by Kevin Powers

Created on: February 04, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

It's hard to imagine anyone tackling the same material that they've already done, much less six times, and still keep the material fresh and interesting but director Takashi Shimizu has done just that very thing with THE GRUDGE 2, the sixth entry in his ever-expanding JU-ON series of films. I was not a particular fan of his JU-ON 2 (2003), but his new film takes no cues from that film. It is a fresh and original take on the material thanks to screen writer Stephen Susco who returns after adapting Shimizu's original film into THE GRUDGE back in 2004.

I won't give any of the plot points and twists (and more twists) and reveals away because then it will take way from the mystery of the film but suffice it to say that this film is an enigma trapped inside an enigma. It follows the format of the original film farely closely so be warned about the shifts in time and narrative but the film concerns itself with three seperate stories happening simultaneously that will eventually collide into one another.

This is definitely NOT a film for the lazy minded in that throughout the film pieces of the puzzle that is the curse of Kayako Saeki (again played by Takako Fuji) and her son Toshio (Ohga Tanaka) are embedded throughout allowing the audience to finally understand what the curse is and the meaning behind a lot of what Kayako does, most notably why she makes the sound that she does prior to killing anyone.

Sarah Michelle Gellar's presence is sorely missed as newcomer Amber Tamblyn as her sister does not have the presence as an actress yet to replace Gellar. Also, Edison Chen as Eason, a reporter out to get an exclusive about what happened in the house, is far too wooden as a actor playing against Tamblyn who is very adapt at playing a range of extreme emotions. I will say that standouts go to the younger cast members Arielle Kebbel, Sarah Roemer, and Matthew Knight who all do outstanding jobs.

Praise must also go out to Shimizu's visual effects crew who improve upon the original film's images of Kayako 110% and to Christopher Young's amazingly haunting score which is working over time on this film.

Shimizu has done another incredible job but he is now hard at work on the seventh entry in the film series JU-ON 3 and my bet is on the fact that he may be going to the well one too many times.

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