Scream 2 – Film Review

Sidney (Neve Campbell) and tabloid reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) survived the events of the first “Scream,” but their nightmare isn’t over. When two college students are murdered at a sneak preview of “Stab,” a movie based on the events from the first film, it’s clear a copycat killer is on the loose. Sydney and Gail, as well as fellow survivors Deputy Dewey (David Arquette) and Randy (Jamie Kennedy) have to find out who is behind this new murder spree before they all end up dead.

We all know as movie fans that a lot of the time, sequels can be downright terrible and unnecessary. They’re usually made simply because the first outing made a bucket load of money, so now the studio wants to capitalize and make it a potential franchise. It’s annoying most of the time. And I say most of the time because there are some instances in which sequels are actually great. Sometimes, they can miraculously be even better than the original. Take The Empire Strikes Back, Spider-Man 2, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day for instance.

Although Wes Craven‘s follow-up to Scream is not as outstanding as the original, it’s still a highly impressive sequel that wonderfully expands upon the chilling world that was excellently established in the first film, while also further fleshing out its lead cast of characters, and presenting audiences with yet another spooky and comedic mystery at its core. There is just something about murder mysteries that gets all of us interested. I don’t typically like crime shows, but if the mystery is good enough, then you bet I will sit down and watch the entire episode.

The central mystery of Scream 2 isn’t quite as gripping as the first, mainly because it tries to utilize many different characters in the plot and sometimes, it can feel more than a little messy. Despite many familiar faces returning from the first installment, Scream 2 also brings some new blood into the mix and as a result, things can be a little bit too much to take at times. Gratefully though, our lead protagonist Sidney Prescott gets some truly fantastic character development here.

Is she the typical final girl character? Yes. But screenwriter Kevin Williamson understands this and uses it to his advantage because at the end of the day, the beauty about the Scream movies is that they basically exist solely to poke fun at tropes featured in other horror movies from years prior. Sometimes, satire and parody can go wrong because you’ll find yourself falling into the same tropes that you are aiming to make fun of. But, thankfully, that’s not what happens in Scream 2.

The film has a wonderful sense of humor and is genuinely even funnier than the first. There’s even a conversation early on in the film where an entire classroom debates whether or not sequels are better than the original, with the majority of the class saying that sequels suck. So already, the team behind Scream 2 is acknowledging that sequels can be a bit hit or miss, but they’re going to try anyway and you’ve just got to appreciate that.

It’s just a relief that Scream 2 is even good because this could’ve been a lackluster sequel that didn’t do much to justify its existence. The kills are much more exciting, the characters are well fleshed-out, and it’s truly hilarious. Sadly, the central mystery on display here isn’t as gripping as the first, but nevertheless, this sequel has a ton of bite.