Scream 2 - Review

Since I started this blog, I've only done one series review. About a year ago, I reviewed each film in the Back To The Future trilogy. I originally had planned to do something of a "series of series reviews" starting with BTTF. I even had started writing some reviews for some of my favorite franchises, but for one reason or another, I never finished them. Don't really know why, just never got around to it. Ironically the Scream franchise was never on my mind, but seeing as how I posted a review for the first movie a few weeks back and that the fourth movie comes out this weekend, why not write reviews for all four movies?

The first Scream became this pop culture phenomenon when it was released in 1996. So to no one's surprise, a sequel was quickly greenlit. One year later, Scream 2 was released with almost all of the original cast (at least the characters that survived) and Wes Craven directing again. Just like the first, critics and fans loved it... most even saying it was better than the original. As I mentioned before, I was never that fond of the first movie, but seeing as the general consensus was that the sequel was superior made me willing to give it a chance. So I rented the movie and... how does that saying go? "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." So I guess I'm a least partly to blame... but I'm not going let Scream off the hook that easily.

Scream 2 picks up a few years after the first movie. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is now in college while having difficulty putting her past behind her. Reporter Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox) wrote a book about the Woodsboro murders which was just adapted into a movie called Stab. At the Woodsboro premiere of Stab, two individuals are murdered (played by Niobe from The Matrix movies and Dr. Foreman from House) by a new Ghostface starting a new murderous rampage intent on finishing what the first killer started.

Remember that memorable opening from the first Scream (the only great scene in that movie)... the one with Drew Barrymore. Yeah, Scream 2 doesn't have anything like that. Instead, you have one of the stupidest, drawn out, and most over-the-top openings I've seen. The acting is hammy, the setting is lame, and the execution (pun intended this time) is ridiculous. I only mention this incredibly lame scene because its probably the best part of the movie... yeah, this movie sucks.

Scream 2 tries to keep the same theme as the first, the "self-aware send-up of the slasher genre." This time, though, the characters acknowledge that they're living out a real-life sequel, and the that game rules are a bit different. The killer will finish off the survivors from the previous movie, loose ends from the original are taken care of, and that sequels are inherently bloodier and more graphic. Unfortunately, it kind of cops out on what it promises. Sure, there's a bit of decent gore and some of the previous characters get the ax, but ultimately it feels like a pale rehash of the original. It has all of the problems from the first, only this time its even worse.

Scream 2's biggest problem is the lack of any real suspense or cleverness. None of the insights into horror movie sequels are particularly interesting or engaging, and the characters are still annoying as hell. I mentioned the over-the-top opening because its really the only somewhat memorable scene, not because its good, but because of its in-your-face stupidness. Everything else in the movie is bland or unmemorable. The gore and suspense is quite noticeably toned down from the merely-adequate amount of the first movie, despite the fact that Jamie Kennedy's character even mentions that sequels to horror movies are supposed to be more violent.

By the time you get to the incredibly disappointing finale, I was just bored out of my mind. You know some of the things I like about slasher movies... the promise of creative kills, over-the-top gore, and insane finales. Filmmakers get really creative with their death scenes, especially by the end... but not here. The finale results in a face slapping predictable twist, a lame monologue about horror movies, and a half-assed shoot-out. Why use a gun??? This is a SLASHER movie! Come on Wes Craven! You created Freddy Krueger! Couldn't you have thought of a more clever ending??? Such a wasted opportunity.

So yeah, Scream 2... it sucks. Aside from the Final Destination series, I can't think of a more overrated horror franchise. Even though I didn't like the first, I'll admit it had some good merits and I can somewhat understand why so many people liked it. Scream 2, on the other hand, is just awful! Why this movie was praised by critics, I have no idea! Awful movie! Don't watch it!

My Score: 1 out of 5!