While lacking the spark of the original, Scream 2 still feels worthy enough as a continuation of the franchise

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2019)

After the success of the original, the sequel entered development as quickly as possible. A year later, Scream 2 came out in theaters and turned a profit despite competition with James Cameron's blockbuster Titanic and while not as well received as the original, it's considered by many to be one of the best horror sequels as time went by.
A lot of time had passed since the events of Woodsboro, California, but a killer is on the loose once again only this time at a college in Ohio. Sidney, Randy, Dewey and the other college students including Cotton played by Liev Schreiber are being attacked and they must find out who the actual killer is before they'll end up being killed.
Scream 2 managed to be quite as good as the first although the original is still the best. However, before I can give this some praise there are some problems that brought the film down. First of all, the story is hit and miss. On a positive note, it does a nice job expanding on certain aspects of the first including having Billy Loomis's mother appear and it still managed to have some funny comedy and some scary chills that the original film offered. Also I like it's social commentary on sequels. Unfortunately, everything else is just a retread of the original with the killer reveal being not as fresh this time around. Even the pacing's not that good. Don't get me wrong. I liked the beginning and the climax of the film despite being somewhat predictable and cliched as it does bring some intensity when Sidney fights against Billy Loomis's mother and Mickey. Unfortunately, it's not very brisk enough and kind of dragged the film for a while.
That being said, everything else is still good. The acting, much like the original, is very good from all involved as Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, and others including Liev Schreiber, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laurie Metcalf, Jada Pinkett Smith give some very good performances as well. The characters are still likeable and even the new additions despite having limited screen time are still interesting enough. The direction is really neat, the cinematography is well spent and Marco Beltrami's score, much like the original, suited the atmosphere, suspense, and tone really well.
Overall, while Scream 2 lacks the spark and retreads the first film, it's still a worthy enough sequel. Check it out and you won't regret it.