There are several areas I think Ready or Not needed work. Firstly, the older brother Daniel. The character wasn't fully utilized, and didn't really make sense. We are first introduced to him as a child and get to see a defining moment in his life, but that's it. We never see how he goes from there to the present day Daniel. Worst of all, this character feels like a main character, but isn't. The story isn't about Daniel. Nore is it about 2 brothers on opposite sides of the family. It's about Alex, Grace, and being accepted by the Alex's family. Daniel should have been the kid who hid in the closet, not Alex. This would have given more growth to Alex as a character. As an adult Daniel's character should have been less focused on. None of the scenes where he's alone with the bride needed to happen. All they did was distract from the story about the bride, and groom. He was a likeable character, but that's the problem. I like that he tried to save Grace in the end, and think that could been better implemented if other changes to the story had been made.
The father started off as a very powerful character. This was important because his character was pivitol in bringing the game aspect of the story into the film, and providing the audience with information about it. The second half of the film his character wasn't really used anymore, but they couldn't get rid of him either since he's the primary foe. He basically just says "fuck", and hits things for the rest of the movie. His character could have been a much better foe if he's been given more hands to play. The script just fell short.
Similarly, the son Alex (the groom) wasn't really utilized. He starts off as a main character on equal ground to the bride, but then very quickly is tied up, because he couldn't be killed, but needed to be out of the way. His character also gets put into a dead or dead situation so the audience has no reason to invest in him. Also, at the very end his character takes a very unnecessary twist of switching sides. I think it would have been far better if the game required both him, and his wife to hide. Instead of her against the family, it would have been them against the family. This also would have allowed for more development in the mother's character, because now she'd be losing a son she's been trying so hard to win back. This also would have allowed for growth the relationship between the bridge and groom. Most importantly, potential for a happy ending. The way they did it, either she would live, or he would, assuming the curse was real.
All the scenes with Grace (the bride) running in the forest, driving down the road, and fuddling around in the goat shed were pointless. She didn't need to leave the house until the end, and by doing so the house was never fully used by the story. It was a large house, with lots of potential weapons, and hiding places. It even had secret corridors. The audience barely gets to see any of it. The kitchen scene with the display only shotgun was great, and there could have been so much more of that if more of the house was used.
The butler's music addiction was silly. The audience doesn't need to know he likes classical music, because he's not a main character. And it doesn't help round his character, because the sole purpose for him having this interest is so that Grace (the bride) can do things without being heard. That's how it was used every time, and it just made it seem so out of place.
The curse didn't need to be real, and the story would have been better if it wasn't. Ready or Not had the perfect opportunity to have no real magic, and use that to create a twist for the second half of the movie. When the sun rose, and the curse didn't appear to be real they could have used this to shift the story into a finale climax of panic. The aunt could have realized her husband never needed to die, and committed suicide out of grief. The rest of the family would have been focused on accepting there's no turning back. That they needed to finish what they'd started. This also would have created a whole new possibility for trying to get help. Grace could have used range of view to signal help from neighbors, car horns, even the fire. The movie explored the magic is not real option for about 10 seconds, and then just blew everyone up instead. This made for a pretty anticlimactic ending. Worst of all, it leaves us with knowing the curse is real, but not having any real answers about it, or where things might go from there. Is Grace now bound to the curse? Does the box stay with her, or do the police take it? Real magic wasn't needed for the story, and did more harm that good.
Most importantly, I think the ending could have been better. The perfect ending would have been the bride, and groom smoking a cigarette together while, sitting on the front steps of the house they just inherited, because they killed everyone else inside. Grace may not have been accepted by the family, but by beating them at their own game she would have proved she deserved to be. She and her husband could destroy the card box as a symbolic ending to the game.
To summarize, Ready or Not had great potential, but didn't reach it due to poor use of characters, pointless scenes, and unnecessary twists. It's still a good movie though, and it was perfectly cast.
Authors:James Daniel Marrs Ritchey
License:Ritchey Permissive License v8
Ritchey Permissive License v8:
You means the person, or legal entity exercising permissions granted by this license. Provider means a person (or legal entity) using permissions granted by this license to share the material. Permissions are revoked permanently upon breach of this license. Subject to the terms of this license, any person (or legal entity) is hereby granted otherwise irrevocable royalty-free permission to do anything with material provided under this license. The material is provided as is, without warranties of any kind, guarantees of any kind, or implied fitness for any purpose. The authors, owners, and providers will not be held responsible for anything caused by the material. When sharing the material with others you take on all responsibilities of and relating to consequences (including warranties, implied warranties, guarantees, liabilities, and damages), including those which would normally be the responsibility of the owner, between you and those directly and indirectly receiving the material from you. The material must remain solely under this license. This license is to be upheld in Canada, subject to the laws of Canada, as they were on April 21, 2019. You must be legally capable of being bound to all the requirements of this license, and by using the material you agree to be. The license text is provided under these terms.