Sadako (2019) User Reviews

Not even close...

[amidabutsu · 4/10 · 17 October 2020]

I've read an article about Hideo Nakata's "noble attempt to resurrect dying genre of J-horror". I've also read an announcement that this movie is said to be based on Koji Suzuki's "Tide", what gave me hope of "returning to the roots" and ending the discord between the author and the director... Nakata and Suzuki made some good horrors (Ringu, Dark Water), so I hoped for another fruit of their teamwork.

But I was deceived. None of those promises were true.

For the first, this movie has literally nothing in common with Suzuki's novel "Tide", neither with any of his books. For the second, this movie is everything which original "Ringu" wasn't.

1. Lack of the music. Ringu Saga (1, 2 & 0) were richly adorned by Kenji Kawai's disturbing soundtrack, what was a huge help with building fearsome atmosphere. And in this movie we have basically no music, what makes "scary" scenes looking like stupid mockumentary. Oh wait, there is some sound - literally ONE SINGLE PIANO ACCORD, recurring sometimes - neither scary, nor touching, rather annoying.

2. Painful graphic. Although Mr. Nakata avoided casting 3D and CGI effect here and there, he still couldn't help but show off 4K resolution. I mean the resolution allowing you see the very single blade of grass. You know that human eye may see clearly either near, or far, but never both simultaneously! It's about lens's shape, which turns flat for far sight, and round for near sight. Lens cannot be both flat and round at the same moment! And... this movie shows both near and far planes painfully sharp simultaneously, what confuses and tires our eyes. What's the purpose of this showing off? Turning our attention away from plot-holes?

3. Lack of the plot. Not Sadako is the main heroine, or anti-heroine, but she's overshadowed by a generic girl with dahrrrk past (ripoff from Akane and Fuko from respectively "3D" and "3D 2") and some bratty, gloomy girl (ripoff from Nagi from "3D 2").

4. Acting. As much the characters are painfully generic and bringing literally nothing to "Ringu" franchise, as the actors portraying them are also bland. Elaiza Ikeda (Mayu) can only gape blankly with bulging eyes and opened jaws, what gives her looks of not-so-smart person. But maybe it's only an impression because of her mismatched hairstyle, which was a ripoff from Mai Takano... Maybe little Himeka Himejima tries hard, but her character is still unoriginal.

All Ringu-maniacs remember motherly Nanako Matsushima (Asakawa), snarky Hiroyuki Sanada (Takayama), gloomy Miki Nakatani (Takano)... You loved them? Too bad, because we won't see them here, even in a retrospection. From the "old school" remained only Hitomi Sato, but her character (Masami) became terribly twisted and humiliated.

5. Masami Kurahashi herself. Yes, she was just secondary character, who appeared in "Ringu 1" as cheerful, mischievous, giggling schoolgirl, and in "Ringu 2" as deeply traumatized patient with some psychic skills. In both roles I found her rather cute. Yet, now she was turned into some old, fat, perverted auntie, stalking young girls.

For people who aren't familiar with Japanese mentality... 20 years ago there existed a term "stalled Christmas cookie", referring to 25-year-old woman who was still unmarried. But it was two decades ago! Now it's not so rare for Japanese women to get married at their 30's (instead of 20's). Many Japanese women nowadays want to get education and professional career, so marriage and maternity should be postponed. Thus, instead of "stalled Christmas cookies" (25-year-old "spinsters") now we have "bimajo" (beautiful witches) - women in their 30's, who are still looking young and alluring.

In 1998-1999 Masami was a teenage kid around 17. 20 years later, respectively, she should be "bimajo" around 37. Yet, due to baggy clothes and terrible makeup, she's characterized as middle-aged lady in her 50's! Mr. Nakata, where were you during the last rwo decades, while the Japanese society managed to change their conception of unmarried women in their 30's?

6. Sadako herself. In "Ringu 1-2" she was terrifying, powerful demon wanting revenge (Rie Inou). In "Ringu 0" she was sweet, innocent girl, who wanted to love and be loved (Yukie Nakama). Even in "Rasen" she was purpose-driven, sentient being. In Suzuki's books she simply wanted to be reborn, and the tape was the key. There were also rules, making Sadako kill some people while sparing some others.

And now... she's just a mindless "uuuh, braaaiiins!" zombie without sensible purpose... aside killing everyone indiscriminately, without any rules...

