Great Trilogies Come In Threes (Scary Movie 3 (DVD))

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Scary Movie 3 (DVD)
Date:	21/11/06 (197 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plenty of funny moments to keep you entertained

Disadvantages: You either love it or you hate it, so not for everyone

David Zucker taking on the role of director here gives the film a whole new feel and ultimately is a breath of fresh air as had the Wayans once again been in charge of this one then we may well have seen the series go downhill and this third offering could have been a poor one. With the Wayans gone there's not much space for the original characters to enter into the script however two that do make it are Anna Faris' Cindy Campbell, and Regina Hall's Brenda who appear for the third, and for Regina Hall the final time. As has been the case with the other films, a whole host of new faces have come on board for this one and we see such faces as Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Ja Rule and Queen Latifah cropping up as well as Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex and young star Drew Mikuska being added to the main cast list for this one. You can expect this third film to follow along the lines of the first two films, however bare in mind that David Zucker is now in charge so the feel of the film and general humour is now more along the lines of 'Airplane' than the previous two 'Scary Movie' offerings.


- The Plot -

The film begins with Kate (Jenny McCarthy) revealing to Becca (Pamela Anderson) that seven days ago she watched a video tape in which a series of scary things happened, shortly after which she received a phone call stating that she would die in seven days. True to the film (The Ring), the two girls joke about this and are soon interrupted as the phone rings and they both slowly make their way towards the phone to answer it. The phone call turns out to be a false alarm as upon answering it turns out to merely be Becca's mother, however as she talks to her mother Kate goes off to take a shower. After the power cuts out, Becca begins to make her way upstairs where she finds that the landing has flooded, and upon opening the door to the bathroom finds an extremely gaunt looking Kate where her face has been transformed by Ring girl Tabitha (Marny Eng). From here we cut straight to a farm resembling that of the one from popular film 'Signs' and hear Sue (Jianna Ballard) screaming in the field, to which farmers Tom (Charlie Sheen) and George (Simon Rex) respond to by locating the source of the screaming, finding her standing in an unexplainable crop circle. As the film continues so to does the mystery surrounding the crop circles, and more people continue to watch the mysterious tape, resulting in the death of Brenda (Regina Hall) from the first two films. As progresses, Cindy begins to unravel the mystery of the tape in question and gets to the bottom of it as 'Signs' and 'The Ring' merge together come the end of the film in order to give the film its conclusion, however I'll leave it down to you to find out how as I wouldn't want to spoil it for you.


- My Opinion -

A culmination of 'The Ring', and 'Signs' – the vast majority of the films laughs come from non horror sources. It would seem that 'Scary Movie' is now living up to its name to the lowest extent ever, however ultimately it is still a well put together and thought out film that once again provides the viewer with many laughs. Right from the offset the feel of the film is completely different, this coming from the fact that instead of the Wayans, David Zucker is now on board so you can expect a film with humour more along the lines of that of 'Airplane' than the first two encounters. When I first saw the film I was disappointed to start with as it didn't really deliver what I was expecting, (another film in the vain of the first two) however as the film progressed I soon began to get into it, and upon purchasing the DVD on release I soon began to watch the film over and over and in some respects it could probably be argued that this is the best of the three, depending on your sense of humour. My advice therefore to those who've not seen this one but have seen the first two would be; don't go into this film expecting to see more of what you've become accustom to in the first two offerings as you may well be disappointed as the humour is of a different sort this time round. A good thing about David Zucker coming on board for this one however is that if you were not a fan of the first one or two, so didn't bother with the third one, then you should consider rethinking if you're a fan of his other films such as 'Airplane', and 'The Naked Gun' as you may well like what you find here.

Anna Faris returns to the casting list here as Cindy Campbell, however most of the characters that we became comfortable with in the first two films have now departed. This is basically because the popular characters from the first whom progressed into the second film, 'Ray' and 'Shorty' are both Wayans so seen as the connections have been cut in terms of director, acting roles have also been cut. As well as Anna Faris returning though, we also see the return of Regina Hall as Brenda, albeit a short one before being killed off by the girl from 'The Ring', but not without a fight. I wasn't really expecting Brenda to be in this one at all seen as her connections in the first two films had been that she was the girlfriend of Ray, and the sister of Shorty, neither of whom have returned, but she does make a return to the script and of course returned for the forth film also. In this film, Cindy is now a TV news reporter and Brenda is a teacher, the teacher of Cindy's nephew Cody in fact who is played exceptionally well by young actor Drew Mikuska. I think that Drew Mikuska is probably one to look out for in the future as although he has at current not had too many casting roles, he is still only 12 years old so looks set to have a bright career ahead of him. Anna Faris once again plays her part well and she has most certainly become a welcome fixture in the 'Scary Movie' franchise.

