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This Scream 2 review is HEAVY SPOILER!
With the success of his first film, it is not surprising that the sequel to Scream (1996) was produced and released. And the cool thing is, the release of this sequel is released exactly a year after the release of the first film.
So in other words, this step is a really brilliant move. Because there are many audiences and especially, fans of the first Scream movie who are still very hype about the first film. As a result, don’t be surprised if at that time Scream 2 was also as successful as the first film.
Launching the Wikipedia page , this second film, from a total budget of $24 million, the sequel which returns Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, has successfully earned a total profit of $172 million.
Indeed, it still loses $ 1 million from the first film which grossed $173 million. Still, that amount at the time, was a huge box-office success . And I also remember when this sequel was released, the excitement and the crowd was still as crazy as the first film.
But that was almost 25 years ago. Now when I do the process of re-watching it, I think. Is the sequel just as cool or even cooler than Scream so that it can achieve such great success? Well , just take a look at the following Scream 2 review .
Still Applying The Same Formula, But Still Cool
Okay, let’s just start this Scream 2 review by answering the questions in the initial paragraph. Well actually if I’m really honest, Scream 2 still applies the same formula as in the first film.
Specifically, the opening scene features the murder of one or in the case of Scream 2 , two characters. Then after the title credits, then just enter the plot of the film.
After that, in the plot of the film, we first focus on the whereabouts of Sidney. Specifically how and where he is now 2 years after the events of the first film. After that, Sidney and the other characters in the film started getting terror.
After that, they began to investigate each other and the mistakes between the characters and then Sidney began to be chased and cornered. In the end, he had to see some of his close friends even for Scream 2 , including his girlfriend, Derek Feldman (Jerry O’ Connell) who was killed by his new Ghostface figure.
Only in the end, Sidney, assisted by one or two of his close friends (usually Gale Weathers), kills his Ghostface figure. Well, once again, this formula is what we see again in this sequel.
And once again, even though they still apply a uniform formula like that, Scream 2 is still really cool.
Far More Goofy and “Creative” Deaths
Well, the coolness of Scream 2 is in its death scenes which are much more “creative”. This can be seen from the very first scene.
The Ghostface figure mingles with other moviegoers who are also wearing masks and costumes. Then, because he blends in, he certainly won’t be caught when he commits the murders in his cinema against Phil Stevens (Omar Epps) and Maureen Evans (Jada Pinkett-Smith).
Phil was killed while in the toilet with a knife stabbed through one wall of the Ghostface toilet cubicle door to the wall of the cubicle door Phil was using. Meanwhile, Maureen, the lover, was stabbed while the Ghostface was sitting in Phil’s chair.
Then after realizing he was covered in blood on the side of his stomach, Maureen limped off to the front of the cinema screen, and slowly fell down and died.
There’s yet another creative but super sad death of Sidney’s best friend in his first film, Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy). Actually, Randy’s death was very standard. He was startled from behind then taken and stabbed in a car.
But what makes it creative, is scriptwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven ( Scream ), bringing up many young people who happen to pass by their closed car doors while playing loud music with their boomboxes .
As a result, because of that, whether Randy shouted or the sound of the two struggling as loudly as possible, the sound still lost to the sound of his boombox . So yes, it’s really unfortunate that Randy is in this film. The point is that Craven and Williamson are really brilliant in processing these murder scenes.
Focus on Cotton Wear and Whodunit Aspects
Then, how about processing the plot aspect of the story? As I said at the beginning of this Scream 2 review paragraph , the plot of this sequel actually still applies the exact same storytelling formula as the first film.
So that apart from feeling very familiar, it’s just like that. But fortunately, the aspect of the same formula is covered by 2 aspects that are really emphasized in this sequel.
The first is to start exploring what and how Cotton Weary (Live Schreiber) is and second, to start strengthening its whodunit aspect . For those who don’t understand, it’s brief. Whodunit is a term in the world of cinema that refers to the term mysterious figure who commits a crime / murder.
In addition to slasher horror , this term is also synonymous with mystery or detective drama film genres such as one commercial example, Knives Out (2019). Now, it is this aspect of the term that Craven and Williamson once again emphasize in this sequel.
Starting from this second film, Craven and Williamson want to emphasize to us even more that all the characters in this film can be a ghost mask killer. Whether it’s Derek the girlfriend, Randy or the deputy police officer who is also Sidney’s close friend, Dewey Riley (David Arquette), can also be his Ghostface potential .
