Better than the first!

Rating: 9/10 (6 February 2000)

I really enjoyed SCREAM because I thought it was a very original horror movie. I liked SCREAM 2 for the same reason. The story line is pretty much the same as in SCREAM, but I thought the acting, characters, and death scenes were all better.
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has gone off to college to become and actress. Now that she has left her past behind her, she is doing better. She has a new best friend/roommate named Hallie (Elise Neal), a new boyfriend and a new life. But when somebody starts killing people in the same style of the killer, Sidney finds out that her past has come back to haunt her. Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), old prime suspect proven innocent of the murder of Sidney's mom from SCREAM, returns to try and get publicity for his part in all of this. Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) returns as the movie expert and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) return to try and protect Sidney.
The plot is pretty much the same as SCREAM, but instead of poking fun of horror movies, they poke fun at sequels. When the college students argue about whether sequels can be better than the original, it's priceless.
The acting is even better in this movie than in SCREAM. Neve Campbell does her usual teriffic job. David Arquette and Courtney Cox are even better in SCREAM 2 than they are in SCREAM. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jada Pinkett are the equivilant of Drew Barrymore in SCREAM. They both do fair jobs, especially Sarah. Liev Schreiber and Jamie Kennedy do great jobs, and Roger L. Jackson returns at the bitchin' phone voice. (By the way, in a movie full of the biggest teenage stars of today, Joshua Jackson has a good cameo.)
The character development is even better in SCREAM. You will, once again, find yourself screaming at the characters to run and get away. Sidney and Gale are just as cool as they were in the first one. Dewey and Randy are both extremely better characters in this one than in SCREAM. In SCREAM, Randy was annoying and an almost pointless character. In SCREAM 2, he's my favorite. The addition of Cotton Weary in this movie is suberb.
I thought SCREAM 2 was better than SCREAM. Most people will think it is just as good or almost as good as SCREAM. If you didn't like SCREAM, don't bother watching SCREAM 2. But if you, like me, enjoyed SCREAM, this is a must-see.