'The Ring Two' - Ghost in the Machine

Ever blow up a balloon and not tie it off? If you have, you know that the balloon retains its shape for awhile as it races around the room, all the while losing air. Eventually, the balloon stops, falls down and becomes a shriveled mess. This example is a perfect allegory of “The Ring 2.” The film starts off great and is filled with interesting visuals and action but ends up losing steam.

Directed by Hideo Nakata, a Japanese Horror (J-Horror) legend behind the original, Japanese version of “The Ring” and its sequel, the film begins with a fairly intense scene between two teens watching the scary video from the first film. Nakata has an interesting eye and for much of the first half of the film, he shows the audience that he can increase the tension in a scene. There are plenty of good sequences and Naomi Watts’ performance as Rachel, the journalist with a haunted son, Aidan, is good enough. It’s not a serious piece of acting in a serious piece of cinema, but it works.

I just want to know how all of these Australian actors can sound so convincing as Americans but all of my attempts at an Australian accent sound like a cross between the Crocodile Hunter and Dick Van Dyke’s character in “Mary Poppins.”

Anyway, around the time that Samara, the creepy ghost girl, takes over Aidan’s body, the film begins its rapid descent into crappiness. There’s too much Aidan, not enough Samara and really not enough thrills, chills, action or fun. There was so much focus placed on Rachel and Aidan that the movie is like a table only held up by two legs. Watts does her best to do the heavy lifting but the script is nowhere near good enough to help her out.

Apparently the original sequel is very different from this version and unfortunately both aren’t as good as their predecessors. After watching “The Ring,” I was creeped out just walking around a grocery store after the movie. “The Ring Two,” left me very unsatisfied. Ultimately, I think the makers of this film didn’t use Samara’s evilness to very good effect, mainly because she was buried in a little boy with creepy bags under his eyes.

I can’t think that there will be another “Ring” movie and that’s a good thing. We are in a mess of trouble if some studio executives decided to milk this like a “Friday the 13th” franchise. Although, this movie might have been a lot better if it just followed a new crew of people watching the tape and getting stalked.

This leads me to one other point that perturbed me. It is 2005 - who has a huge, flat-screen television and no DVD player? The video tape would likely sit unwatched on someone’s shelf or end up in somebody’s computer in an attempt to burn the video to a DVD. I have a VCR but it’s not hooked up to anything and it still flashes 12:00.

There are worse movies out there and the first half is pretty good but you won’t be missing much if you decide to wait and rent this.

• *1/2