-husband, Takayama, to help her solve the riddle.

There investigating reveals that a long-dead woman is featured on the tape, brushing her hair. Shizuko was a psychic that was branded a fraud and drove herself to suicide. They find out her living location, and after more investigation, discover a secret that was meant to be buried. Shizuko had a daughter, Sadako, and she had mysteriously disappeared thirty years ago.

Asakawa and Ryuji then discover that the tape was created by Sadako herself, who was thrown in a well left to die thirty years ago. They think that the only way to save themselves is to find Sadako's corpse and to release her vengeful spirit, in a race against time.

*****/*****