And she's now a ripoff of her own clones:

• Kayako (crawling, using her hair as ropes)
• Hikiko (using brute force to drag people)
• Mitsuko (producing dark water and drowning people - sadly, not the first Nakata's auto-plagiarism, vide "Ghost Actress" and "Ghost Theater")

...While originally she had no problem with standing and walking, and didn't even need lift her finger to kill people - she simply stopped one's heart from afar... But hey, at least she isn't a grasshopper, like in 3D atrocity.

7. Shizuko Yamamura - she's now pretty, but empty porcelain doll. Shizuko, portrayed by Masako, was able to show strong emotions (shock, rage, despair). This one's acting is very artificial, and her emotions look lukewarm at best.

8. Backstory of Sadako and Shizuko, alongside the events from the original saga, became shamefully flattened and shortened.

9. Cursed video itself. I know that some actors passed away during the two decades, what may cause some copyright problems, but Mr. Nakata could simply pay their heirs for reusing scenes with them (Masako, Yuko Takeuchi). And pay the other "old" actors to make good reminiscences with Asakawa, Takayama or Takano. Instead, we have some bland, chaotic scenes. Which are, like the whole movie, overly bright and colorful.

Sadako lived in times when most of the movies were black-and-white, and their quality and resolution was questionable. So her "nensha" movie should be black-and-white and pixelated as well. It's NOT a flaw! It's crucial for the horror's climax. The video's bad quality gives us an impression of something old, obscure, abandoned and long forgotten.

While the new video is sepia-colored ("warm and nostalgic" and not "cold and ominous") and in 1080p resolution...

Sorry for this long rant, but... When the author and the director don't get along, the grudge is born... And this grudge is not even close to real horror... Just Hideo-us.

It's really time to exorcise Sadako and let her be free

[SyoKennex · 4/10 · 16 December 2019]

You would think with eight films in the Japanese series already, including crossing over with The Grudge ghost Kayako, that The Ring series may be reaching a level of overexposure. With the original director of the first two films returning for Sadako, one might think that there is some hope for the latest addition to the series.

This was... a very average film. There wasn't anything special about it that made it stand out; it didn't add anything new to the series. It's just Sadako haunting another bunch of people with a new plot line. That being said; average for the ninth film in a franchise isn't so bad. At this point, looking at other franchise, it should be pulling a low average of one to three. A four out of ten is relatively decent for this point in the franchise's life span.

Sadako has very good tense moment that had me glancing away from my screen uneasily, feeling anxious and getting my heart racing. The suspense is still something that remains strong throughout the franchise and I feel that is partly due to Nakata Hideo returning to direct this. With a mix of an urban legend mixed with a curse-ghost haunting plot line, this is really the only thing that stands up against it. Hideo continues to prove he's a master of suspense and, honestly, it's the only reason I'd think about watching this again - for the few moments that Hideo provides us that makes the heart race. With a ending worthy of the cringe-worthy award, especially with the final two moments, Sadako doesn't really hold up to the legacy that the Ring franchise has held for so long. I kind of wish they'd let Sadako haunt her well in peace and let her be at this point.

With a slightly underwhelming ninth film, it's definitely time to exorcise Sadako, let her move on from her cursed state, and throw the towel in with this one. Sadako barely holds up - a tenth would be physically incapable of holding up anything else.

I want to say exorcise Sadako But

[eventlaunch · 5/10 · 28 July 2020]

I like it so much I'm willing the crap ones like this a pass got to admit enjoyed Sadako vs Kayako

The worst in the series

[dayoftheghouls · 2/10 · 13 August 2019]

The script is uninspired, boring and even hilarious. I expect no more from the Ringu series. I'm so fed up with these.

Meh. This was a bland attempt at reviving Sadako...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 28 June 2021]

Ugh, another cash-in on the a franchise that was great back in the days of 1998 and a few years onward. Yet, I opted to sit down and watch the 2019 "Sadako" movie from writer Noriaki Sugihara and director Hideo Nakata on the odd chance that this might actually be a worthwhile addition to "The Ring" legacy and franchise.

But no. Well, while "Sadako" was a watchable movie, it was by no means an outstanding horror movie. Nor was it a particularly scary one, not even by accounts of Japanese horror standards. "Sadako" felt like a watered down rendering of the origin story of Sadako, the girl that terrorized people in "The Ring".

The storyline told in this 2019 movie was a bit too boring and bland. There was nothing scary to be had here throughout the course of the entire movie. Well, unless you are Asian I suppose. But for a seasoned horror veteran such as myself, then "Sadako" was not a scary movie and offered only slight entertainment. It felt like writer Noriaki Sugihara wasn't really sure in which direction to take the story, so it felt like it was a bit all over the place and sort of lacking a red coherent thread.

