Film Review – One Missed Call 2
Jul 19, 2008 in asian film, film reviews, japanese film
Title: One Missed Call 2 (Chaku-shin ari 2)
Director: Renpei Tsukamoto
Year: 2005
Genre: Horror
Format Reviewed: DVD
Oh great, another sequel to a J-horror flick, right? While One Missed Call 2 is obviously the successor to the hit and well-liked One Missed Call, it actually departs from the formula in the first movie quite a bit. Rather than being a gory anticipation game, OMC2 is actually more of a detective movie. There really aren’t any gross-out moments, and deaths are quick, fairly bloodless, and not very inspired.
So whether or not the movie is enjoyable is up to your open-mindedness. At first, I was turned off by the fact that not many people bite it in interesting ways (one of the most important parts of an asian horror movie), but after I started to see the direction OMC2 goes, I changed my mind. You can’t blame the writers to go in a different direction, since J-horror sequels and spin offs have become so ubiquitous that a straight-forward sequel would get lost in the mix.
What’s good about this new direction? Well not really that much. I mean the acting is sub-par to the point of being a little annoying, and the emotions are a little cliche. That said, I still found myself caught up in the story. I think the never-ending anticipation of the premise that OMC has built around killer cell phone messages is legit and it goes to show how interesting an idea it really is. So to keep the same basic principles and change the audiences’ vantage point allows for a sequel that is less dull than some others, considering the arguable over-saturation of the J-horror market. I guess it’s more the pace of the story that is different, since we are still following a main character who is trying to solve her own case of living longer than her voicemail.
The step from OMC to OMC2 is very similar to Ju-On to Ju-On 2. The first was very fresh, interesting, and viewable to non J-horror fans, but the sequel is really only going to be liked by close followers to the genre. To end on a positive note, the ending of OMC2 is satisfying for viewers who make it that far and makes up for a lot of its faults.
Rating: 2 /5
