REVIEWS

"SCREAM 3"

"Scream 3" is supposedly the last installment of the "Scream" trilogy. Yeah, right. Anyone remember "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter"? It was quickly followed by "Friday the 13, Part V: A New Beginning" and the tenth one is in the works now. Also in the works, a "Freddy Vs. Jason" movie. One of the things that they're trying to sell "Scream 3" on is the fact that since it's the last one, anything goes. Well, I'm guessing that there will eventually be another "Scream." The franchise is simply too successful to be put away after the third one. This is a bad thing, because although I liked "Scream 2," the third one proved that the clever concept of the "Scream" movies can only go so far.

The original "Scream" was witty, but I thought it was a letdown nevertheless. Towards the end, it became exactly what it was satirizing. Also, I thought that the ending was terrible. It seemed like the killers were randomly selected, names drawn from a hat. I enjoyed "Scream 2" much more. I thought that the story was on par with the concept, and it was genuinely funny. Most of that is due to the character named "Randy," played by Jamie Kennedy. He's in "Scream 3," but very briefly. It's a shame, because his character was one of the strengths of "Scream 2" (he was in the original "Scream," but it wasn't a very big role, a lot smaller than in "Scream 2") However, I thought that the ending was just as bad as the ending of the original "Scream," for the exact same reason. Still, I liked "Scream 2," certainly more than I did the original.

The main three from the first two "Scream" movies return for "Scream 3": Neve Campbell as "Sidney," David Arquette as "Dewey," and Courtney Cox (actually, she's billed as "Courtney Cox Arquette") as the bitch news reporter, "Gale Weathers." Liev Schreiber also returns. Some of the "Scream" rookies include Patrick Dempsey (he's best known for his starring role in the VERY corny 80s flick, "Can't Buy Me Love"), Scott Foley (he's in that TV show I've never watched, "Felicity"), the great Lance Henriksen (star of the recently canceled TV show "Millennium," but he's probably best known as "Bishop" in James Cameron's "Aliens"), Jenny McCarthy (she's pretty funny in the movie), and Parker Posey (I guess she took a break from her usual slew of independent films to do this).

"Scream" and "Scream 2" were both written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. For the third (and supposedly, final) installment in the "Scream" saga, Kevin Williamson was too busy, so he just wrote the basic premise. A writer named Ehren Krueger (he wrote "Arlington Road") ended up writing it, and got sole "written by" credit. Kevin Williamson's name is up as one of the (many) producers. As for Wes Craven, thankfully he returned as the director.

Just to let you know, there's a whole buncha cameos that you're gonna wanna keep your eyes opened for. The best one is by a couple of guys who are extremely popular to some, but others will have no clue who they are. Film geeks know them, though.

"Scream 3" had all the problems that the original "Scream" had, and this time, the ending is even MORE ridiculous! It's not scary at all, and the laughs are few and far between (mostly coming from Jenny McCarthy and Parker Posey). I wasn't bored for a second though, and it was a fairly entertaining waste of time. Also, the one scene with the "Randy" character was excellent, though kinda sad. There are moments in "Scream 3" that make the movie worth seeing (especially the cameo I spoke of), but for the most part, I was disappointed.

Scale of 1-10: 6