Scream 3

At the very least, Scream 3 does manage to improve upon the seriously lackluster opening contained within its immediate predecessor – as the film kicks off with a suspenseful sequence in which series veteran Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) meets his grisly end. The remainder of the movie, which follows recurring and fresh cast members alike as they’re pursued by Ghostface, ultimately feels closer in spirit to the underwhelming first sequel than to the above-average original, with the curious decision to take the emphasis off Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott certainly ranking high on the film’s list of faults – as the majority of the new characters are simply not compelling enough to sustain the viewer’s interest through the expectedly sluggish midsection. (It also doesn’t help that scripter Ehren Kruger stresses Gale (Courteney Cox) and Dewey’s (David Arquette) fairly tedious investigation into the mysterious past of Sidney’s mother.) There’s subsequently little doubt that the erratically-paced narrative suffers from an almost pervasive lack of tension and suspense, with this vibe heightened by Kruger’s questionable reliance on incongruously comedic elements (eg the Jay and Silent Bob cameo). And although the movie does improve somewhat in its final half hour, Scream 3 is, in the final analysis, a rather anticlimactic finish to a series that started out with such promise – although it’s certainly impossible not to get a kick out of the clever final shot that literally leaves the door open for further installments.

**1/2 out of ****