Anna Faris plays a
news anchorwoman investigating a killer videotape that's making
its way around town, digs into a mysterious crop circle on an
ex--priest's (Charlie Sheen) farm and falls in love with a wannabe white
rapper (Simon Rex). Meanwhile, the President (Leslie Nielsen) tries to get help
in preventing an alien invasion. The film spoofs recent
high-profile films such as The
Matrix Reloaded, Signs, 8 Mile, The Ring,
Bruce Almighty, The Lord of the Rings, and
others.
CRITIQUE
I can't believe I
paid to see this film in theatres. For all intents and purposes,
the trailer looked good. I don't remember my expectations were all
that positive, but maybe I underestimated both myself and the
film. That, in a bad way.
This time around,
the Scary Movie sequel omitted the Wayans brothers, the R
rating, and originality (of which the first film had its
inspiration). Directed by David Zucker (Airplane!),
Scary Movie 3 is disappointingly dull. Cindy Campbell (Faris)
and Brenda (Regina King) are the only two characters who survived
the previous two films and appear in this third installment. To
compensate for the loss of bodies, but to perhaps make this (dare
I say it) franchise more accessible and practical, the writing
team of Craig Mazin (Senseless) and Pat Proft (Hot
Shots!, Wrongfully Accused) add a whole new set of
characters, all of which derive from the spoofed films listed
above, some in more than one way.
This results in
decent outcome. The film tells two or three separate stories, I'm
not even sure. One tracks Cindy on her investigation, the other
follows Charlie Sheen's priest, and the third tells of misfit kid
brother George (Rex). The script seems to go somewhere until about
the third act, where the stories converge accordingly but lead up
to a weak climax. One scene late in the third act reenacts the
scene from The Ring where Naomi Watts' character saves
someone from the well. Anyway, by that time I was phased out
completely and just waited for the film to finally end.
Moreover, the film
doesn't tell too many good jokes. A lot of the "attempted" humor
is slapstick, alternate recreations of memorable scenes from the
spoofed films, and a series of tasteless jokes, including child
molestation. In fact, I didn't really laugh at all during the 74
minutes of film, note the end credits run ten minutes long, which
is ridiculous.
I give Scary
Movie 3 credit for something, however. It's well shot. The
studio could've put anybody on this project to direct, but David
Zucker makes good by not staging every scene in monotone ways or
filming the action with one camera angle. Despite its short
running time, editing is decent.
The acting is fine I
guess, however the actors act below their level, especially
Charlie Sheen. Him and several others are forced to play dumb,
which is understandable since nobody is looking for great acting
in a film like this. Nevertheless, the lack of quality can get
annoying. Case in point, Anna Faris is just bad acting overload.
Her reactions to frightening or appalling situations is stock, out
of date, and boring. Her voice is annoying, plus her character is
stupid. Anthony Anderson does it again here, injecting some fun
into his character that's basically cardboard. His role got
reportedly expanded after test audiences wanted to see more of
him.
THE VIDEO
Miramax presents Scary
Movie 3 in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colors are clear
and well-defined. Image quality is good without any major flaws.
Some grain exists, but black levels are good. An overall pretty
good presentation. Optional subtitles for the film
include English and Spanish.
THE AUDIO
Miramax presents Scary
Movie 3 in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. Dialogue is
clear and easy to understand. The front speakers get a good
amount of attention, and the surrounds reinforce the sound
effects adequately. A perfectly good presentation for a film
like this. A French dub
track is also available.
THE EXTRAS
First up is a
rather good audio commentary by David Zucker, producer Robert
K. Weiss, and writers Craig Mazin and Pat Proft. They joke
about various things, poke fun at the film and each other, and
make an effort not to sound pretentious. Overall, a funny group
commentary that's generally funnier than the film.
The 27 minutes
worth of deleted scenes (or ten scenes) are only
moderately interesting. Some deleted footage is rather funny,
but most of it falls flat, especially more unfunny moments
during the Matrix Reloaded spoof. There's also more to
the rap battle in the 8 Mile segment. Included in the
deleted scenes is a 15-minute alternate ending that
involves Simon Rex's character turning into Hulk and biting off
alien heads (plus sticking one up his a-hole). The ending is
unsatisfactory as a whole, and I have no complaints about it
being cut from the final product.
The Making of
Scary Movie 3 is about 23 minutes long, featuring the
usual set of interviews from the set as well as loads of
behind-the-scenes footage. It covers various parts of the
production, but since I didn't like the film I didn't care for
much of anything in this featurette. The DVD also offers a spoof
on making-of documentaries, here entitled The Making of
Scary Movie 3... FOR REAL. At five minutes, this
featurette includes bogus interview statements and additional
on-set footage.
Hulk vs.
Aliens: Behind the Scenes of the Alternate Ending is not as
interesting as it might sound. More on-set footage is found
here, specifically the filming of the Hulk scenes as well as
some more interviews. The outtakes and bloopers, a staple
for DVD extras, runs four minutes long. No funny stuff, only a
few mildly amusing clips.
The
84-minute feature is organized into eighteen chapters.
The disc comes in an Amaray keepcase with an insert listing
chapter selections.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Despite a few moments
that are few and far between, Scary Movie 3 sucks overall. The
script is uninspired even for a spoof, the jokes are dry, and I was
just bored with it. Video Ah, I just killed a big in my room with the
DVD case! At least the film is good for something. But
seriously, with nice video/audio quality and a few decent extras, this
DVD is borderline alright as a rental.
