Starring Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Neve Campbell
Directed by Wes Craven
Rated R, 118 minutes
When Hollywood execs decide that there are no fresh ideas to exploit, the first word off their collective tongues is 'sequel'. In a few rare cases, this works, such as the Star Wars franchise. There, however, the storyline and mythology were built for multiple stories. Scream is no such animal, and suffers immensely each time Hollywood props up the corpse.
The plot is reasonably predictable, and follows closely the pattern of both other releases. Campbell is stalked by a killer wearing the same black cape and white mask as before. Cox and Arquette team up - this time trying to effect sexual chemistry - to stop the bad guy. Numerous characters file in and out, most of whom die in various bloody ways. Everything builds to the revelation of the killer at the end, which has the feel of a dimestore whodunnit.
That is not to say that Scream 3 is without its particular charm. It is (perhaps intentionally) funny to see Cox and Arquette arguing on the screen, knowing full well that they are newlyweds in real life. There are a couple of cameos that are nice touches - one quite unexpected and funny. However, it simply does not measure up to the other two releases in terms of wit and self-deprecation. In Scream, tongue was planted firmly in cheek. Scream 2 continued this in perhaps a less effective way. Scream 3 threatens to take itself too seriously. There are jabs at sequels, trilogies in particular, but the dissection is just not as clever as before. Eventually, the film dissolves into a slasher flick with humor thrown in for good measure.
It is laughable thinking that anyone would pay to see this movie for stellar performances, so not much is expected. Cox, Arquette and Campbell continue to play the characters they forged previously - Cox the relentless and driven investigative reporter and Arquette the small-town boy fighting for truth and justice, and Campbell the tortured young soul who seems to attract more than her share of psychopaths. None are particularly compelling in their performances.
As a two-hour diversion, Scream 3
is not too bad. It has the expected lines thrown in for cheap
laughs, date-ready fright sequences, and some entertaining moments.
Still, we must all hope that this is indeed the last one. After
a nice, clever beginning, it would be a shame to see Scream
14 Yes, There's Another One! showing at the local dollar
movie theater.
--Jeff Edwards
