‘Scream’ Review – Second Opinion
Stars: Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sonia Ammar, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Neve Campbell | Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
After 11 years, a new Scream film returns to theaters and while a few of the original film’s cast members return, the film’s main focus is on creating a new cast to start a new chapter in the horror franchise. While focusing on new characters and attempting to rid the films series of tired clichés is a welcomed sight, Scream never fully devotes itself to paving a new path and comes up short in creating a new focus for the franchise.
Scream starts in similar fashion as its predecessors with Ghostface attacking a teenager, in this instance Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), as she is home alone and waiting for a friend to arrive and hang out. Tara isn’t your typical “First Victim” as in the previous films as Ghostface struggles with getting the best of her as Tara came prepared to fight. While the opening scene of a Scream film is repetitive, it usually is the scene that most fans remember from each film and this opening scene between Tara and Ghostface doesn’t disappoint.
The first half of the film follows the franchise’s repetitive formula of a strong opening scene followed by the audience meeting a new group of friends while sprinkling in a few brutal murders. The issue is that for a film expected to reinvigorate the franchise, the tried and true format causes the first act of the film to seem bland and predictable as it looks eerily similar to the first two Scream films.
Tara’s group of friends, well the few that survive, are the key to the future of the franchise and while this new group have similar characteristics to Sidney’s group of friends in the original film, they are unique enough to have potential going forward in future films. Tara’s friends include Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette) who is the son of Deputy Judy Hicks from the prior films, outcast Liv McKenzie (Sonia Ammar), twin siblings as well as movie expert and jock football player (respectively) Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding), and over-protective Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison). After Tara’s attack, her sister Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and boyfriend Richie Kirsch (played by the very funny Jack Quaid) arrive in Woodsboro to determine the mystery of Ghostface and if one of her sister’s friends is involved.
The intensity and emotional impact of the film increases once the legendary characters start to arrive in Woodsboro, beginning with Dewey Riley (David Arquette) as he attempts to help our new cast of characters by explaining the rules to surviving Ghostface. The now retired deputy is divorced from reporter Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and spends most of his day being a recluse and watching his ex-wife as the host of a national morning show. After another killing occurs and Sam and Ritchie are attacked, Dewey realizes “it’s starting again” and contacts Sydney (Neve Campbell) and Gail and warns them not to come to Woodsboro, which actually causes the opposite to occur.
The string of new murders entices Gale and her morning show production team to race to Woodsboro to cover the news of another serial killer in the least lucky town in the country. While it’s great to see Dewey and Gale together again, and later Sydney, there are too few scenes together overall with these characters. While I appreciate the writers focusing more on Sam and positioning her as the face of the franchise, it would have been nice to have a few more moments with Dewey, Gale and Sydney.
As this is a non-spoiler review, we won’t talk specifics but the final act of the film does bring closure to our legendary characters’ journey, especially since the majority of the act takes place at a historical setting from the original film. The third act also is the most cohesive act of the film and not only does it showcase some of the more brutal killings of the entire franchise, it also is able to tie the whole film together while making up for the slow first half of the film. The writers do a good job of providing just enough suspicion on everyone that when the reveal of the Ghostface killer occurs, it’s a satisfying end. Plus, the characters that do survive Scream are the funniest and most fleshed-out characters in the film, which bodes well for the future of the franchise.
While a trip back to Woodsboro is fun for nostalgia effect, there are a few glaring issues with the film. As noted above, the first act, minus the opening scene, is a bore but once you get to the halfway point of the film, it steadily picks up the intensity. The other issue is the new face of the franchise, actress Melissa Barrera, as her acting feels wooden and lacks emotion. Barrera did a fine job acting in the film In the Heights but unfortunately, she fails to connect to the audience like Neve Campbell did in the original Scream. The potential is there for the character of Sam to become as beloved as Sydney as Sam does have some unique characteristics that can be further explored in sequels, but it’s going to take Barrera to become more comfortable being the main star of a classic horror franchise.
Die-hard Scream fans like myself, will be happy to return to their favorite murderous small-town but for everyone else, Scream won’t have the same excitement and love as some of the more recent and newer horror franchises that Mindy discusses in the film. Scream is still entertaining and the mystery of guessing who is behind the Ghostface mask is still fun but the film still feels like a 1990s teenage slasher film that just never changed with the times. The film does hint that any future films in the franchise will focus on the new surviving characters but for the Scream franchise to be truly revitalized, the writers need to take a chance and truly make Scream different from its past.
Final Grade: C+ (Above Average)
Scream is in cinemas now.
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