Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Scream 4 (2011)

When Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson made Scream in 1996, they ended up sparking a post-modern slasher movie revival. Studios were knocking out Scream wannabes right and left, practically all of them having an ironic (almost to the point of being farcical) take on horror as a whole. But this trend, along with the Scream franchise, came to an end at the turn of the twenty-first century.

It was replaced by a new trend, that of remakes and reboots. Beginning with the success of Gore Verbinski's Americanization of the Japanese movie Ringu in 2002 and Zack Snyder's remake of Dawn of the Dead in 2004, Hollywood has practically become obsessed with remaking and rebooting classic (and sometimes forgotten) horror movies and franchises. And as the Scream franchise was always wont to dissect the horror genre, Craven and Williamson have dusted the series off and brought us their own ironic take on it with Scream 4.

Fifteen years have passed since the original Woodsboro massacre, an event that the local teenagers mark by playing pranks on one another and hanging the famous "Ghostface" costume all over town. One of the massacre's survivors, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), has returned home to Woodsboro on the last stop of the press tour to promote her new self-help book. She quickly reconnects with Dewey and Gale Riley (David Arquette and Courteney Cox), along with her younger cousin Jill (Emma Roberts).

But Sidney is soon horrified to discover that not only has she come back to Woosboro, but Ghostface has too. Ghostface begins picking off Jill's friends one by one, his murders based on a modern twist on the original massacre. Sidney, Dewey, Gale, and Jill must discover Ghostface's identity and stop his or her killing spree.

It's been eleven years since Scream 3 seemingly concluded the franchise, but Scream 4 is proof enough that any series — no matter how dormant it's thought to be — can have a big comeback. And believe it or not, but Scream 4 isn't a bad movie at all. It's got its flaws, bit it's still a fun throwback to '90s horror and a very cool revival of a franchise I thought was dead.

Returning to helm the latest chapter in the saga is the one and only Wes Craven. I know that I said before that I thought the original Scream was his last truly good movie. Time will be the judge, but as it stands right now, Scream 4 may be the one to break him out of that slump. His direction here is really good. Though one could make the argument that Craven's direction — and the whole movie, really — are just more of the same as far as stylistic choices go, Craven's work is still more fun than fail. There's some nice cinematography and some very well-made set pieces, but the truth is that Scream 4 is really more driven by the writing and characters.

It always surprises me to see a slasher movie with good writing. They're so visually driven that the scripts are usually secondary. But Kevin Williamson's script for Scream 4 is really smart. It not only takes shots at the remake/reboot trend, but at how media and telecommunications have evolved since the original Scream was released in 1996. Instead of calling landlines as he did during the '90s, the killer instead communicates with his victims via text messages and Facebook. And instead of an external voice changer, the killer uses a smartphone app to give them the Ghostface voice. Some of Williamson's attempts to bring the franchise into the twenty-first century feel forced (the kid who's always walking around with the webcam headset, for example), but he makes it work for the most part.

The one part of Williamson's script I honestly didn't like, though, was the revelation of the killer. I thought it was silly to the point of being dumb, and the motive felt really similar to that of one of Scream 2's killers. I will admit, however, that I thought it worked in the context of satirizing remakes and reboots. But still, I can't help but think it was just a wee bit lame.

But what isn't lame is the acting. For the most part, I thought the cast did a great job. It's just unfortunate that they don't seem to have a lot to do, like their parts are barely there at all. Nearly everyone makes a go at it, though. Franchise stalwart Neve Campbell once again returns to the role of the ill-fated Sidney Prescott, and once again plays the character with gusto. Campbell plays Sidney as a woman who feels like she's conquered the demons of her past and wants to help others find their way to peace. Campbell's performance imbues Sidney with a lot of strength and sympathy, a Final Girl of the most respectable type. She's consistently been one of the Scream saga's best elements, and the series would be poorer without her.

The same can be said for Roger L. Jackson, who once again plays the role of Ghostface's voice. Campbell may be the franchise's emotional crux, but Jackson is just as important. Some of his dialogue is kinda hokey, but he delivers those lines with such anger and ferocity that he still manages to be scary.

Courteney Cox and David Arquette also return, their own recent marital troubles strangly mirrored by their characters (which I'm sure was unintentional). Cox and Arquette are great, both of them adding a lot of heart to the movie. Cox is especially fun, her "I'm gonna figure this out if it kills me" attitude being one of the movie's most entertaining elements.

The rest of the cast has some standouts, particularly Rory Culkin and Marley Shelton. But perhaps the best member of the supporting cast is Hayden Panettiere. Scream 4 is her first really big role after the cancellation of Heroes, and she makes the absolute most of it. Panettiere is cool, sexy, and downright fun. Every second she's on the screen, she practically steals the movie. And in the event Craven and Williamson make Scream 5, I hope they can find a way to include her.

But the acting isn't all good, sadly. The movie's one bad performance comes from Emma Roberts. And when I say she's bad, I mean she's terrible. She absolutely sucks. Roberts is so bad that she actually makes me resent the movie's existence. You know how bad you have to be to accomplish that? Really bad. And I know the movie's been out for a while, but is it too late for Craven to hire a new actress to replace her? Can we use some CGI to eliminate her from the DVD release in a few months? Honestly, there is literally nothing positive I can say about Roberts's performance, which is really sad because she brings the whole movie down.

But don't let Roberts's awful performance dissuade you from seeing Scream 4. It more than likely will not appeal to anyone who doesn't already like the franchise or slasher movies in general, but it's a cool revival of an old story. It's like finding out that band you liked during the '90s got back together for a reunion tour. The movie doesn't match the quality of the original, but I'll gladly call it the best of the sequels. And honestly, I want to see Scream 5 now. Promise me more Hayden Panettiere and I'll get in line to see it right now.

Final Rating: ***½

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