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SCREAM 2
Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson, as expected, put their heads together again for Scream 2, the 1997 sequel to their surprise hit from 1996 that doesn't provide the same quirky surprises that the first film did, but has the same humorous spirit that gave the first film its appeal.
It's two years after the events of the first film. Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox) wrote a best selling book about those events and it was turned into a movie and it is at a special sneak preview of this movie, called STAB, where the killer reappears and murders two college students (Omar Epps, Jada Pinkett Smith). Of course word reaches Sydney (Neve Campbell) who is now a college student and we're off to the races again.
The thing I loved about the first film is that it let us in on the joke and was a seamless weave of a genuine slasher movie and a slasher movie satire, but that's gone here...Craven and his screenwriter have apparently decided that success requires respect and reverence and have decided to tell this story with a straight face. Yes, there are touches of humor here and there, but the constant surprises that the first film offered just weren't there this time...the whole people jumping around corners and purposely trying to scare people or people pulling back curtains or opening closets and finding nothing there just gets tiresome here. Craven and Williamson apparently decided that they wanted to make a genuine movie this time.
Now don't get me wrong...it may a genuine slasher movie, but it's done pretty competently and even contains most of my good sequel criteria. I still found Neve Campbell a little too serious but it worked better for this film, but we certainly got a look at some future stars all given their own little star turns. Timothy Olyphant, Laurie Metcafe, Liev Schreiber, Jerry O'Connell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Portia di Rossi, Rebecca Gayheart make the most of their screen time. Also enjoyed Luke Wilson, Heather Graham, and Tori Spelling as the stars of STAB. As sequels go, I have seen a LOT worse, but unlike the first film, Craven and Williamson have decided not to let us in on the joke this time.
Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson, as expected, put their heads together again for Scream 2, the 1997 sequel to their surprise hit from 1996 that doesn't provide the same quirky surprises that the first film did, but has the same humorous spirit that gave the first film its appeal.
It's two years after the events of the first film. Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox) wrote a best selling book about those events and it was turned into a movie and it is at a special sneak preview of this movie, called STAB, where the killer reappears and murders two college students (Omar Epps, Jada Pinkett Smith). Of course word reaches Sydney (Neve Campbell) who is now a college student and we're off to the races again.
The thing I loved about the first film is that it let us in on the joke and was a seamless weave of a genuine slasher movie and a slasher movie satire, but that's gone here...Craven and his screenwriter have apparently decided that success requires respect and reverence and have decided to tell this story with a straight face. Yes, there are touches of humor here and there, but the constant surprises that the first film offered just weren't there this time...the whole people jumping around corners and purposely trying to scare people or people pulling back curtains or opening closets and finding nothing there just gets tiresome here. Craven and Williamson apparently decided that they wanted to make a genuine movie this time.
Now don't get me wrong...it may a genuine slasher movie, but it's done pretty competently and even contains most of my good sequel criteria. I still found Neve Campbell a little too serious but it worked better for this film, but we certainly got a look at some future stars all given their own little star turns. Timothy Olyphant, Laurie Metcafe, Liev Schreiber, Jerry O'Connell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Portia di Rossi, Rebecca Gayheart make the most of their screen time. Also enjoyed Luke Wilson, Heather Graham, and Tori Spelling as the stars of STAB. As sequels go, I have seen a LOT worse, but unlike the first film, Craven and Williamson have decided not to let us in on the joke this time.