Film Review Scream 3 which is quite entertaining compared to Film Scream 1 and 2 “Sidney’s disclosure and confrontation with the villain”

Cotton Weary is now a successful talk show host. He is contacted by Ghostface, who demands to know where Sidney Prescott is. Cotton refuses and Ghostface kills him. Yes, Ghostface’s terror is not over.

When Scream (1996) was released I was around 9-10 years old. When Scream 2 (1997) was released I was around 10-11 years old. So when this film was released, I was 13 and 14 years old.

Now with that fact, I should have been at the age of my early teens in junior high school, my memory was fresher with Scream 3 than Scream and Scream 2, which at that time I was much younger and still had fun playing the SEGA Mega Drive console.

But ironically, it is precisely my memories with Scream and Scream 2 that are still etched into my age, which of course is much older. With this statement, we can conclude that Scream 3 is much worse in quality than the previous 2 films.

Because in general, a good film will carry over into our minds even when maybe later we are 80-90 years old. So on the other hand, if the film doesn’t leave an impression, maybe we’ve watched it 3-4 times and, we need to watch it again and again, so fix if the film isn’t okay.

And once again, Scream 3 unfortunately falls into the less good film category of all the film franchises so far. Why is that? Immediately, see the following Scream 3 review.

Sidney VS Ghostface III
Okay, before we find out why the third film is the weakest so far, it’s better for me to review the plot of Scream 3 first.

So basically this third film is still focused on the main premise of this entire film, aka, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) VS Ghostface. And in this third film, he has moved from Woodsboro and uses a new name.

Oh yes, in this new house she lives with her pet dog and her father, Neil Prescott (Lawrence Hecht), and also works as a counselor for women who are having problems or severe trauma like Sidney has experienced in recent years.

His new home’s security system and telephone number are also very private. Only a few of his trusted associates know his number including our favorite Woodsboro police deputy, Dewey Riley (David Arquette).

Still Can’t Get Away From Ghostfac
But even though he had taken the maximum precautions, in the end, Ghostface was only able to find him. Yes, in other words, somehow this killer ghost mask, can just get Sidney’s new home phone number.

As a result because of that, Sidney’s life returned to grips. The new Ghostfce also started killing all the actors involved in the Stab 3 film and also the “former suspect” of the first two films, Cotton Weary (Live Schreiber).

Now, the unique thing is that every time he kills his victims, this new ghostaface always leaves an old photo of Sidney’s late mother, Maureen Prescott (Lynn McRee). Seeing this fact, Sidney. Dewey, Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), and police detective Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey), team up to stop this third Ghostface terror.

Nothing More Than Just Popcorn Movies
Now, after re-reading the plot, let’s start to look at the reasons why Scream 3 is a bit disappointing.

First, this film, from the opening scene showing the “process” of killing Weary by the new Ghostface to the disclosure and confrontation between Sidney and the villain, everything feels like a Popcorn movie (Popcorn Flick).

The point here, Scream 3 really looks like a movie just to have fun. Anyway, it’s a bit lacking really to emphasize the character side and the depth of the story. Indeed, the emphasis in both aspects is still there. However, it’s not as deep as the first two films.

This may also be because at this third point, we all already know the whole formula for this slasher horror franchise by Kevin Williamson. And by the way, Williamson, he is also the factor why Scream 3 is not so great.

Less Tense and Not Youthful
Specifically, Williamson is absent in this film. So that the task of writing the script was given to a new script writer named Ehren Kruger (The Ring, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). And yes, there is a real difference in the look and feel of the script.

In Kruger’s hands, Scream 3 emphasizes the dramatic aspect and focuses on the characters, especially Sidney. Actually, it’s not wrong either. But this is the Scream movie. Which, the horror aspect should be more prominent.

To be honest, when I watched this, I felt like I was watching the NCIS series or other police mystery series. And what bothers me the most, is the loss of his youth look and feel. It’s true that in this third film, Sidney is no longer in school and in college, but that doesn’t mean that his youthful impression has disappeared, right?

After all, isn’t Scream’s target audience always young people? Why is this aspect simply omitted?

