THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When a franchise has back to back success, there are big expectations to keep it going. Scream had that pressure and I don’t think their third entry hit the mark.
PLOT
Scream 3 shows Sidney Prescott living in seclusion as a crisis for an abused women’s hotline. Her fear of getting killed worsens when a new Ghostface killer begins a murder spree by killing Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) and his girlfriend Christine (Kelly Rutherford). She also has nightmares of her mother Maureen. Gale Weathers meets Detective Mark Kincaid to discuss of the recent crime, noticing that this new killer is leaving a trail behind, pictures of a young Maureen. This link makes it apparent that the recent killing is connected to the final girl. When she visits the set of Stab 3, the sequel to Stab that is inspired by the prior Woodsboro killings, she reunites with Dewey who has been technical adviser for the film and secondary bodyguard to actress Judy Jergenstern/Jennifer Jolie who is playing her. The spree of murder continues when actress Sarah Darling (Jenny McCarthy) is killed on set, resulting in production to shut down. Dewey and Gale gather at Jennifer’s house with actors Tom Prinze (Matt Keeslar) and Angelina Tyler (Emily Mortimer) after the said news. Ghostface strikes again by murdering Jennifer’s bodyguard Steven and blowing up her home with a gas leak, which kills Tom. Sidney finally joins her allies after being taunted by the same killer via phone calls. When they return to the set, they see a video left behind by Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), given to them by his sister Martha (Heather Matarazzo). Randy says in the video that in the third chapter of a horror film, any lead character is possible of being killed off including Sidney. Gale and Jennifer get access to an archives room to discover that Maureen’s birth name was Rina Reynolds and starred in films produced by producer John Milton before she conceived Sidney. The said final girl does wander around set, only to be chased by Ghostface once again, who is able to avoid getting caught. When Gale shares her discovery of Maureen to Dewey, they along with Jennifer, go to Milton and demand to know his connection of her. He implies that during her time as an aspiring actress, she was sexually assaulted by unnamed producers in parties he hosted, in hopes to get roles. After such a disturbing piece of the puzzle being found, Dewey gets a call from Sidney that she is heading to Milton’s house, where a birthday party for Stab 3 director Roman Bridger. He goes straight there with Gale & Jennifer, but little do they know that Sid is actually at the police station with Kincaid. When they get there, they meet Roman and the remaining cast, Angelina and Tyson Fox (Deon Richmond). Despite Dewey declaring suspicion, the others make the mistake of splitting up. This gives Ghostface the opportunity to kill Roman and the remaining cast. With Dewey & Gale remaining, they find an advanced voice changer that can duplicate others voices perfectly; The killer has been using this to lure all of his victims up to this point. Just upon discovery, Ghostface knocks them both out and ties them up. He than calls Sidney to come alone if she wants to save them. She does do so but Kincaid followed and before they could all leave, Ghostface wounds the detective and chases the final girl once again. She finds her way to one of Milton’s secret rooms and the killer then reveals himself to be Roman all along. He faked his death reveals that he is her half brother since Maureen gave birth to him before moving to Woodsboro. He than pulls Milton out of one of the rooms and kills him for raping his mother, meaning that he is his biological son and is a product of rape. When he found out his mother moved on and did not claim him as a child like Sid, he tipped Billy Loomis her affair with his father, which set off the events of the first two films. When he grew irritated of how she was the victim in the story, he wanted her dead more than ever. He intends to frame her for murdering everyone, but the two get into a fight that results in her overpowering him. When Dewey breaks free and enters the room, he shoots Roman down before he could kill anyone else. The film ends in a time period after this event, showing Dewey propose to Gale, later enjoying a movie with Kincaid and Sidney in the latter's home.
