Review: Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

The original Ready Or Not way back in 2019 was a comedy-horror twist on final girl tropes, the latest in an off-on line of movies where rich people hunted the poor because it was fun and they were evil. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come arrives at a time when killing the rich (on screen) is more popular than ever; good thing we know the hunted pretty much always become the hunter.

Kicking off roughly one second after the end of the previous film, we see Grace (Samara Weaving) stagger out of a burning mansion in a blood-soaked wedding dress then promptly collapse, leading to a lot of unanswered questions at the local hospital. Seems like she's in a lot of trouble, even before her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) shows up for some spiky banter.

But while the police are getting heavy, the real threat is getting ready to strike. Seems surviving her wedding has triggered an upheaval in the world of the Satanic Elite, and now the whole "ruling the world" thing is in play. 

Chester Danforth (David Cronenberg), the previous title holder, is too feeble to defend his title, so it's up to his children, evil twins Titus (Shawn Hatosy) and Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar), to step up. But there's a bunch of other rivals eligible to take the crown (well, ring), and so the stage is set for a much bigger hunt in a much bigger location. But is bigger better when it comes to this kind of thing?

The story zips along and there's enough twists and turns to keep the "they're all trying to kill you" drama at least somewhat fresh. Faith's stand-alone charm doesn't add a whole lot to proceedings - anything that takes screen time away from Grace is a bad thing, as her stressed-out desperation is a large part of the appeal here - and the snarky banter drags a little, but eventually this finds a new gear to grind.

A stronger addition is Elijah Woods as Satan's smirking lawyer, the man with the big book who explains all the rules and loopholes. The kills are often entertaining, the hunters are a varied lot united by pretty much all being clueless dorks (they're often not even that good at murder), and the joke that displeasing Satan will make you explode in a shower of blood never gets old.

There's a bunch of fun scenes and strong performances (largely from Weaving and Wood), but the connecting material often feels flimsy. Still, going from not bad gags to okay banter to decent action to gory deaths and back again isn't the worst way to spend 100-odd minutes. If they do make a third film - hopscotch in a minefield perhaps - here's hoping Satan lifts his game.

- Anthony Morris