Luckily, through this Scream 3 review, I can say that all of this was saved by Craven, who has again succeeded in proving his figure as a super capable director. If only Craven’s figure was replaced as well, I guarantee Scream 3 would be even more ruined.

The Columbine High School Massacre
However, it seems that we also can’t blame Kruger 100%. Because it is possible that this script was also influenced by the terrible real world events that shocked the United States at that time.

The specifics of this incident was the massacre of all Columbine High School students, Colorado, USA. Maybe if you were a pre-teen or teenager in 1999, you would still remember this incident. Because at that time, this event was reported throughout the world.

So this incident occurred on April 20, 1999. The perpetrators were 2 12th graders at that high school, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Harris and Klebold that afternoon fired their guns inside the school grounds.

Because of their sadistic behavior, according to the Wikipedia page of this incident, at least 12 students and 1 teacher died and 24 other students were injured. Harris and Kelbold themselves eventually died after shooting a gun to their heads.

Prevention of Effects of Murderous Movies and Video Games on Audiences
So when the authorities conducted an investigation / sweep, it was discovered that one of the factors that made the two of them commit the massacre was the classic video game, Doom (1993) and Quake (1996).

In essence, both of them, especially Kelbold, are very obsessed with the two games especially, Doom. So because of this discovery, in the end many people blamed the media that displayed or smelled of violence / sadism for the Colombine massacre and other similar events.

Scream 3 is technically released around 10-11 months after this heartbreaking event. However, protests or sentiments against violent media are still very high. As a result, instead of getting sprayed too, it was decided that this film should reduce its blood and sadistic tone.

And they did that too. Although indeed, not 100% either. Because Craven himself at that time was against this desire. But even though it’s not 100% reducing the sadism typical of Scream, still the aspect of this reduction is very visible.

Many of Ghostface’s murders are cut short while he is thrusting his knife into his victims. Thus, making our viewing experience a little sluggish. Or in other words it doesn’t feel like the movie Scream.

Still Interesting Script and Only 1 Villain
Fortunately, apart from Craven’s cold hands, the script is still interesting and still makes us feel at home watching the film.

Specifically, this script goes back to the Sidney family. Alias, unlike the previous 2 films which also focused on other family members who had grudges against Sidney and his family.

This can be seen through the figure of Ghostface in this film, which turns out to be none other than Sidney’s half-brother, Roman Bridger (Scott Foley). Indeed, his motive for killing Sidney was too whiny and childish. But then again, at least now the soosk villain is in the Sidney family.

Apart from that, at least now only Roman is his ghostface. Because to be honest to me, apart from the films Scream 1 and Scream 2, there are 2 villains, which maybe for some of you it looks more crowded, I actually don’t like the format of the 2 villains.

The reason is, as we see in each of the films, only 1 villain / ghostface actually has a motive as well as strong connectivity with Sidney.

In the first film, only Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) is Sidney’s boyfriend and is vengeful, because his mother left Billy, after finding out her husband was having an affair with Maureen.

In the second film, only Debbie Salt, aka Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf), who is Billy’s biological mother, wants to kill Sidney because, as we know, in the first film, Sidney kills Billy.

Meanwhile, Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) and Mickey Altieri (Timothy Olyphant), each of whom is the sidekick of the two main villains, do not have any personal motives for Sydney. Well, these are the two that I think are a little annoying.

But once again, luckily Scream 3 has learned a lot which as a result made me and some of those who also wanted just one villain / ghostface from the start, to be very satisfied.

Cox-Arquette Increasingly Dominant and Cool
Apart from these aspects, another positive aspect that still saves Scream 3 is again and again, the appearance of the entire cast. It seems that in this third film, we no longer need to discuss at length how cool all the actors look.

Because yes, from the first film, the performances of the actors were really crazy and total. And in this third film is no exception either. Campbell as Sidney, well, we don’t need to comment anymore, guys. He is super duper the best.

Maybe what we are highlighting here, as in the Scream 2 review, is Cox-Arquette’s appearance and chemistry. Indeed, their characters Gale and Dewey in this third film, only met / interacted towards the second half of the film.

But even though it wasn’t from the first round, when they met the two of them looked even more compact and even dominant. The portion of the two in this film, if I see it, is slightly larger than Sidney’s portion. But this is precisely what makes both of them look even better.