"Scary Movie 3"
Review: “Scary Movie 3”
Posted on November 15th, 2003 by The Crystal Lich
Too-few laugh-out-loud sequences padded into a feature film; fun but forgettable.
Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) is a reporter looking for real stories, not the
cosmetic enhancement throw-aways she usually gets. Fortunately, she knows
a girl who knows these other girls who find a video tape that kills anyone
who watches it in seven days, and that girl knows a guy trying to make it
as a rapper who’s ex-preacher brother owns a farm that was reportedly visited
by crop-circling aliens. Got all that?
Don’t look for anything funnier in the plot other than the sheer absurdity
of it. The rest of the film is hit and miss with a few more movies to make
fun of thrown in for good measure. Although director David Zucker did take
over the franchise from creators Shawn and Marlon Wayans, this is in no way
the next “Airplane!”
One thing that audiences are starting to take notice of is the exclusion
of scenes in the movie’s trailer that, inexplicably, did not make it into
the movie. With barely a ninety-minute running time and an obvious need for
something funny to pad it with, why aren’t these scenes in there? If they
were funny enough for the trailer, this kind of film is in no danger of anyone
leaving because the scene didn’t make sense, and if it wasn’t funny. One
in particular featured Eddie “Undercover Brother” Griffin as a Matrix-like
character, but in the movie he basically sits on the couch; the credits show
“And an appearance by Eddie Griffin.” What a waste.
Bits by Jenny McCarthy and Pamela Anderson as two dumb blondes are funny,
as is every moment of screen time featuring Jeremy “PCU” Piven. Charlie Sheen
turns in his usual work in this genre, but Anna Faris is still the standout
comedienne who deserves better material than this. Even a feature appearance
by Leslie Nielsen isn’t as funny as it could be, but he still gets to deliver
the most nostalgic line in the movie, even if it isn’t the funniest. George
Carlin lends a hand,
Yes, it’ll make some money, but the only people who’ll remember it will be
the ones cashing their checks afterward (or who’ll campaign a studio later
to do another one of these turkeys just to get paid again). Until then, I’m
still holding out for “Undercover Brother 2: Electric Boogaloo.”
(a half skull recommendation out of four)
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