SCREAM 2 (1997) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: Wes Craven Writer: Kevin Williamson Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, Jerry O'Connell, Liev Schreiber, Duane Martin, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tim Olyphant, Elise Neal, Laurie Metcalf, Jada Pinkett, Omar Epps, Lewis Arquette, David Warner, Rebecca Gayheart, Heather Graham, Tori Spelling, Luke Wilson
"Scream 2" is kind of an oxymoron in itself: it's a film which looked good because it mocked sequels, but was also a sequel. Talk about hypocrisy. Now, the first one also had a similar fallacy: believing that horror movies suck, but hell, it's a horror movie, but it worked awesomely, and brought back the slasher genre in a cool, hip 90s kinda way, without getting all alternatively whiny or anything. "Scream 2" wishes it were as cool as the original.
"Scream 2" picks up two years after the first one ended, where a killer (or killers) killed a bunch of teens, but was ultimately stopped. The chief survivors of the first film - protagonist Sydney (Neve Campbell), obsessive journalist Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox, now with admittingly kinda attractive streaks in her hair), boyish yet lovable Deputy Dewey (David Arquette, with a punctured nerve from the original, causing him to limp and hold one arm out like he was Bob Dole), and dorky film geek guy (not me) Randy (Jamie Kennedy, looking almost too cool with a goatee) - well, they're all back. And someone else is too.
Like the first one, we get an elaborate, satirical, and pretty bitching opening sequence involving two collegiate lovers (Jada Pinkett and Omar Epps) who attend a preview screening of the movie that was made from the book that Gale wrote on the first one, "Stab," and are subsequently murdered individually by a killer dressed in the mask from the first one, which they're handing out at the door as Rocky Horror-esque promotional advertisements. Sure, it's cool as hell, but it's neither as tense or clever as the first one, and didn't really have my adrenalin pushing or anything. Bad omen?
We then get two more hours of sometimes fun/sometimes not whodunit, sorta/sorta not in the tradition of the first one. There are some more characters introduced, as it is two years later, and it's in college where Randy and Sydney attend (did they do that on purpose...or is Randy turning into Syd's own Hinkley?). There's Syd's preppy fratboy boyfriend, Derek (Jerry O'Connell, remember Joe from "Joe's Apartment"...and that fat ass from "Stand By Me?"), two more film students for fun (Tim Olyphant and Sarah Michelle Gellar), Syd's roomate Hallie (Elsie Neal), an annoying journalist named Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf, the sister from "Roseanne"), a freaked-out cameraman for Gale who hasn't read her book yet (Duane Martin), among others.
Also back from the first is the man who we saw once or twice, and only on TV in the first one: Cotton Weary (played by indie fave Liev Schreiber). This time, he actually has a whole bunch of lines, as he's trying to get exposure so people will stop being afraid of him, and get on with his life (there's a direct cause-and-effect if I ever saw one). Anyway, Liev rocks, giving possibly the best performance in the film.
The killings, obviously a result of a copycat, are pretty fun, even if they are more elaborate. Of course, Randy does a redo of his "How To Survive a Horror Film" speech, modifying it slightly for sequels, and one of is more blood and more elaborateness in general. I respect that, but one of the reasons the first one worked was the structure. The film was tightly scripted by Kevin Williamson, making it more satirical and more fun. It was a guessing game from start to finish. This time, there's some guessing, but most of the time I wasn't even caring. Probably because the big sequences were too distracting.
Yes, they're great, and I was having fun with a lot of them. But they don't really work well with the plot for some reason. Take for example a sequence that is brilliantly done but ultimately hurts the structure a bit: Syd, a drama major, is playing, of all roles, Cassandra, and during a rehearsal (with full special effects - this is obviously a utopian college, I mean, the dorm rooms are gigantic), she starts hallucinating that all the people with masks on are tying to kill her. With a brilliant score by Danny Elfman (who sadly only does this one scene), it's scary, and with cool camerawork, it's effective. But it's distracting. What does it have to do with the plot? Nothing. As do most of them.
I do respect a lot of this film, though. As I said, the film has some great sequences (my favorite was the scene in the car - have to see it...). And there are some clever ways it makes characters look suspicious, although not as well. There are some genuine shocks, some more character development (the whole Gale/Dewey thing, though never really explained, is dealt with some more...and god help me if I wanted them to get together), and some clever lines.
My big problem with reviewing this is the film comes back a lot towards the end. Although totally proposterous as to why it takes place where it does, the ending is great, albeit extremely corny. But, as a friend said, how could it NOT be corny. At least it plays it up for laughs, and even tosses in some delicious satire. Including some clever afterthoughts, playing up the fact that it was contrived (it actually made me happy), the ending is the most satisfying part of this. I did leave with a smile on my face, then I reflected on the film as a whole.
It's pretty much a mess. With spots that shine here and there, the film is very much a hills-and-valleys experience. Sure, I liked the whole take on sororities (with one of the lead sorority girls played by Rebecca "I'm the Noxema Girl!" Gayheart), I dug the acting ('cept Laurie Metcalf's), and even liked the set pieces, but could never really get into them for some reason. The original had me at the edge of my seat, not because of the suspense, but the way it was done, but for some reason I was left kinda cold by it all. None of it really excited me...even the cool ending...or the "I Think I Love You" singing by Jerry.
Maybe the problem is that it wants to be so much. It wants to be a satire on media. It wants to be a parody AND satire on sequels. It wants to clever, hip...I mean, it ends with a Collective Soul tune. It wants to have movie allusions (I spotted only a few, though, notably a "Shining" reference), and it wants it all to be crammed into over two hours. The original was simple, yet it worked wonderfully. I'm not saying it's not great because it's no "Scream 1;" it wouldn't hold up well on it's own anyway. But of course, it's a sequel, damn proud of it, and it never even works well when held up to the first one.
A special note should be made to the cool movie-within-a-movie, "Stab." It's one of the more inspired parts of the film, as it is overly corny, and filled with heavy media attention. At the premiere, the companies send promotional costumes and glowing knives, adding to the cool satire. And the funniest part is it stars Heather Graham as Drew, "Bottle Rocket"'s Luke Wilson as Skeet, and Tori Spelling as Neve (it is also mentioned that David Schwimmer plays Dewey). Too bad it isn't really dealt with in any deeper fashion, as it could have added to the overall greatness of the film.
"Scream 2" is not a major disappointment; a mere minor one. It needs tighter scripting, that's all. I did laugh, I did jump a couple times, and I even smiled a lot of the time. But the overall feeling, once reflecting on it, is a tad unsatisfied. Oh well. We always have "Scream 3" - already in the making!
MY RATING (out of 4): **1/2
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