Scream 2

There’s little doubt that Scream 2 suffers from as underwhelming and nigh disastrous a beginning as one could envision, as director Wes Craven and scripter Kevin Williamson, in their efforts at replicating the original film’s remarkably tense opening, kick the proceedings off with an ill-conceived (and poorly executed) pre-title sequence that instantly establishes an atmosphere of pervasive mediocrity. It’s not until the narrative proper kicks in that Scream 2 begins to display some of the same attributes present in its admittedly superior predecessor, with the storyline, which follows Neve Campbell’s Sidney as she’s once again stalked by Ghostface, generally holding the viewer’s interest in spite of an overlong running time and a decidedly sluggish second half. The impressively star-studded cast’s stellar efforts play a pivotal role in cementing the movie’s mild success, although it’s clear that Jamie Kennedy’s mesmerizing work as prototypical film-geek Randy Meeks stands as a highlight – which ultimately ensures that the character is sorely missed following his departure at around the midway point. It is, as a result, impossible to label Scream 2 as anything more than a perfunctory (yet consistently watchable) sequel, with the movie’s rushed schedule – it did, after all, arrive in theaters less than a year after the original – undoubtedly playing a major role in its less-than-cohesive vibe.

**1/2 out of ****