Not as good as the first one....Surprise!

Rating: Null/10 (27 August 2011)

While I will give SCREAM 2 (1998) credit for it's great opening with (uncredited?) Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett, it's definitely not as good as it's predecessor (the groundbreaking Scream from 1996 that re-generated the horror genre). To repeat, the opening to Scream 2 is cool with that wonderful dialogue between Epps and Pinkett and the similar tongue-in-cheek approach that opened 1.
Scream 2 again stars engaging Neve Campbell as eternal victim Sydney Prescott. Campbell still brings it as the centerpiece of the story. Also back from 1 are David Arquette as Deputy Dewey and Courtney Cox as Anchorwoman Gail Weathers as well as Jamie Kennedy as Randy, all survivors of the bloodbath from 1.
The action in 2 shifts to college as Sydney and Randy are attending a local university. The main cast from part 1 to part 2 seems to be multiplied by 4! Added to the mix is an eclectic group of familiar young actors (Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Timothy Olyphant, Rebecca Gayheart, Joshua Jackson, Duane Martin, etc.!). I think this is part of the problem as the film is an uneasy mix of the main actors from 1 along with all these new faces in 2. There's too much exposition as half of Scream 2 spends time referring back to 1.
There seems to be too much going on in Scream 2 and most of it is pretty boring. The dialogue and scenes leading up to the big kill moments have no wit, bite or humor like in the first movie. Characters pop in and out of nowhere adding nothing to the proceedings. And certainly the ending isn't nearly as sharp, surprising, or suspenseful as in Part 1.
The main problem with 2 is that it really is just a standard horror movie, while 1 was more ingenious in it's homage to slasher flicks.