Ready or Not: Here I Come

This weekend, Ready or Not: Here I Come, the newest film from the Radio Silence team, and sequel to Ready or Not, releases in theaters. Ready or Not: Here I Come picks up directly where the first film left off, continuing the story of Grace as she is roped into yet another deadly hide-and-seek game against four rival families, but this time she must now also protect her sister. I had a lot of fun with the first Ready or Not film, so I was optimistic about this one as well.

I had a lot of fun with this movie. It captures the same energy as the first film but expands on it. This directing duo does a great job of introducing unique characters and letting them play together in an isolated setting. The movie also features numerous enjoyable kills. I never thought I would see a death by washing machine kill, but I did in this movie. There were also a lot of funny moments in Ready or Not: Here I Come. I wouldn't consider this movie a comedy, but it definitely has a dark sense of humor, with some nicely timed jokes that cut the tension without feeling tonally inconsistent. The movie also does a great job of expanding the lore, as we learn that there is more than just one family that enjoys killing people for fun. I also liked the addition of Faith, Grace's sister, to the film as gives a little more depth to Grace's character. It was also enjoyable to see Elijah Wood in this film, where he plays the lawyer for the devil cult. This filmmaking team also knows how to pace a film. This film clocks in at approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes and maintains a brisk pace throughout.

While I did like the addition of the sister, I thought that the conflict between Grace and Faith was not very well done. The movie keeps going back and forth as to whether their conflict is solved or not. One minute, they are good, and the next, they are back to hating each other. They go from "oh, I've missed you for the past 8 years" to "I'm glad I left you, you are a burden". It is just a bit too jarring. I also found the movie to be a bit derivative of the original. In this context, I didn't mind it, as it was more of an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. However, if you weren't a fan of the first film, this one is just more of the same.

Overall, I had a good time with this movie, not as much as the first film, but this one was still fun. I wasn't a fan of the sisters' relationship, but in general, I thought that this was a fun horror dark comedy.

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B+ Recommendation: Check it out