Tuesday, December 28, 2010

1487- Scream 3


It's been a long time since I've watched these films and I don't think I ever watched them back to back like this. The Scream series has always had a bit of a meta-vibe to it, it's part of it's charm - this time it goes whole hog with it. In the second film we're introduced to this idea of a film based on the events of the original film, called "Stab", and it's very clear that they're having fun with the idea of bad movies. The problem with this third outing is that there's a pretty fine line between the bad film-within-a-film and the film itself.
This film was almost destined to be a bit flawed - coming off the heels of two pretty damn good films and with the pressure to make it bigger, fresher, but at the same time keep it secret and have a big twist. Outside of the fact that I don't feel like the tone and characters were right, it's hard to blame Ehren Krugar (taking over for Kevin Williamson in this film as screenwriter). I'm more apt to blame Craven who should know better. The whole thing feels a bit... silly.
It's not hard to see why everyone was willing to return for a fourth (well thought out sequel) given the quality, or lack-thereof, of this installment. If you're a completest then you'll probably want to see this one as well, but do so only if that's the reason - otherwise it's a bit of a let down.

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