I managed to sit through the entire movie, but this was not a movie that tickled me in all the right places. Sure, it was watchable for the less than mediocre thing it turned out to be. But this is hardly a Japanese horror movie that managed to make itself stand out in the genre. And it is not a movie that warrants more than a single viewing.

The acting in the movie was adequate, despite the fact that the actors and actresses were hard pressed with having not much of a solid and complete script and storyline to work with.

I am rating the 2019 "Sadako" movie a less than mediocre four out of ten stars. Sometimes it is better to let sleeping corpses lie...

Decent if you go in expecting a 4 out of 10, but a lot of missed opportunities

[gelikoptergelikopter · 22 June 2023]

I suppose this movie faced some high expectations, with the director being the same person who did the first and second movie back in the late 90's. What those some people may not know, however, is that this director also made the second American version.

That's right. The Ring 2 from 2005 was made by a Japanese director, the same man who directed the original which is considered a well loved classic. But as you might be aware of, The Ring 2 isn't very well loved at all. And it doesn't have a very good score on IMDB either.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, not everything that Hideo Nakata has touched so far, Ring wise, has been gold. So to see him make Sadako and find it less than stellar, perhaps shouldn't be such a big shock to everybody. It's not like when Ridley Scott came back to direct Prometheus after not having touched the Alien franchise for 30 years, only to make a really divisive film with some obvious flaws. Now that was shocking.

This movie has its moments. There is one particular scene where Sadako comes out from underneath the bed, that I thought was really well done. It doesn't rely too much on jumpscares, although there are a few. The original is such a slow burn, with its greatest strength being the gradual build of suspense, all working up to that final iconic scene where Sadako comes out of the TV. This is not that kind of film. It follows more of a modern horror format, with scares being spread more evenly throughout.

What irks me most about Sadako (2019) is that there was a brilliant opportunity to take this franchise into the age of the internet but its very poorly developed. Merely a sketch of what it could have been. It hints at how Sadako's curse is carried through a youtube video of some kind, but as to how this actually works and the details of how it spreads, we are none the wiser.

Let's face it, part of the audience for this movie won't even know what a VHS tape is, and well, when they wait for the phone call that comes after the tape ends, they might just mute it. Send me a Whatsapp in stead, Sadako, thank you very much. But they might know about cursed video's. About creepy pasta's. "Send this video to at least ten people, or you will have 10 years of bad luck". That sort of thing.

This is vaguely hinted at in one scene, but then quickly abandoned. In stead, we go gallivanting around a hospital, watching a young girl who is somehow the reincarnation of Sadako without us ever learning why. Then off to the cave where Sadako was born. Even though this is a cool setting, we've seen that place before. We already know Sadako doesn't need you to come to her cave for her to get you, so why is it such a focus in the story?

In stead, we should have seen more of the curse carried throughout the internet. Just think how much faster it could spread, how many more people would be affected. I imagine whole cities wiped out, a Sadako induced genocide. But none of that happens.

Another issue is the character of the protagonists brother. He is deeply annoying and immature, a guy with some bloated sense of a mission of becoming a social media star, like it's the most important thing in the world. He very disrepectfully goes to the scene of a crime, just for views. When he eventually goes missing, I couldn't care less. Good riddance. Were we really supposed to be invested in this character? He is the main emotional connection for the protagonist, but since he's not remotely interesting or likeable, this hurts her character as well.

All in all, I found this movie to be entertaining, and scary at times. There's some nice nods to Ringu 1 and 2. I guess you could call it fan service. The plot is defintely less confusing and far fetched than those of Rasen (Spiral) or Ring 0 (the prequel). That being said, it is essentially more of the same.

Suduko

[bjornrhein · 4/10 · 21 January 2024]

Reinvent the wheel again and again, actually I was not so fond of the ring , it was a mess and boring, but famous for one scene of course that makes the whole movie, but that scene only work one time and instead of having one great scene worth to remember, they use it in every possible way , even when it dont fit in

This is a boring movie aswell, it has no charm , its no heart in it , like everyone in the filmcrew are tired , I give it 4 kind points because the production is well done and acting is ok , and story work ,, but its a boring movie and not sure if this scare anyone since it just so lame.

Who is this movie for?

[fh147 · 2/10 · 12 April 2024]

So my biggest problem is the movie is it's not scary and why it's not scary is very individual. I am not scared of women or of small children. So that is maybe why and it didn't help this movie was way too lit up so I could see what was going on all time.

