Scream 7 Review
This is how the series ends, not with a scream but a whimper. The movie starts off well and has some good ideas. But the ending is a complete faceplant, so awful it completely undoes any goodwill the movie might have had.
The series has struggled since the loss of Wes Craven. For all their faults, his four were at least entertaining. The last two struggled to find that same style, instead relying too much on nostalgia rather than innovation. This one ups the problems that's been getting worse with each sequel.
There is some good to be had. The kills are suspenseful and full of gore. It is missing some of that playful torture the killers of the first three films engaged in. There is some fun with new slasher movie tropes, though admittedly slashers aren't quite what they were when the first came out. Kevin Williamson may not be Craven, but it does look good.
The acting is good all around. Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox continue to be the backbone of the franchise. Too bad Gale seems inconsequential to the story. Joel McHale is a fine addition as Sidney's husband, though it's a shame they couldn't get Patrick Dempsey to return. Isabel May does a good job as Sidney's daughter living in her shadow. On the other hand, the other new characters are underdeveloped and forgettable. The Meeks-Martin twins, like Gale, are unnecessary and just there.
The return of original killer Stu Macher should have been an easy win for the movie. He's been speculated to be alive since the first, and slated to return for the third before the Columbine shooting changed the original plans. And Matthew Lillard is the best part, having the most fun returning to the original's twisted dark humor. Too bad it's all for nothing. Instead of just giving the fans what they want, they try to shoehorn some A.I. subplot into the movie that contradicts its own statements. At one point video of him is "far too perfect" to be A.I. only to backtrack on that. Along with the burning down of the Macher house, it would have made far more sense for him to still live. As the film relied so heavily on nostalgia, why not just embrace it fully instead of copping out at the last moment.
Finally, there's the final act. Movies live and die on their ending. Especially when there's a whodunit mystery involved, so that's especially true for the Scream movies. The reveal of the first set such a high bar that it would've been impossible to match or beat. The second came close due to the quality of the actors playing the killers. But it's gone downhill since and this is undoubtedly the worst of the bunch. The reveal makes the secret half-brother reveal of the third seem Shakespearean in comparison. I enjoyed the red herring reveal halfway through and was hoping the finale would be equally clever. But the two killers are so inconsequential to the movie that one struggles to remember they even existed. Even their motivations are just horrible copies of Richie and Amber from the fifth.
It's time for the franchise to take a break and await some fresh blood. Nearly every major slasher genre has come back from apparent death at some point. But it's always required fresh faces and fresh ideas. Scream should be able to survive, so long as there are movie tropes to reference and play with. But whatever this was, isn't it.
