A really, really bad wedding night gets worse in ‘Ready or Not 2’

Samara Weaving in a scene from “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” (Searchlight Pictures) [AP Photo]

When we last left bride Grace at the end of 2019’s “Ready or Not,” she was smoking a well-earned cigarette, her wedding dress shredded and soaked in blood, a mansion burning behind her. “In-laws,” she deadpanned to police – the film’s biggest laugh.

Seven years later, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” picks up from that same moment. But the mood doesn’t stay light. After delivering that line, Grace (Samara Weaving) collapses and is rushed away. Naturally, things get worse.

It’s hard to pinpoint why this next chapter, again directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, feels darker and heavier – and less fun – than the original, which somehow stayed buoyant despite absurd levels of carnage. If blame must be assigned, we’ll point to Shawn Hatosy.

Yes, that Hatosy – and while he may be familiar as the heroic Dr. Jack Abbott in The Pitt, here he plays Titus, a grim, Shakespearean figure (think Titus Andronicus). Alongside his equally dour twin sister Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar), he helps drag the tone into gloom.

A quick refresher: in the first film, Grace survived a deadly game of hide-and-seek imposed by her new husband’s wealthy family, the Le Domas clan. She made it to dawn. Everyone else… didn’t.

The original’s supporting cast is gone. In their place: Hatosy, Gellar, Elijah Wood as the lawyer overseeing the proceedings, and Kathryn Newton as Grace’s estranged sister, Faith. Faith appears at Grace’s hospital bed – she’s the emergency contact – just as a detective questions Grace, now suspected of arson and murder.

But that quickly becomes irrelevant. Grace is being hunted again – not by the Le Domas family, but by four rival families vying for control of a shadowy council that “rules the world.” Subtlety is not invited.

Soon, Grace is captured and taken to a lavish Newport, Rhode Island, estate – complete with pristine golf course – for another night of deadly games. Is she up for it? Of course.

Weaving remains the film’s strongest asset, elevating thin material with expressive fear, sharp humor and plenty of grit. Newton is a solid counterpart, and the sisters’ predictable shift from bickering to bonding plays out as expected. (“I tried to invite you to the wedding,” Grace offers – a line that lands, considering the wedding ended in mass slaughter.)

The film leans heavily on excess. Production notes boast about 250 gallons of stage blood, and it shows. But the extra 15 minutes of runtime, compared to the original, feel indulgent. You may find yourself checking the clock, waiting for dawn.

While many of the deaths retain a cartoonish edge, that disappears whenever Titus enters the frame. His menace is real, and not in a fun way. There’s little to redeem the character – or the tonal drag he brings with him.

Fair warning: if you’re currently enjoying Hatosy’s heroic turn in “The Pitt,” you may want to wait before seeing him here. The contrast is… jarring. JOCELYN NOVECK, MDT/AP

“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” a Searchlight Pictures release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association “for strong bloody violence, gore, pervasive language and brief drug use.” Running time: 148 minutes. ★★★★