Most of the cast in this film are people that are well aware of the comedy genre and so are great in their roles and play them well, whereas the first two films often chose to include people that weren't necessarily to be found in comedy, 'Scary Movie 3' makes a change to this by predominantly including people that are extremely aware of how to portray the greatest comedic effect and so a lot of the time this film is extremely high end in terms of comic value. Having said that, David Zucker has still found space for a number of cameo roles filled by faces such as Macy Gray, Pamela Anderson and Fat Joe all of whom work well in the film and play some great roles.

As with the first two films, a lot of other films have been referenced within this one as well as the main ones that have been chosen to be parodied. Amongst others, we see elements of films brought in such as 'Saw', '8 Mile', 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', and once again 'The Matrix'. As well as this, Zucker has actually chosen to bring a few of the lines from some of his other films into this one such as a couple from 'Airplane' and one from 'BASEketball', so look carefully and you may well be able to spot these. Popular culture has also once again made it's way into this one with most memorably Michael Jackson being dangled from the balcony window, and the suggestion of child molestation by a priest. Although not the most intellectually stimulating of humour, the popular culture references do provide a few cheap laughs, and along with the laughs that are brought in through the referencing of a high number of popular films – there is plenty to keep you occupied here and always plenty to spot. As some of the laughs rely on you having knowledge of the films it is sending up, you may find that when going back to the film again you notice jokes that you hadn't seen before having now watched some of the other films that are included, so with each watch the film can continue to get better.

There are many great moments in the film, however one moment in particular that sticks in my mind is where Brenda and Cindy are having a girly night in at Brenda's house and there is a comically large container of ice cream. This sticks in my mind for two reasons as one I found it really amusing, and two it is where the film makes change from the first two and actually builds up tension itself and does seem rather scary. As was the case when the girl came out of the TV in 'The Ring', tension begins to build up as this scene progresses and Brenda walks from the kitchen where Cindy is and into the living room, where the TV begins to switch itself on and the girl emerges from within. The scene soon becomes comedic, however it can certainly be seen that there are in fact elements of tension and horror that are actually brought into this film rather than merely being ridiculed and made fun of. Another stand out moment for me is the scene at Brenda's wake in which Cody walks through the room, telling people about their futures such as revealing to a pregnant woman; 'it's a boy, he's going to be an a***hole', saying 'Smoke all you want, you're going to get hit by a bus' to a man who is sitting there smoking a cigarette, and pointing at one man's obvious wig and revealing that 'that's not fooling anyone'. Cody's predictions provide some great laughs and definitely make for some of the most amusing lines in the film.

By now, you know what to expect and should know whether this is the sort of film that you're going to love or hate, however I would definitely recommend this one to those of you who haven't seen it, and as the cover of the regular edition jokingly states 'Great trilogies come in three'. Had the series stopped at this film then it would have been completed as a 'great trilogy', in a similar respect I would argue to that of the 'Scream' trilogy, all of which I enjoyed very much. Alas, they inevitably made a forth film though and with a fifth on the way, the dream trilogy that could have been was not to be. Fans of 'Airplane' should definitely check this one out, as should fans of the first two films as although with a different director this time round and a different feel to the film as a whole, the film that has been produced is a good one which is more than worthy of your time and may even become your favourite of the 'Scary Movie' films.


- Extras -

~ Audio Commentary with Director, Producers, and Writers ~

This is an interesting feature as we get to hear the people behind the film talk about why they chose to include certain things, and talk about the scenes that they decided to cut and why. We hear them jokingly talk about how bad the cuts they chose not to include were, and in the next feature we get to see just how awful some of the deleted scenes really were. Here we find out about some of the problems that they had with getting the 'PG-13' rating in the US as there is a shot where many people are drinking beer so there were complaints that this should not be marketed at such a young audience. Another interesting factor that is revealed here is that Cody was going to be imaginary with an ending which was a spoof of the film 'A Beautiful Mind', revealing that this was the case, but once again they reveal that they cut this ending 'because it stank'. They use this phrase to explain why they cut many of the scenes that they did which adds to the amusement as you often find that in commentaries, people will try to defend their alternate cuts, but here the crew are extremely honest about why they made the cuts that they did and reveal the genuine reasons that they just weren't very good. They also reveal that in the previews they often got their biggest laugh where the F word was used, poking fun at the fact that this is the case. As this feature progresses we gain extra insight into the film and if you have the time to watch this through then make sure that you do as although these kind of features can sometimes get a bit boring, as the film is of the nature that it is – a lot of the time this feature is just as funny as the film itself. None of those involved in this feature take their roles too seriously so are freely able to criticise themselves and their choices to include some of the scenes that they did.

