6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I thought it was good, September 6, 2007
You know I have seen many bad reviews on here about this movie, but I think that it's just so many people today are just so desensitized, and they have to over analyze every frame. It's just ugh.... Will it win a Oscar? no. Is it just a good movie that you can sit back and watch with a bowl of popcorn? yes. Get 1 and 2 or rent them and sit back and enjoy a couple of good movies.
I have also seen both of the original japanese movies and they are really good also.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Gives Too Little Screen Time To Some Excellent Ideas, But Still A Fine Movie, January 9, 2007
Not remotely the same as the Japanese "Ju-On: The Grudge 2", this movie picks up from the same point ("The Grudge" and "Ju-On" were almost identical anyway) but heads off in a completely different direction, with mostly different characters from "Ju-On 2" and different concepts. It's not on par, in my opinion, with "Ju-On 2" but it is a very good movie in its own right, above both the first "Grudge" and the first "Ju-On" and introducing new ideas that beg for further follow-up.
"The Grudge 2" follows three paths - Karen Davis's sister Aubrey (played by Amber Tablyn) journeys to Japan where her sister is hospitilized and ends up drawn into the growing Ju-On curse; two private school idiots trick an insecure classmate into going with them to the vacant Saeki house, where they delight in locking her in a closet - admittedly not believing that the house really is haunted and that their poor prank-victim is about to encounter Kakuro; in an apartment building in the United States, the curse set loose in the first movie has somehow crossed the ocean and begun its hauntings there as well. The three plots end up tied together, but not in the way one might expect.
"The Grudge 2" has a lot going for it, but it's also hobbled by some shortcomings - the same thing seems to happen to all the Grudge movies except "Ju-On 2". Although the good outweighs the bad, the movie is still hampered. One of the faults could conceivably be fixed when the Unrated edition of the DVD is release, assuming it's extended in length. Probably the most interesting plot idea introduced here - a horrifying angle that looks at Kakuro's past and explains why she and her son were, of all the people who die violent deaths, the two who ended up transforming into Ju-On ghosts upon their deaths - is given all too brief play in the movie. This angle deserves more, either in a significantly extended cut of "The Grudge 2" or in a further sequel that makes it one of the main focuses.
Also, and though this happens only briefly, there is a single scene where the generally frightening spirits come off, instead of frightening, as kind of campy; it really put a crick in the movie right when it was building up some tension. Also, you've got three seperate plots (four if you count the all too-brief Kakuro backstory) in a one-and-a-half hour movie - it doesn't need to be extended with a couple of scenes, it needs to be Seriously extended, like at least another thirty minutes. The parts of the movie that didn't really work were because it kept 'cutting to the chase' way too quick instead of developing. A number of characters needed a bit more screen time. Personally, I would have liked for Jenna Dewan's character (I can't recall her name) in it longer, and not just because she's hot (although that's a part of it. This movie has some really nice-looking female cast members) but also because, gathering by what was on the screen, her character seems to get drawn quite deeply into the whole web of the Ju-On curse, but we see only a brief moment of its results rather than developing this point.
It probably comes off like I'm saying that everything that could go wrong does, but that's not it. It's just that we've got a really good movie here, but it could have been better - quite a bit better in fact. If there's more scenes shot, I hope they include them in the extended edition (which apparantly Is going to be quite a bit longer, so that's a good sign). The theatrical edition alone is good; with some of the angles allowed to play out longer it could be great. Even the theatrical cut 'as is' is worth getting though. You may also want to check out 'Ju-On 2', for an entirely different story following up the original events.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could have been better, February 20, 2007
This movie had its creepy moments but it wasn't as good as the first. One of the biggest problems I found was that the female spirit didn't make that horrible croaking noise very much. One of the most frightening things about her was the noise she made, so even though many of her appearances were still creepy (except the mirror scene) to me she didn't seem as scary.
The Grudge jumped around in the timeline which was frustrating at first but when I got used to it I found it interesting and actually enjoyed the disorientation. I expected the same jumps in time in the Grudge 2 and sadly found a pretty linear timeline.
Finally, the thing that simply annoyed me was the fact that nearly everything and everyone in the movie was American. The three schoolgirls consisted of two Americans and one Japanese native who for some reason seemed to be attending a basic kanji class. Even the school counselor was American. The main character goes to a little run down village and meets an old Japanese mystic who speaks perfect English. I almost forgot that much of the story was taking place in Japan.
I wanted to like this movie as much as the Grudge but like many sequels it seemed haphazard.
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