God damn this movie was too bright most of the time it hurt my eyes because this screen was so bright. We just maybe one of the reasons why I just begin to get and headache.

And the characters are just boring, not any simpleism in any kind of things going on in them. I like how to woman dressed. It was cute and she looked good in it, but most of the time. I was just like am I supposed to connect these hollow Shields of characters.

And the only fun part of the movie was making fun of it with one of my friends with a glass of wine in my hand. It's just so weird Who is this movie for?, the only people I can think of, are people who want more history behind the ring movie.

And I don't even think those people are interested because it doesn't give anything.

All and all , waste of time only enjoyable with friends.

Fun film!

[jp_91 · 7/10 · 25 February 2020]

Sadako is not a masterpiece but is an enjoyable film. The script is thrilling with some changes about the classic scenes of the first films. The film locations and cinematography are great and creepy. There is some good moments but the film is weak. An entertaining movie for the Ringu franchise.

Solid if still slightly flawed addition to the franchise

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 9/10 · 30 July 2019]

After finding a lonely young girl, a nurse at a local hospital tries to help her regain enough senses to tell what happened to her, eventually leading to a connection with a local urban legend her brother accidentally uncovered and brings her colleagues face-to-face with a murderous ghost.

Overall, there was quite a lot to like with this entry. One of the strongest factors here is the way this one utilizes the traditional elements of the series into creating a very familiar atmosphere. The film explores a rather intriguing investigation angle that was central to the original entries in the series where the authorities are looking after the young girl who wandered into their lives. Realizing the connection between her and the mother who died and then trying to understand what's going on by interviewing the girl has some great moments to it by setting off the nurse's interest in the situation. The connection deepens when the brother gets involved and turns up missing with the fateful video of the scene which is analyzed and proven to contain enough about it to make the authorities look at it even further which is a stellar factor of the film. On top of that, the film's ghost scenes are quite creepy and generally effective. The opening scene in the apartment of the ghost interrupting a woman's attempt to kill her daughter gives this a strong and shocking start, while the scenes at the doctor's office investigating the girl provides some enjoyable moments here. This carries into the terrifying encounters at the hospital of the ghost coming to life and targeting the nurses' patient in the corridors of the building which are just chilling and incredibly creepy but also serves a fine purpose of getting the traditional franchise elements into the film. Alongside a strong finale that features plenty of creepy action on the island and keeps this one connected with the series incredibly nicely, these here are what manages to hold the film up for the most part. There are still some problems with the film. The biggest issue to be had here is the fact that the introduction of the girl and how the investigation is going to be handled just comes off as sloppy and mishandled. Knowing from the start that the fire was the cause of the mother's death and the rest of the hospital staff finding her is decent enough, but to get the brother involved here through his investigation of the area as a project for his video channel is extremely lazy. The fact that one disappointing video that still manages a respectable number of views is suddenly cause enough for him to want to abandon the content he's providing and turn automatically to ghost-hunting on that kind of a whim has no connection based on what happens. As well as some confusing instances of cheap CGI that undoes a couple of the jump-scenes, these are all that really hold this one back.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language and children-in-jeopardy.

Sadako

[frostbow · 6/10 · 19 June 2023]

A girl is spending her life locked into a closet by her mother. She only has two friends, a doll and a long-haired woman.

After an incident, the girl ends up in a hospital, under the care of doctor Mayu (Ikeda Elaiza). Meanwhile, Mayu's brother Kazuma (Shimizu Hiroya) works as a vlogger comedian. After a tip from his older colleague Yusuke (Tsukamoto Takashi), he starts investigating haunted places and publishing videos of them online. Of course, more incidents soon follow.

Even though the movie title does not contain a number, it is yet another sequel to the classical horror movie Ringu. As such, it will give you exactly what you expect. That said, absolutely watch Ringu first.

Compared to Ringu, it lacks the eerie atmosphere and symbolism. Instead it has a modern, well-polished feel. It has at least one memorable horror scene, and some that were too cliché.

A few pieces of background story are added to the lore. The curse also works differently, and a new, interesting theme is introduced.

Of the actors, Ikeda Elaiza was brilliant of course, expressing all levels of emotion from concern to horror. Shimizu Hiroya is ridiculous, but for a comedian it is not out of character. Also there was a female patient and some children in the hospital that were pretty funny. The girl played well for a child actor.

This movie is hardly of interest to anyone except for fans of the original movie. For those fans it might be a small but nice addition to the legend of Sadako.

Sadako

[alshii · 10/10 · 5 January 2020]

Best movie for sadako story i cant wait for next story i want new movie for ju on