"Scream 2"- Despite lacking that lightning-in-a-bottle freshness captured flawlessly by the original, this stellar sequel is another win! A fantastic riff on horror sequels!

Rating: 9/10 (14 May 2016)

It's odd how some films in retrospect were clearly ahead of their time. While the original "Scream" is undeniably a classic of both its time and the horror genre as a whole, it's hard not to notice that its stellar first sequel "Scream 2" doesn't command nearly the same level of respect with audiences despite garnering similar critical acclaim. And I do think that in a way, it's because "Scream 2" was ahead of its time.
How so? It championed and furthered many elements introduced in the original, and fully realizes the potential of some of the elements introduced by its predecessor. Most notable- "Scream 2" is one of the most delightfully "meta" mainstream films I've seen but it was released about a decade before the whole "meta" concept became a "thing" that audiences recognized. While today, you can throw a rock and hit something that could be construed (or misconstrued) as "meta" not so much back in the 90's. I know a lot of people who saw "Scream 2" and its larger focus on meta back in the day as the film just being "confusing" or "sillier" or "weird." Yes, the first film had a lot of meta elements, but it wasn't until this sequel that director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson really went to town and had fun with it.
And I think that it went right over a lot of audience's heads when it came out. But especially looking back now, it's easier to see just why this second go is almost as good as the original, and how this stronger focus on self-aware meta storytelling was a great direction to go. Hell, I think it could be argued it even exceeds the original in some ways.
The film's opening perfectly establishes this hyper-meta tonality when we start at a public screening of "Stab"- a movie- within-the-movie, based loosely on the events of the original film. It's at this premier that a new "Ghostface" emerges, and takes out a couple film-goers in an opening kill that in my opinion matches the shocking iconic start of the original.
Sidney Prescott is now attending college with friend and fellow- survivor Randy, and upon hearing of the new murders, they immediately become suspicious and go on-guard. After being re- united with Dewey and Gale and helping introduce the audience to the newcomer characters, it becomes another fight-for-survival as the new "Ghostface" targets our returning heroes, seemingly in an attempt to make a "real-life sequel" to the events of the original film.
Like the original, the heart of this follow-up is writer Kevin Williamson's wonderful screenplay. As mentioned above, Williamson dives into full-blown "meta" territory here, raising the stakes, the laughs and the scares to new level, but always grounded in a self-aware fashion. He also makes the wise choice of giving the returning characters just enough moments of serious character development without bogging down the fast-pacing or feeling out of place. It's one of the most solid scripts for a horror sequel I think has ever been written. And if one pays attention, you can even see Williamson subtly planting the seeds for future sequels and where it may take the story, though done with a sense of class that doesn't just make it feel like sequel-baiting. (It's just a shame the Williamson-less "Scream 3" didn't pay off on these concepts) I do believe that on the whole, the writing for this film is cleverer and wittier than the original.
Craven of course returns, and just as in the original, his classy sense of visual storytelling and direction helps convey the themes, ideas and of course the gags and scares in expert fashion. With the film going as self-aware as it did, I think that in less capable hands, it could have ventured into cartoonish territory. Thankfully, Craven and his confidence in the material keep it from going there, so it's still a blast of fun and has a good sense of tonal continuity with the original.
This film also solidifies that the series cast is just wonderful. Neve Campbell is a revelation in this film and brings more life and pathos to her character. Other returning players such as Jamie Kennedy are a ton of fun. Courtney Cox and David Arquette once again steal the show. And newcomers like Jerry O'Connell and Sarah Michelle Gellar fit right in. The best new addition, however, is definitely Liev Schreiber as Cotton Weary, the man Sidney originally suspected of killing her mother before learning this wasn't the case in the original film. Schreiber is a blast as a sort-of sniveling man who is trying to cash-in on his media infamy by forcing Sidney into interviews with him for the news in a hope to gain a bit of fame. It's a very fun part, and Schreiber plays it very well.
However, unlike the original... there are some flaws. And they're what's keeping this just shy of getting a perfect 10. And those flaws almost entirely pertain to the script, as despite the level of cleverness and wit displayed by Williamson's writing, it's got some issues. Most notably that it seems Williamson painted himself into a corner more than once, leading to a few awkward scenes where instead of creatively subverting audience expectations like he did in the original... he relied on the horror cliche's and tropes he spent the entire last film lampooning. (A scene inside of a car involving a knocked-out "Ghostface" is a prime example.)
These moments are just too contrary to the other, much better written scenes to ignore, so I have to knock off a point.
However, despite these problems, "Scream 2" is another winner. It's furiously entertaining, wickedly creative and simultaneously humorous and horrifying.
A near-perfect 9 out of 10, and a fine example of a sequel-done- right!