It's a Scream, baby! Again!
Dusting off the LJ again to post my thoughts about the new "Scream" movie "Scream VI". After fifteen minutes of adverts and another 15 minutes of trailers the movie finally started!
THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!
I really enjoyed this one and I thought the New York setting really worked.
The opening sequence was really interesting and when the ghostface removed his mask I was like "what is happening?" and thought it was some kind of film within a film situation but what we got was kinda better I thought - the killer we saw unmasked was then killed by another killer! A really interesting twist that I kinda liked. I always wonder how they can change up the opening and after having Tara survive in the last movie I was interested to see what they would do here.
The relationship between Sam and Tara (and I guess Mindy and Chad as the "core four") is this movies real strength - it really built on what we saw in the previous movie and I think the characters on their own are really strong. I like Sam and the darkness in her (I know she's not popular amongst some parts of the fandom but I like her) and her relationship with Tara is really good, and makes sense. It makes sense that she would be how she is, and it also makes sense that Tara would be how she is. I'm looking forward to more movies with them as our "final girls". Mindy and Chad were good here too - and I was glad the "core four" managed to survive somehow. Is Chad becomng this franchises new Dewey with the way he surivives somehow. I kinda like it though. It did contradict Mindy's whole rules for a franchise speech though, having the main four and Gale and Kirby survive. I guess giving us the opposite of what we expect?
It was good to see Gale (don't think she was really in it enough though) and I'm glad she survived. I loved the scene when she met Sam and Tara again - nice mirroring of the scene between Gale and Sidney in the first (and second) film. It was also good to see Kirby back - although I don't think she was in it quite enough either but then I guess they had to keep the mystery of her maybe being (one of the) killer(s). I know there was a lot of drama about Neve Campbell not returning but I think it made perfect sense for Sidney not to be in it. Why would she go to NY when there's a killer on the loose? The only reason she was in the last movie (plotwise) was because Dewey died. She was smart and stayed away somewhere safe. Speaking of that I liked how Sam just wanted to leave town straight away - it's what most sensible people should and probably would do. I liked how her being told she wasn't allowed to leave because she was a suspect was what made her stay.
I thought the killer reveals were good - having three killers was new and I thought it worked well, although, did Detective Bailey actually do any killing or did he just guide the others? And having them all be related to Richie from the previous movie worked (shades of Scream 2, of course) as I was expecting some kind of connection as a random killer wouldn't make much sense. I suspected Ethan all along - especially as he conveniently happened to miss all the action - but then everybody's a suspect, right? And I kinda sorta guessed Quinn just before the reveal because there wasn't really anyone left. I suspected Kirby a bit but would have been annoyed if it was her. I liked having a family of killers and them wanting revenge for the death of Richie worked well (again shades of Scream 2). I did think though that considering, Mindy, Chad, Gale and Kirby all survived when they tried to kill them they just weren't very good at it, especially considering there were three of them (although, again, did Detective Bailey do any killing or leave the dirty work to his kids?).
The other characters were interesting enough - shame Mindy's girlfiend had to die (Anika apparently is her name) before we really got to know her and I thought Danny was quite cool (I suspected him of course because it's always the love interest).
There were some great chase scenes and action set pieces - the standouts being the one in the store, the one in Sam/Tara's apartment (loved Danny seeing it from his apartment window), the one at Gale's apartment and the one on the subway. My only real complaint would be that I thought it was actually a bit too gory in some places - I don't think I really needed to see lingering close ups of peoples blood and guts.
To sum up, I think this was a really good addition to the franchise. It's definitely as good as, and maybe even better than "Scream" (2022) but not as good as "Scream" and "Scream 2" obviously. I'm looking forward to watching it again to catch all the clues. Obviously I'll be adding the DVD to my collection.
Trailers:
"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" - there's a new Transformers film?! It looks exacty how you'd expect a Transformers film to look. I don't have much interest in this.
"Air" - This looks okay. I don't think I'll be rushing out to see it though.
"Renfield" - this looks campy as hell and I kinda like it. Nicolas Cage having a bit of comeback? I don't think I'll be rushing to the cinema or anything but would watch it on streaming for sure.
"65" - Not interested in this.
"The Pope's Exorcist" - Looks boring.
