Scream (2022)

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Scream Reviews

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Just when we thought they were out of ideas for this franchise, 2022 gave us 'Scream' - and this time it's about the "Requel", which is exactly what this is, and honestly, the first time I've heard what is perhaps the most fitting term for it. In case you're wondering, from what I can gather, this movie defines the term as a bit of a reboot, but still a bit of a sequel. Often, these are the movies that use the original title, like 'Halloween' (2018), 'Candyman' (2021), or even 'Jumanji' (2017).

That said, a "requel" doesn't have to be named the same as the original. The new 'Star Wars' trilogy, 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' and 'Tron: Legacy' are all examples of the same idea, and it all seems to ultimately boil down to a matter of nostalgia, leading to the most "meta" thing about this movie being the title itself. Usually, when a "requel" happens and it just uses the same title as the original film in the franchise, it would be irksome for me, but at the very least, in the case of 'Scream', the title lends itself to the film's overall plot and movie-making subject matter, which is something this series has been pretty great for.

We open with the typical phone call and attack, this time on series newcomer, Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), ultimately leaving her hospitalized. Tara's friend, Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette), notifies her estranged sister, Sam (Melissa Barrera), about the attack, which sends her running back to her hometown of Woodsboro. There, she reunites with this feature's teenage team of potential victims, Wes, Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison), and twin brother and sister, Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, respectively), whose uncle was everyone's favourite movie expert in the original, Randy (Jamie Kennedy).

With a whole new threat looming over Woodsboro coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the original murders, Sam and her boyfriend, Richie (Jack Quaid) begin to seek help from the experts; namely, Dewey Riley (David Arquette) who dispense the film's rules this time (Never trust your love interest; the killer always has something to do with the past; and the first victim always has a circle of friends that the killer is part of). Dewey has also since been divorced from Gale (Courteney Cox), who has returned to TV with a morning show of sorts. As for Sidney (Neve Campbell), she returns and finds herself getting dragged back in as well.

While this all sounds like a whole lot more of the same, the film does play with certain elements, largely revolving around the generational gap. We find out a few family ties here, and not all of them are as pleasant as finding out that a couple of twins are Randy Meeks' niece and nephew. The film strikes a decent balance between decent and "meh". I feel at this point, Sidney ought to be a regular "Ripley", but if I'm honest, there's not a whole lot going on with our "legacy" characters here, and things feel a little phoned in. In fairness, we're supposed to focus on this new group, but fans wanna see Sid kick some ass again.

To reiterate my thoughts on the series as a whole, I consider the first three an "original trilogy," 'Scream 4' bridges the generational gap, and the new generation starts here with "original trilogy" characters becoming, as I mentioned, "legacy" characters. 'Scream 4' really does manage to stand on its own, released not only eleven years after 'Scream 3' but eleven years before this chapter. In that way, it's kind of fun to have that generational gap between these films, as the films are able to adapt with newer, or at least more commonly used, technologies these days. It's funny to think that it all started with a house phone.

I would probably consider this to be the most middle-ground I feel about a chapter in the 'Scream' series. There's something about it that doesn't feel quite right, but I can appreciate what they did with it. I also have to say that the big reveal of the killer(s) left me pretty lukewarm. However, a more fun reveal that lies elsewhere and provides a badass twist at the end makes up for it. While things might feel a bit off for me, I can appreciate that this is meant to expand to new audiences and not just fans, so any real problems I may have with it feel like nitpicks. It's not the best in the series, but it's no 'Scream 3'.

3/5

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