Scary Movie 3

What's the Plot?

Newscaster Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) is trying to hold down a career whilst looking after her clairvoyant nephew, Cody (Drew Mikuska). Her TV network just want to broadcast nothing but sex, violence and anything involving twins, whereas Cindy wants to bring human interest stories to the public. When she finds out about one such story, she's not allowed to expand upon it. Local farmer, and ex-clergy man TomLogan (Charlie Sheen) has had strange crop circles appear on his land, ruining them to the point where the bank is going to foreclose unless he can find the $1.50 they need. The message spells out "attack here" but what does it mean? But that's not the only worry Tom has. His younger brother, George (Simon Rex) is still trying to become a white rapper despite the fact that everyone in the audience of the rapping competition wants to kill "the white man." However, before Cindy can follow up on this story, another one falls in her lap. Her best friend, Brenda Meeks (Regina Bell), has watched a video tape that kills. After you've watched it, the phone rings telling you that you have 7 working days - not including public holidays - left to live. Does the killer tape and the impending alien invasion have a connection, and can Cindy discover it and save herself and the world ?

The Review

The first 2 Scary Movie's were under the control of the Wayans brothers where the Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise's were well-and-truly ridiculed despite the fact that those films already took the mick out of the then-tired horror/slasher genre. Now having turned their backs on their money-making scheme, the vacant director's chair has been filled by someone who, on previous experience at least, knows how to make a good comedy. David Zucker, who's input gave THE best comedy film of all time - Airplane ! - and The Naked Gun series lends a bit of class to the situation, but cannot save the whole mix-and-match ensemble. Where the film excels is in it's mocking of horror films, since, let's face it, the film is called Scary Movie 3 and not "Piss Take Collection 3."

The 2 main threads from the thriller/horror stable work surprisingly well with Signs and Ring linking up together nicely to from the basis of the main plot but apart from them, that's where it starts to unravel. The net seems to have been cast very far indeed to fill the short running time with jokes. That's not to say that they're not funny, it's just you begin to wonder why they're there anyway. The Matrix gets another rib-digging but refreshingly there's no bullet-time rip-off. This time we get The Oracle telling Cindy the connection between the tape and the alien invasion whilst giving their version of Morpheus the hump by telling him the football results, and The Architect gets to use a dictionary to try and make himself understood at last but still to no avail.

Inspired, but still pointless, leaving you the feeling that you've just watched a time-filler rather than a story-teller. Having said all this though, it is after all a comedy that relies on it's laughs from the expense of other movies and therefore should not be judged by their standards. Better than the first 2 (which isn't saying much mind you) it's a comedy that at least lets you see the killing of Pop Idol's Simon Cowell. Go see it for the beginning bit with Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy doing the 2 school girls from Ring then start to pack up your popcorn slowly and head back home to put on Airplane !

STEVE'S SCORE