Ready or Not

We're now in that weird space of movie-going time where kids are headed back to school and the industry generally believes that it has to go on a "pause" of sorts. 

For us adults, it's also nearing the end of summer so our plates are often more full with last minute adventures that we want to partake in, not to mention the fact that work doesn't really care what time of year it is, so it's always there (hence the combination that has led this review to be quite late). 

As I eagerly await It: Chapter 2, there wasn't much at the theater that has caught my eye. I can tell I'm becoming more protective of my time because I'd certainly enjoy seeing the follow up to Olympus Has Fallen or some other films that are out, but the review write-up on the back end is something that would have been hard to make time for. 

With enough positive word-of-mouth, I finally made my way to Ready or Not, expecting to be modestly entertained. And wouldn't you know it, modestly entertained is what I was. Surprisingly though, I think this is actually a film that - based on some of the praise I'm hearing - is a tad overrated. 

Ready or Not is a good enough little release for the duldrum back-to-school time, and it's a somewhat memorable little horror/comedy romp that has a wacky premise all encased within a pretty tight 90-minute-ish film. But yet, there was something about it that left me...bored. 

The film starts with a marriage - as I'm sure you've guessed from the trailers - and, per family tradition, they must "initiate" new family members on their wedding night by playing a game. The game is chosen by chance and could be chess, checkers, old maid, etc. Or it could be Hide & Seek (perhaps the original title of this film?) which means the family must hunt you to prevent an age-old curse from the devil from killing them all. The lore itself is nonsense, but it sets up the need for the cat-and-mouse game, even if I think it almost would have been better to have the driving purpose be something a little more sinister or revealing than just an "old family curse". Everything gets started fairly quickly so we're left with the bulk of the runtime that is the Bride, Grace, running from the family. The result is sometimes fun and mildly captivating, but I can't say that I was enthralled by any of it. For me, much of the film was just...there...and it tends to go down the path of one more thing going wrong after another, which often needlessly extends your film. 

"Stand perfectly still and she will not notice we are here."

"Why can't we play a "hip" game
like Ticket to Ride?"

Along the way, Grace gets beat up terribly which is a testament to Samara Weaving's willingness to "play" the game here. But there's only so many times I can watch her scream at the top of her lungs and curse expletives toward family members before it starts to feel like we're going in a loop. As for the family members themselves, only a handful of them are interesting and they're all awful people so it's hard to care much about them. There's a sense of underlying dark humor that's pervasive throughout, though I never found the film uproarious (certainly not like the release from a couple weeks ago) and it was, at best, "amusing" humor.

I guess you could say that's my general attitude to Ready or Not as a whole, outside of a far more interesting ending that is wacky, and probably the best part of the film. For me, the whole process of watching Grace go round and round - almost in circles - is only mildly entertaining and there's some "X" factor missing from 90% of the film. It's a relatively tame R rating so there's not hyper-gore (though one gross-out scene does stand out), she's not some secret ninja so the action is minimal and sometimes plagued with shaky-cam, it's not an outright comedy so, apart from a few instances, I was rarely laughing, nor is it a mystery-driven thriller where captivating lore reveals itself at every turn. And when I spell it out that way, that's exactly why I'm so "meh" about the film as a whole: there's nothing all that special about it. Praise be that it's an original idea out of Hollywood, but it lacks that special factor that I'd expected a film like this to have. 

Given that not much else is coming out this weekend, Ready or Not will have to last me until that evil clown comes back in a week's time. I wish I had enjoyed this one as much as others had, but given the stellar year we've had the movies (for the most part) so far, I know that I won't remember this one all that much come Rath Awards season. 

CONS

• Feels like the whole cat-and-mouse game goes in circles leading a 90 minute film to feel longer than it is
• The lore driving the need for the game isn't all that captivating
• Lacks that "X factor" where it exists, but doesn't double down on any of the things that could make it stand out
• The humor felt forced to me and was never more than amusing
• Awful characters we don't really care much about

PROS

• Handful of scenes that stand out and are "fun" in so much as they're entertaining, suspenseful, or gross
• Everyone is willing to "play" as an actor/actress that helps to make these people feel much more genuine. Grace's Samara Weaving in particular is a strong lead
• Excellent original score that elevates the film
• The kind of out-of-nowhere ending that I was hoping a film like this would have

Rath's Review Score | 6/10