THOUGHTS
You know I feel neutral every time I think of this one because I don't hate it but I don't love it. I felt like Wes Craven could have directed a better sequel had Kevin Williamson got to write a better script. But instead, writer Ehren Kruger goes overboard with the meta presence and doesn't try to be different. It even feels worse how despite coming off as a trilogy finale, it all feels anti climactic, which is why more sequels had to happen to avoid that feeling. And it's not exactly scary like the past two and leans too hard on being funny. It can work when Carrie Fisher cameoed as records coordinator Bianca, but you lose me when Jason Mewes & Kevin Smith cameo as Jay & Silent Bob from Clerks. Like I don't wanna think about such a random crossover like that the whole time, it just pulls me. I'm even further pulled whenever we saw Sidney's nightmares because it felt like something you'd see in A Nightmare on Elm Street. And again, I don't want to think of other movies when I watch one completely different. As I reach into the story, there were way too many things that don't make any damn sense. Like for instance, why didn't the studio prefer shooting the movie at Woodsboro? They'd be saving money by shooting there instead of building Stu's house. And why would Sarah be involved with a movie like Stab 3 if she hated the script so much? I bet that other actors like her can be in this scenario, but I don't think she should've been involved if she complains that much. I normally enjoy Patrick Warburton for his various roles, but Steve was such a pointless character. He picks on Dewey for no reason, which leads to me not caring at all when dies. He is arguably ten times more forgetful than the Stab 3 cast combined. What truly drove me crazy with this movie was the entire climax. I want to be surprised that Roman was Ghostface, but everything about him just doesn't add up for me. Like for instance, his voice changer is really stupid because of how it doesn't sound possible to be made and decades later, it still hasn't been so. I would just prefer keeping Roger Jackson and no one else. I also dislike how there wasn't even a single hint that it was gonna be him. They don't give a whodunnit vibe at all and we just have to roll with it, which I refuse to do. And having him be the mastermind behind this trilogy botches the overall arc. He really didn't have to be tied to Billy because it sounds more realistic for him to kill Maureen without encouragement. I do think that Scott Foley goes for it playing the psychotic character, but he would've been more memorable if given a more realistic motivation. The only thing that keeps me going to get me through the rest of the film is the rest of the memorable cast.I don't condone the actions of John Milton at all, but what I do get out of Lance Henriksen as the closeted creep is that he reflects a dark secret of Hollywood of what some actors go through to be where they want to be. So after the #MeToo movement, his presence is even more authentic to the message we're trying to get. While I thought that Parker Posey was unexpectedly funny as Jennifer Jolie, the only new character that impressed me here was Kincaid. Patrick Dempsey makes him a cooperative character unlike other cops/detectives you've seen in horror movies. He knows he can't solve the case alone, which is why getting help from the Woodsboro survivors was a wise choice. Even though this wasn't the end of Ghostface, I thought it was cool for Sid to stay in contact with him because in situations like that, it just makes sense to make a bond with someone who escaped death like onself. With that being said, the original cast are able to maintain their original chemistry and expand it from here. Neve Campbell gives another memorable performance as the iconic final girl. Sidney is at her most vulnerable because with the back to back trauma, she doesn't think she'll ever be capable of living normally. When push comes to shove once again, she realizes that the only way that could ever be possible if she makes it so. Once her final threat is out of the picture, she finally decides to let her guard down, which explains leaving the door open at the end. Dewey and Gale are indeed a complicated couple, but the chemistry between David Arquette and Courteney Cox show audiences that no matter how different one and the other are gonna be, there is still a chance for things to resolve. Cox showed Gale put herself where she had a hard time balancing her career and her relationship with Dewey, especially since she left him so soon after he recovered. The other half was obviously hurt after what happened, but Arquette isn’t gonna let that hold him back from doing his job. He chooses to propose to her because he knew she was ready to be on the same page with him. I admire that because marriage only works when both halves are on the same page and if they’re not, you can’t expect happiness. To wrap up, Scream 3 is a weak sequel for holding back on what it’s supposed to be. If you love the first two, good luck with this.
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