Movie Review: Scream (2022)
Synopsis: Twenty-five years after Billy Loomis and Stu Macher committed a series of murders in Woodsboro, a copycat Ghostface emerges and begins attacking people who were related to the original crime. This includes Billy Loomis' illegitimate daughter, Sam, who convinces a retired Dewey Riley to help figure out who is behind it.
Who's in it? The movie stars Melissa Barrera, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Neve Campbell and Jenna Ortega.
Review: As I've mentioned multiple times before, I am very selective about movies I pay to see at the theater. Basically, I have to think the film will be worth the $30+ for my wife and I to attend. When I first saw the trailer for this movie, it immediately became one of those films, not necessarily because I thought it would be better on the big screen as much as I didn't want to wait longer than I needed to see it.
The first Scream film remains one of my favorite slasher movies and, when my wife and I started watching this movie in an almost-empty theater, I knew it probably wouldn't be as good. I was correct about that but it still wound up being an entertaining film.
I think the thing I liked most about this movie was the way it managed to avoid being too predictable. In the previous four installments, it was relatively easy to figure out who the killer was. With this movie, I was able to correctly guess at one of the killers and had a good idea of who the second one was (there are always two). However, as the movie progressed, I did find myself second guessing my theory, especially toward the end, when the film had me temporarily thinking there was a completely different Ghostface.
I also have to admit, the surprise death about midway through the film caught me off guard. In fact, I spent the entire movie fully expecting that character to suddenly pop back up after successfully faking their death, only to realize, at the very end, that wasn't going to happen. It ended up being one of the biggest topics of conversation my wife and I had after the film.
Another thing I liked about this movie was the way it did a good job mixing in the newer characters, like Sam (Barrera) with the legacy characters like Gale Weathers (Cox) and Sidney Prescott (Campbell). This enabled the movie to feel like a sequel, especially since the older characters had more than just a cameo appearance, while, at the same time, opening the door for more sequels using the surviving younger characters. I'm not sure if another sequel will be as good without the original characters but I would likely give it a chance.
Final Opinion: The first Scream film is still the best. However, this was one of the better sequels in the franchise and I am glad I spent the money to see it at the theater.
My Grade: A
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