"Strays" - Not at all my thing.
"Evil Deal Rise" - decent trailer but I have no interest really.
THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!
I really enjoyed this one and I thought the New York setting really worked.
The opening sequence was really interesting and when the ghostface removed his mask I was like "what is happening?" and thought it was some kind of film within a film situation but what we got was kinda better I thought - the killer we saw unmasked was then killed by another killer! A really interesting twist that I kinda liked. I always wonder how they can change up the opening and after having Tara survive in the last movie I was interested to see what they would do here.
The relationship between Sam and Tara (and I guess Mindy and Chad as the "core four") is this movies real strength - it really built on what we saw in the previous movie and I think the characters on their own are really strong. I like Sam and the darkness in her (I know she's not popular amongst some parts of the fandom but I like her) and her relationship with Tara is really good, and makes sense. It makes sense that she would be how she is, and it also makes sense that Tara would be how she is. I'm looking forward to more movies with them as our "final girls". Mindy and Chad were good here too - and I was glad the "core four" managed to survive somehow. Is Chad becomng this franchises new Dewey with the way he surivives somehow. I kinda like it though. It did contradict Mindy's whole rules for a franchise speech though, having the main four and Gale and Kirby survive. I guess giving us the opposite of what we expect?
It was good to see Gale (don't think she was really in it enough though) and I'm glad she survived. I loved the scene when she met Sam and Tara again - nice mirroring of the scene between Gale and Sidney in the first (and second) film. It was also good to see Kirby back - although I don't think she was in it quite enough either but then I guess they had to keep the mystery of her maybe being (one of the) killer(s). I know there was a lot of drama about Neve Campbell not returning but I think it made perfect sense for Sidney not to be in it. Why would she go to NY when there's a killer on the loose? The only reason she was in the last movie (plotwise) was because Dewey died. She was smart and stayed away somewhere safe. Speaking of that I liked how Sam just wanted to leave town straight away - it's what most sensible people should and probably would do. I liked how her being told she wasn't allowed to leave because she was a suspect was what made her stay.
I thought the killer reveals were good - having three killers was new and I thought it worked well, although, did Detective Bailey actually do any killing or did he just guide the others? And having them all be related to Richie from the previous movie worked (shades of Scream 2, of course) as I was expecting some kind of connection as a random killer wouldn't make much sense. I suspected Ethan all along - especially as he conveniently happened to miss all the action - but then everybody's a suspect, right? And I kinda sorta guessed Quinn just before the reveal because there wasn't really anyone left. I suspected Kirby a bit but would have been annoyed if it was her. I liked having a family of killers and them wanting revenge for the death of Richie worked well (again shades of Scream 2). I did think though that considering, Mindy, Chad, Gale and Kirby all survived when they tried to kill them they just weren't very good at it, especially considering there were three of them (although, again, did Detective Bailey do any killing or leave the dirty work to his kids?).
The other characters were interesting enough - shame Mindy's girlfiend had to die (Anika apparently is her name) before we really got to know her and I thought Danny was quite cool (I suspected him of course because it's always the love interest).
There were some great chase scenes and action set pieces - the standouts being the one in the store, the one in Sam/Tara's apartment (loved Danny seeing it from his apartment window), the one at Gale's apartment and the one on the subway. My only real complaint would be that I thought it was actually a bit too gory in some places - I don't think I really needed to see lingering close ups of peoples blood and guts.
To sum up, I think this was a really good addition to the franchise. It's definitely as good as, and maybe even better than "Scream" (2022) but not as good as "Scream" and "Scream 2" obviously. I'm looking forward to watching it again to catch all the clues. Obviously I'll be adding the DVD to my collection.
Trailers:
"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" - there's a new Transformers film?! It looks exacty how you'd expect a Transformers film to look. I don't have much interest in this.
"Air" - This looks okay. I don't think I'll be rushing out to see it though.
"Renfield" - this looks campy as hell and I kinda like it. Nicolas Cage having a bit of comeback? I don't think I'll be rushing to the cinema or anything but would watch it on streaming for sure.
"65" - Not interested in this.
"The Pope's Exorcist" - Looks boring.
"Strays" - Not at all my thing.
"Evil Deal Rise" - decent trailer but I have no interest really.