Great Americanized remake of the Japanese horror

Rating: 8/10 (19 October 2002)

I watched the original Japanese "Ring" (aka "Ringu," as per the Japanese phonetic) two years ago. It was a very freaky film, to say the least. So when I learned that a remake of the film was being released here in the States, I had to see it. I was curious to know if the American filmmakers were going to improve upon the original, or totally screw it up by "Americanizing" it.
Well, I'm glad to say that they mostly succeeded. After the opening sequence which was a virtual carbon copy of the Japanese original, the movie improved upon the original in many ways. There were some plot changes, but most had to do with Americanizing the characters, their relations, and their background. The writers did a great job of only Americanizing the setting while keeping the core plot elements and themes intact. (Personally, I really enjoyed the Seattle apartment complex which Naomi Watt's character lives in because the buildings looked decidedly more Japanese than American. :D ) Furthermore, there were some additional scenes and freaky stuff that I don't remember seeing in the Japanese original. Those new stuff and the Hollywood production value did a good job of improving the movie. The acting was pretty good too. Definitely more compelling than the Japanese version, IMHO.
Unfortunately, I was let down by the climactic ending of the movie. Naturally, I will not spoil the movie for you by going into details. But let me just say that I found the Japanese ending to be ten times more freaky (and memorable!) than the American one. In terms of the plot, the endings are practically the same, but how the scene was executed was different. I feel that the Japanese ending was more tightly directed and more freaky as a result, compared to the slightly self-indulgent "ooh, isn't this scary" American rendition of the same scene.
But apparently, I felt that way only because I had watched the original. There were plenty of girls screaming and guys yelling "Holy $#!+" in the theater, and my cousin (who had not watched the Japanese original) was very freaked out too. I was definitely among the minority.
All in all, I think "The Ring" is a great remake of the Japanese original. Even though I personally feel that they somewhat botched the ending (probably only because I'm comparing it to the Japanese original, which most people probably haven't even heard of anyways), the American version successfully brings the feel of the Japanese occult and horror to the American moviegoers. It definitely ain't your usual hack-and-slash cheese-and-sleaze gore-horror flick. It's a great, great movie for the Halloween season, and I expect it to enjoy a long, happy life at the box office.
Oh, as a side note, while watching David Letterman the other night, I learned that Naomi Watts (the leading actress) went to the same high school with Nicole Kidman in Australia. Maybe that's why Naomi has same facial expression things going on as Nicole. I thought it was very interesting. I wonder if I'm the only one who saw that. :)