Scary Movie 3
3 out of 5 stars
R E V I E W   B Y   R I C H   C L I N E
scary movie 3 It wouldn't have been too difficult to make a comic spoof better than Scary Movie 2, but the best idea here is to hand the reins over to the Naked Gun team for a fresh stab at it, so to speak. The result has just as many jokes, sight gags and parodies ... but far more hit the target. The plot is a mixture of Signs, The Ring and 8 Mile, with references to The Matrix Reloaded and The Others, among others. Journalist Cindy (Faris) is investigating a mysterious videotape that has something to do with aliens who are putting crop circles in the cornfield of a local farmer (Sheen), whose brother (Rex) wants to be a rap star. To find the answers, Cindy must consult the Oracle Shaneequa (Latifah) and work with an increasingly paranoid US President (Nielsen).

Every scene is so packed with jokes that some of them are bound to work. And at a late-night screening, this film will get you giggling right from Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy's hilarious opening scene, after which it never pauses to let you catch your breath, rocketing through its chaotic, nonsensical plot so fast that you barely notice the gaping holes. It's also sophisticated enough that you really do have to pay attention; tiny gags are set off in far corners of each frame, often having nothing to do with the scene at hand. This Naked Gun-style approach actually works more often than not, mixing silliness and absurdity with rude jokes and outrageous vulgarity. There are also some rather pointed jabs at political correctness, racism, gun control, actor politicians and Michael Jackson. The least successful plot strand is the 8 Mile bit, which is ludicrously pasted in for no reason at all. The best is the continual undermining of the contrivances and effects in The Ring. Yes, it's very, very stupid. But it's also full of hilariously inspired comedy as well as sharp spoofs of movies that, frankly, are difficult to poke fun at because they're so corny themselves.

cert 15 themes, language, vulgarity, violence 30.Oct.03

dir David Zucker
scr Craig Mazin, Pat Proft
with Anna Faris, Charlie Sheen, Leslie Nielsen, Simon Rex, Anthony Anderson, Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Eddie Griffin, George Carlin, Ja Rule, Jeremy Piven, DL Hughley, Denise Richards, Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Simon Cowell
release US 24.Oct.03; UK 23.Jan.04
Dimension
03/US 1h30

Something's out there: Rex, Faris and Sheen.

latifah anderson richards

See also: SCARY MOVIE (2000)
SCARY MOVIE 2 (2001)
SCARY MOVIE 4 (2006)

R E A D E R   R E V I E W S
send your review to Shadows... scary movie 3 lukeclemens, net: 3/5 "The worst scary movie so far but still amusing." (10.Apr.06)
© 2003 by Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

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