Scream 4 Movie Review
Scream 4 Movie Review
Directed by Wes Craven, written by Kevin Williamson. Starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox Arquette, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Marielle Jaffe, Rory Culkin, Nico Tortorella, Erik Knudsen, Marley Shelton, Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody, Alison Brie, Mary McDonnell, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Brittany Roberts
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With more turns and twirls than a game of Twister with a barrelful of monkeys, Scream 4 packs punch but lacks long-term luster. It starts off very well, though, in the tradition we've come to expect: A phone call with a horror trivia question from Ghostface, and the inevitable death door prize that follows whether the answerer is right or wrong. This goes on, Escher'esque, for many meta-minutes (with a great cameo by Anna Paquin), and then the titles kick in and the movie kicks off.
The set up goes something like this: Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), the author of a self help hardcover based on her traumatic youth in Woodsboro, returns home for the final, fateful stop of her book tour. She hooks up with old friends Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and foes (Ghostface, voiced by Roger Jackson and embodied by Dane Farwell), plus family — Cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and Aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell). The story follows Sidney and Co., to some extent, but Scream, as ever, belongs to the teens.
The main boy-girl / boy-girl high-school quad are popular clique girls Jill and Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and nerdy film class boys Robbie (Erik Knudsen) and Charlie (Rory Culkin). The characters are written with chalk on cardboard but fortunately, the actors bring out lots of nuance and coax some snarky chuckles with obvious and cheeky dialogue.
For those who grew up with the first Scream 10 years ago, there are still a few good reasons over the age of consent to check this out. Marley Shelton and Courteney Cox are especially good and each have fairly full roles to explore. Even poor Anthony Anderson, who is hobbled with perhaps the worst movie line I've heard all year, gives dumb Deputy Perkins some pluck.
After the horror franchise conventions are established — the poster promises: New decade, new rules! (…not true) — the gleeful killing spree unspools during a Film Club screening of the first Stab film (based on the book written by Gale Weathers in Scream 2). Fun and forgettable, Scream 4 is simply another piece of popcorn in the sequel snack pack.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
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