Scream (2022)

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera, Jack Quaid, Mikey Madison, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Sonia Ammar, Skeet Ulrich, Chester Tam
Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
2022

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: 25 years after the original Woodsboro murders, a new Ghostface killer emerges to dig up the past.

Review:

Tim: I'm going to say something that doesn't make a lot of sense. Scream is a good movie that isn't very good. I felt continually torn by this film. There were things I really enjoyed about it and things that drove me crazy. Even at the end of the film, I felt so mixed about the end result. The best I can say is that the strengths and the problems eventually combine to hit this precarious balance where I enjoyed the movie even when I shouldn't and I was able to somewhat forgive the flaws when there was no reason to. Some of this may be due to the leftover goodwill from the amazing original. So, I'll proclaim that Scream is a good movie even though there's a lot of evidence to suggest it isn't.

The original was so good because of the meta-analysis of the horror genre. That film offered brilliant horror commentary while subverting expectations and managing to be entertaining and incredible on its own. This film tries to do that, this time with the concept of horror "reboots". That was what I found most entertaining about the film- the movie's self-awareness to poke and kid at movies exactly like the one that was delivered. One of the most annoying things about this film is that it's just called Scream, like the original. I hated that. I did appreciate this movie commenting on it (for the record, it's still incredibly stupid). This script for this film had enough awareness to realize and communicate everything it was doing, including the things that worked and the things that didn't. This greatly helps the movie and it's a reason I was able to claim this was a good movie when so much of it wasn't- it was like the film purposely tried to be bad in some ways, because it was following the "traditional" horror reboot path. I wish the movie had been brilliant enough to subvert those expectations, but it's fun to see a movie aware of its limitations and give voice to that. I appreciated the attempt and it allowed me to be slightly more forgiving.

The story itself was decent. We've been down this road many times before, so there wasn't much to surprise us. The questions were really about who was the killer and how would we find out? The story never really surprises us- I didn't quite "guess" the killer, but at various points in the story I suspected nearly everyone, so it didn't feel like much of a shock. I appreciated the attempt at this film to tell its own story, but to connect very closely with the events and characters of the original. As the film tells us, that's exactly what we have come to expect from these "requels".

One of the biggest strengths of this film is seeing Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette reprise their roles. Yes, it's going to the same well yet again, but I had genuine enjoyment seeing Sidney, Gale, and Dewey on the screen once again. They're obviously and clearly in supporting roles, but they were among the best parts of the film. Arquette really seemed the best- I don't think he is an especially good actor, but he's fantastic as Dewey. I loved getting to see him in this role again. Campbell is consistently strong as Sidney Prescott. I was glad she was here. Cox is probably the weakest link of the original cast, but still fun to see. I was also glad to see Skeet Ulrich reprise his role in a bit of a convenient but decent supporting role.

I actually enjoyed the new cast members, too. They were just recognizable enough to make us immediately care about them more than we otherwise would. I thought Melissa Barrera was the highlight of In the Heights and while she wasn't as good here, she's charismatic enough for us to care about her character and root for her. I didn't know Jenna Ortega before this film- she's not as good as Barrera but was fine in her role. Jack Quaid was solid, acting is in his blood and he's a likeable enough presence on screen. I thought Mikey Madison was clearly one of the weakest links of the cast. Her performance mostly felt bad to me and I think a clear miscast. I didn't love the work Jasmin Savoy Brown did on Yellowjackets, but she clearly has talent and puts that to good use here. Brown was mostly effective in her role. Mason Gooding was solid in Booksmart and mostly works here. I've enjoyed him since his early days on Lost and I thought he gave a worthwhile performance here. As a whole, the cast was certainly better than your average horror movie.

The one thing that really killed me about this film is all the illogical, stupid things that happen. So many moments throughout this film had me rolling my eyes in frustration. That might be the seemingly infinitely long time it takes the police to arrive after being called in a fairly small time, or people staying alive despite no humanly possible way to still be breathing. The movie really threw out logic and believability continually throughout the story. This was maddening, because if the story itself didn't have so many stupid things going on, it could have actually been really enjoyable. Most of the things I've previously mentioned allowed me to not hate the movie for the myriad ridiculous moments continuously happening throughout the film. That part was truly frustrating, though.

I had a fun time watching Scream, for the most part. It's a movie that does a few things really well and a lot of little things poorly. It certainly isn't remotely close to the heights of the original, but that clearly will never happen again. This represents a step up from the decent-but-disappointing fourth film. For that, I appreciate this movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4