In ‘Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,’ Samara Weaving Rocks Hard as a Blood-Splattered Bride Fighting the Devil

Alci Rengifo

Here is another sequel the average viewer probably didn’t ponder too much over the last few years. “Ready or Not” premiered in late 2019, in those pre-pandemic days, and entertained as a fun grindhouse romp. Samara Weaving proved herself a genuine horror action star as a bride who discovers her wealthy in-laws serve Satan and believe they must sacrifice her before dawn. The plot was mainly an excuse for hilariously bloody moments culminating in the snobs being literally imploded by the dark one. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett went on to expand their catalog, including a successful stint in the “Scream” franchise, and now return to this world with “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.” Like its predecessor, this is a movie to be goofily entertained by every chop, gunshot and embedded piece of broken glass.

The directors pick up right where the last movie ended as Grace (Weaving) is placed in an ambulance following the fiery destruction of her would-be elitist killers, the Le Domases. At the hospital, the police have some deep suspicions over how Grace survived a whole family and mansion being wiped out. Naturally, they suspect she did it. Just then, her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) appears. You may recall Grace was described as an orphan in the first movie. Some exposition reveals how the sisters were separated by Grace needing to find stable employment. Ah, but there are bigger matters afoot. A super powerful oligarch, Chester Danforth (legendary director David Cronenberg), has learned of Grace surviving. A kind of Satanic procedure kicks in where Danforth’s twin children, Titus (Shawn Hatosy) and Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar), murder him and summon a whole gang of rich families. Some thugs are sent out to kidnap Grace and Faith and bring them to the Danforth estate, where they learn there will be a new game. Since Grace survived, the other families can now hunt her and the winner gets to be the most powerful clan in the world, guided by Satan of course.

The first “Ready or Not” also worked as part of the ongoing trend of jabbing at the one percent. It made fun of marriage and the idea that the billionaire class must surely worship the devil. “Ready or Not 2” still has a little of the former and much of the latter. A calm smirking “Lawyer” played by Elijah Wood oversees the new game, keeping track of the rules while being aware most of the guests are idiots. What a colorful bunch they are too. The new hunters include Ignacio El Caido (Nestor Carbonell), a Spaniard with a sniper rifle who yells “puta” a lot, Wan Chen Xing (Olivia Chang), who is given a cliché katana sword (surely on purpose), and hedonistic Madhu (Varun Saranga) and Viraj Rajan (Nadeem Umar-Khitab). There are a few demented offspring like El Caido’s daughter Francesca (Maia Jae) and young son Felipe (Juan Pablo Romero). If one family member falls while chasing after Grace and Faith, another one has to step in.

Some of this may remind viewers of how the “John Wick” movies started with one strong action thriller and then evolved into a whole franchise universe. Here we also get secret societies with seemingly limitless resources confronting our heroes. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are not out to make the story necessarily more grandiose however. They keep the action pretty limited to the Danforth estate. Basically, it’s whole new round of running around and avoiding getting killed, with just more characters added to the mix. The material lacks some of the truly devilish glee of the original, but still packs good moments. Characters get annihilated by being tossed into giant washing machines. Propane tanks explode. Machete-wielding nutcases pop out of the shadows. The snobs who stay out of it, like Madhu, watch with morbid fascination from an opulent room with screens. 

The material works because the directors have style and the key performances totally go for it. Weaving was impressively physical and intense in the first movie, and she brings back much of that spirit here. Kathryn Newton is pushed to do the same. They convincingly endure every punch and shrapnel burst. The cast is aware you can’t play these roles with low notes. Going bonkers is the point. Elijah Wood is obviously having fun presiding over Satanic rituals with a ram’s horns crown. All the while, the estranged sisters bond and realize they need each other, especially when Sarah Michelle Gellar, a true veteran of this sort of thing, cackles with a musket gun. The slick images are then propelled by the soundtrack, which is a collection of oldies and hard rock needle drops. There is even a wedding from hell thrown in. “Ready or Not 2” was not the sequel we expected, but it’s a damn fun afterparty.

“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” releases March 20 in theaters nationwide.