★★½ (2½ out of 4)
Filmgoers, those crazy romantics, are suckers for wedding movies, especially those drenched in blood and gore. And in 2019, they lined up to catch “Ready or Not,” which follows young bride Grace MacCaullay (sensational scream queen Samara Weaving) who is hunted by her groom’s wealthy Le Domas crime family as part of a wedding night ritual to worship the devil or die trying to avoid it in a game of Hide and Seek. It’s “Bridesmaids” meets “The Purge” with all stops in between.
No worries if you missed it. “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” is basically the same movie with a few changes just to mix things up. I’m expecting audiences to walk down the aisle for a group “I do” at the box office, just like they did the first time since the violence has been upped accordingly to make up for the fact that’s there’s nothing remotely fresh on the table.
There’s more of everything this time, except for the irreplaceable shock of the new.
Working again from a script by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, returning directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, known as Radio Silence, pick up exactly where the first fright fest left off with Grace (Weaving at it again), her gown ripped and bloody, smoking a cigarette on the steps of her in-laws’ burning home. She’s pretty much eradicated the groom’s side of the family. And should be free and clear.
Not so fast. Having passed out from a cardiac scare, Grace is taken into custody for in-law homicide. Hey, it was self-defense. Her estranged sister Faith (a terrific Kathryn Newton) has shown up to help, sort of, but before they can hash out old grievances big trouble arrives. The Le Domas clan was only one of six families that make up a global counsel of Satanists, all of whom want their shot at Grace and the High Seat she now occupies.
I know, it’s a lot. Don’t worry. Elijah Wood (Frodo!) shows up as an attorney advocate for Mr. Le Bail (that’s Satan to you). He explains the rules of the game to us sinners. The current Seat occupier, Chester Danforth, is played by “body horror” maestro David Cronenberg looking maliciously bemused. To continue with the delicious stunt casting, Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy!) shows up as his depraved daughter Ursula, and look, that’s Shawn Hatosy—Dr. Jack from “The Pitt”—as his psycho son, Titus. Talk about dead ringers.
There’s more. The Danforth twins are joined by other family chiefs—Ignacio El Caido (Néstor Carbonell) from Spain, Wan Chen (Olivia Cheng) from Shanghai, and Madhu (Varun Saranga) and Viraj (Nadeem Umar-Khitab) from London. They kidnap Grace and Faith, sweeping them off to a private hunting ground where the one who kills Grace will rule them all, unless Grace survives till sunrise, in which case she’s the big kahuna.
It's disappointing to report that the bloodletting quickly dulls from repetition, leaving a collection of solid actors struggling to stand out amid the carnage. The OG “Ready” was a comic takedown of the rich done with the rude energy of a comic horror thriller and the courage of its own manic anti-marriage convictions. Now one-percenters have become the new Nazis, easy targets for gratuitous extinction.
Even though the stakes are lower this time, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” offers plenty to shatter your nerves and tickle your funny bone. And no matter how often the trumpet-tonsiled Weaving lets out her scream, it’s one for the horror ages. There’s more of everything this time, except for the irreplaceable shock of the new.