Dark Water

A mother figure, a cute and smart kid, a dead kid's ghost, lots of water and hair (there's always hair), those are the main components of Dark Water, and of The Ring, and oh yeah, of The Grudge too. Yes, this is the latest remake of a Japanese movie that is very similar to another Japanese movie and its remake, that has lots in common with another Japanese movie and its remake, and it all just blows.
I now know why I loved (yes, loved) The Ring back in 2002, because it was the first one. I'm sure that if I had seen Ringu before, I wouldn't have liked The Ring. And that's why I hated The Grudge and it was the worst movie of 2004 for me, because they're all the same movie, and there's no way they're going to trick me with the same sound effects over and over again.
Dark Water sucks because of all that too, but It wont be receiving my Worst Movie of the Year award this time because I suspected it was going to be like this. And also because 10 minutes into the movie I confirmed it, as I already knew everything: what happened to the ghost kid that's hunting the new kid, and how the movie was going to end. Don't worry, I'm not going to mention the plot again because any minor detail I could say would give the ending away.

Naomi Watts ruled The Ring, Sarah Michelle Gellar sucked in The Grudge, and now Jennifer Connelly is very good in Dark Water, with the must have crying scene she does so well. The kid this time is played by Ariel Gade, who played Ben Stiller's daughter in Envy (disaster!), and she's very good here, though nothing like the awesomeness of David Dorfman in The Ring (he was laughable in the sequel though).
John C. Reilly is here too, and he's awesome during the first 15 minutes of the movie, and sadly, those are the only good parts of the movie overall. Pete Postlethwaite has a little creepy part and Tim Roth plays an even smaller role than him though not creepy at all.
I don't really want to comment on the characters because it's a horror movie and it would all be spoilers but the overall feeling is disappointment.
Something to rescue from the movie is a running joke that happens whenever Reilly's and Roth's character talk to Connelly's character, every time she asks them something they would just say that they were busy with their families or something when in fact they were by themselves watching a movie or eating. And this happens 4 or 5 times during the movie.

Award winning director Walter Salles made this movie and I really don't understand why. His previous work is so great and truly inspiring with movies like Central Station and The Motorcycle Diaries, but there's nothing from him here. I truly thought Hideo Nakata (Ringu, Ringu 2, The Ring 2) had directed this, so when I saw Salles' name in the credits I was really amazed, truly disappointed, because Dark Water sucks.