Scream (2022)

★★
I once wrote, in my review for Scream 3, that I hope there isn’t another installment. Years later, there was another installment, Scre4m, which turned out to be a strong entry in the series. Now I’m going to say it again. I hope there isn’t a Scream 6, because Scream (not called Scream 5), is a weak entry. While it cleverly tackles the latest trend of soft reboots (as seen in Star Wars and Jurassic Park) and the motivation for making them and featuring a Ghostface killer who follows the rules for soft reboot storytelling, the movie plods along, devolving into a standard slasher affair instead of rising above it. The first, second and fourth installments managed to incorporate the formulaic construction of slasher movies into gripping stories. This one, and part 3, fall victim to their source material.

We get the standard opening—a lone teenage girl receiving calls from a stranger who quizzes his mark with horror trivia. Tara (Jenna Ortega) does well, but Ghostface makes his appearance anyway with one thing on his mind, which is to start a new series of killings to mimic the latest movie trends. Tara’s sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) is estranged but returns home to Woodsboro upon hearing the news. Their mother is in London and inexplicably stays there. We are introduced to Tara’s friends. There’s her best friend Amber (Mikey Madison), twins Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), Wes (Dylan Minnette) and Liv (Sonia Ben Ammar). Sam and her boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid) arrive at the hospital. Tara isn’t pleased to see her at first, but they reconcile when it becomes apparent that they are all at risk. Someone is using their connections to the previous crimes in order to set up an elaborate puzzle for them to solve.

Mindy emphasizes that the past is key to the present, and the need for legacy cast members are needed to strengthen that connection. This brings Dewey Riley (David Arquette) out of hiding. Retired and physically broken, Dewey rejects Sam’s request for help but reconsiders out of a sense of duty. Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) also return to Woodsboro, where they learn how the rising body count is interconnected with everyone involved both past and present. Once Tara’s circle of friends starts to shrink, the tension rises. A second attempt on her life leads to more casualties, eventually leading to a showdown between the survivors and Ghostface.

I liked how the movie latched on to the “requel” (reboot/sequel) craze for its source material. Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Star Trek and many more have tried to introduce their predecessor’s stories to a new generation, with varying degrees of success. I’m generally not opposed to it, if the new stories make sense. (I liked Jurassic World a lot.) There is a risk, though, that the new writers can overlook something and disrespect the franchise that they are trying to honor. Just see how the new Star Trek movies completely butcher canon by irresponsibly retconning the original crewmembers' respective ages so that Kirk, McCoy and Chekov are roughly the same age. Scream takes care to ensure that no such retconning takes place. Writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick clearly did their homework to ensure that no holes would be uncovered by the Scream fanbase.

Unfortunately, once the smoke and mirrors clear, there’s little else to appreciate. There is an overuse of camera movement and stinger music to try and trick us into thinking Ghostface is behind a door when he isn’t. Dewey, who has been through four of these scenarios already, comes face-to-face with Ghostface and fails to capitalize when he has the advantage, resulting in a catastrophic error that should never have happened, because the former Sheriff should have known better. This movie betrays everything we've come to know about the resourceful Dewey. The revelation of the killer(s) is not handled well. While the motive is clear enough and in keeping with what we’ve seen in the past, it misfires largely due to the ridiculous overacting that follows the unmasking. Think Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher character but dialed up to 11. The final confrontation feels like part 1 rehashed. I get it. We’ve come full circle. The location was enough to get that point across, though. Having characters mimic their counterparts from Scream (1996) during key scenes added nothing. Scre4m wrapped up everything nicely and the story could have ended there with no loose threads hanging. This fifth entry now begs for another sequel to come along in order to make things right again.

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