A Reboot--Sequel That Cautions us Towards Hollywood Re-attempts (Scream (2022))

10 years since the last sequel and 25 years since the original, Ghostface returns to terrorize the residents of Woodsboro in this re-quel of the Scream franchise. Featuring an all-new ensemble of familiar faces including legacy actors Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette, Scream brings back the slasher genre to a whole new level of entertaining and surprisingly... surprising.

From the opening sequence itself, you can tell that this poke-fun-at-Hollywood revitalizes not only the franchise or the slasher genre but also every attempt at a reboot-like sequel the American entertainment business does these days. It is hard to reboot or create a sequel to something that came out more than 20 years ago, as it was pointed out in this movie, due to loyal yet passionate fans. However, it's clear that with Scream, their attempt at a reboot-like sequel managed to successfully entertain not only through fan service but as well as just good, fresh storytelling while also paying a great tribute to Wes Craven.

You may feel safe with this new cast that heightens up the stakes with their reliable and believable performances but amongst everyone, it's sad that the final girl this time around wasn't great after all (definitely not on par with Neve Campbell or Jamie Lee Curtis). Throughout the movie, I couldn't help but wonder if they were to change it and make it someone else. But this was the only twist I thought of and usually, these movies never end up in my favor. 

The new cast included the likes Melissa Barbera (In The Heights), Mason Gooding (Love, Victor), Mikey Madison (Once Upon A Time in Hollywood), Dylan Minette (13 Reasons Why), Jenna Ortega (Disney's Stuck in the Middle), Jack Quaid (The Boys) and a few new and old faces. When it comes to the new yet familiar aforementioned faces make this film all the more enjoyable considering everyone is pretty talented. Seeing the holy trinity - Sidney, Gale, and Dewey - again was way more fulfilling. But I've got to emphasize... literally, no one is safe. 

Unfortunately, a big element and half of the reveal was pretty obvious with no real decoding to go through. The motivation behind the killer's actions are basically about recreating something similar in a previous movie (specifically the first one) but this time around, the motivation seems to actually mirror an actual issue amongst passionate fans of certain franchise's re-quels, questioning and subtly warning us the fragile sanity of fanatics these days. 

The brutality and slashing hold themselves back in this installment. This longtime franchise enters an era where gore and violence have become much more realistic and less campy. I wonder if it's because they wanted to reminisce the 90's-like feeling of Wes Craven's original creation through his style of themes, tones, and even his usual amounts of bloodshed, despite the re-quel making itself very clear as to what era it is set in. 

Like every other rebooted sequel, there are flaws but the flaws are thankfully overshadowed by what makes this slasher flick more fun than most entries in the genre let alone the franchise. Scream should be able to bring back this kind of horror for a limited time before it gets dumped on again but for now, let's appreciate a bunch of smartass teenagers getting murdered one by one once again.