I’m a fan of this horror franchise because of the solid original cast and the meta creativity. I was a little nervous that this latest installment in the Scream series could be disappointing since it is number five. After having seen it I can confirm that while it’s not the best of the series, it is a fun overall satisfying watch. The cast does a good job, especially the original three fixtures: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette. They’re also able to come up with some very intense action/suspense. While this one is a good bit of fun, I do prefer Scream 4. If you haven’t seen that one you should really check it out!
The best thing this fifth film has going for it is the presence of the three original characters. Neve Campbell is very good here, as she always is. Here she has an older and wiser attitude to her that really works. She kicks ass in this and does it in a relatively calm fashion since she has been through this so many times now.
Courtney Cox, who has always been my favorite actor/character in these films, is also very good. Cox’s performance here is actually fairly dramatic and emotional which makes things all the more impactful. And Arquette turns in a nice performance as well. His arc in this one isn’t the most uplifting, which I wasn’t a big fan of, but he still gives a worthy performance.
The new teenage cast members do a fine job for the most part. Dylan Minnette, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mikey Madison all turn in skilled performances. I also really enjoyed Jack Quaid’s performance here, he does a nice job.
The script ranges from mixed to good as far as quality and how it stacks up against the other entries. One of the really good things about this script is seeing the original three reunite and be pretty slick and badass.
Another positive aspect is that there’s a sense of creativity and intensity to most of the kills. When you reach number five of a franchise like this you don’t want things to come off as jaded or dull. Luckily, they’re able to give us some intense inventive suspense here and there.
Something else that’s new to the franchise that I’m very happy to see is a gay character. One of the teen characters is a lesbian. It’s treated casually, as it should be. One of the details I didn’t care for in this script was Dewey’s storyline. His arc in this is pretty depressing and as a beloved character of the series it’s just not a good feeling to see him so lowly and down on his luck.
This is another area where Scream 4 has this latest film beat. In the last film we saw all three of these characters doing really well in life AND kicking ass, which made for a more enjoyable film.
The twists and reveals in this are not as good as the end reveals in the first and fourth parts, but they’re still not bad. One of them is actually pretty satisfying because I kept going back and forth on whether or not I thought this person was the killer. They do a decent job of keeping you guessing.
And there is some enjoyable humor here and there, which is one of the hallmarks of these films. One of the best types of humor this film carries along with it is the way Campbell and Cox are so experienced at this. They come into the third act with a somewhat casual attitude about everything and they have some fun with that.
The ending is satisfying for the most part. Like other aspects of this film that I’ve mentioned, the ending to this isn’t as satisfying as previous installments, but it’s still pretty intense.
Scream earns a recommendation from me because it’s an entertaining watch with a capable cast but it is a somewhat mild recommendation. This one isn’t as good as Scream 1, Scream 2, or Scream 4. If you plan to see this, I do suggest seeing it in 4DX if you can.
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