The Ring: taking it off the screen

Rating: Null/10 (26 September 2002)

Now let me just start my saying this: Most people walked out of the screening this thursday confused, unfulfilled, disappointed. All too often people want to leave a movie theater unaffected and with a lucid mind. The Ring isn't the movie for you if you want to leave the cineplex with the exact attitude in which you've entered. I won't give anything away but, you will see the contents of the video and what exactly the ring is. This movie delivers high class chills without indulging in excessive gore. Unlike the Sixth Sense formula, The Ring doesn't promise any surprise ending or spell-binding twists. Instead, this film delivers a visual tilt-a-whirl of images from the moment it begins. Director Gore Verbinski has absolutely grown as a filmmaker and The Ring is a testament to this, with it's crisp, often dazzling imagery. Naomi Watts, fresh off her amazing performance in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, creates a vivid heroine, yet we never really see her desperation enough. When the details of the movie are revealed, you'll probably agree. Although the performances in the film are at times campy, the film provides an intricate storyline that will have you going "What the hell was that?" or "What's going on?" It's a very high concept for a commercial film, which is refreshing after all of the Triple X's and Scorpion King's of the summer: a settling movie to enter Autumn with. Just sit back and be prepared for a flim you could never imagine.