~ Extended and Deleted Scenes ~

There are 10 scenes here and although there are such a large number, there are actually very few funny moments here leading me to believe that these scenes were deleted for a reason and so it should have stayed this way. There are of course some laughs along the way however these scenes are predominantly not as good as the originals where the scenes have been 'extended', and many of the scenes that were chosen to be deleted certainly aren't up to much. The one scene here that is interesting however is that of the alternate ending, where 'The Matrix' meets 'The Ring' in order to defeat Tabitha, as good prevails over evil and Cindy manages to defeat Tabitha using her skills she has learnt as 'The One', in a scene reminiscent of that seen in 'Kill Bill: Volume 1' in which Uma Thurman pulls off that impressive display in order to defeat Lucy Liu. This scene has some great laughs, particularly where George becomes 'The Incredible Hulk' in order to see off the aliens and save the day. This could easily have been chosen to be the ending to the film as it does provide some great laughs, however some of it is a bit dry, and the plot twist which reveals Cody to be a figment of Cindy's imagination in this ending is rather dull so you can see why they chose to end with the ending which they did, rather than this one even though this ending does have some fine elements which in some ways make it more interesting than the ending which they actually chose for the film. As well as watching the extended and deleted scenes through, there is also the option to watch them with a running commentary if you so wish, however I'd only recommend doing so on the alternate ending really as the other scenes are predominantly so dull that you really have to question why they chose to include them on the DVD as they obviously made an informed decision not to include them at the time, so if that was there decision then, why did they see it fit to include these sub-standard scenes in the DVD version.

~ Hulk vs. Aliens: Behind the Scenes of the Alternative Ending ~

This is an interesting feature as we get to learn a bit about how the aliens were made in the alternate ending for the film and gain some insight into just how this scene was done and how the Hulk was made to look good. The aliens that are used in this scene are actually latex covered robotic ones that are remote controlled, with fibre glass heads, and those controlling them trying to make them look as animated as possible by making their mouths move animatedly with the remote controls. The Hulk on the other hand is in fact body effects designer and creator Tom Woodruff Jr. inside a latex suit whom performs the role of The Hulk here. At just over 4 minutes long this is a feature worth watching once you have seen the film and the alternate ending as it is interesting to know just how the alternate ending was done and although not amusing as most of the film and its features are, it is still well worth watching.

~ Outtakes/Bloopers ~

Some of these are genuinely amusing, especially the bloopers as we have not seen these before, however having watched the deleted scenes through you will recognise some of the things that have been included here and shock, horror; they're still not funny. If this feature had purely been bloopers then I feel that it would have been a lot more funny as watching thins through that we have seen already is never going to be particularly interesting, especially when the things that we are watching through once more were so dull to begin with. I would still recommend watching this feature for the bloopers alone, however you need to bare in mind that when you watch this you're probably going to have seen some of it already if you've watched through the deleted scenes.

~ Making Scary Movie 3 ~

In this feature, some of the cast and production team give their views about the film and reveal their thoughts and feelings about it. Zucker reveals how between sets he and his production team are constantly writing new material to go in the film and how it is quite possible that none of the original scripted jokes actually appear in the final film as when they were writing it, they continued to improve upon the material which they had, and come up with funnier jokes to be included. Anna Faris gives her thoughts and appreciation for the way in which things would be written into the film and then a few days later these things would be being filmed with elaborate sets to go alongside them and she certainly seems positive about the way in which the film has been done. The production team reveal that as they were writing the film, the crew were going out and watching some of the films that they were parodying. This was because when they started writing the film, some of the films they were spoofing were yet to come out, so some of the jokes had to be written on the basis of the trailers that they had seen, however after watching the films through properly, new things were written into the script and it is revealed that they were filmed about 3 weeks after the originals were released which I feel is mighty fast to get all the planning and preparation sorted and getting cracking with the recording for real. The production team and other cast members talk about some of the main cast in this feature and how fun they were to work with, in particular Anna Faris and Simon Rex are spoken about just because of how great they have been in the roles in which they have played. In keeping with the theme of the DVD, there is once again much humour in this feature meaning that although it is over 20 minutes long, you do not find yourself getting bored as you are kept interested and well humoured at all times.

~ Making Scary Movie 3... FOR REAL ~

This is a spoof documentary about the film, making for amusing viewing because of the way in which it has been done. Not only do we have a spoof film here, but in the extras we also have a spoof documentary to go with it and work alongside it which I feel works well as it is definitely an amusing feature and fans of the film should also find this entertaining to watch as having bought the DVD, they must have an active interest in the spoof genre so two spoofs for the price of one can never be too bad. At just under 5 minutes it is not particularly long, however they still manage to cram quite a bit into it and make an interesting feature out of the 5 minutes that will definitely have the viewer laughing as I certainly was.

Summary: Another great spoof, this time from the director of 'Airplane', David Zucker