Scary Movie 4
rating: 1 out of 4
If a comedian were to crack a thousand jokes and we laughed at four, this comedian would not be considered funny. He would be booed and thrown out of the venue and told sternly and with all seriousness that he ought to choose another profession. Now tell me this: Why hasn't somebody told this to the fellows making these Scary Movie films?
The premise is the same as the others, but this time only more stupid: Mimic as many recent horror flicks as possible, then knee, bat, bludgeon, scare, defecate, punch, and maim the characters with as much slapstick absurdity as a four year old male can muster. The problem with this formula is that by the four hundredth time I've seen somebody grimace in unexpected pain, I've stopped laughing. Spoofs can be intelligent. If done right, they can dissect the absurdity of serious films and exploit their solemnity to hilarious effect. Scary Movie 4 doesn't even make a pass at such antics. They'd rather kick ghosts in the testicles.
And the film doesn't limit itself to spoofing only horror films; it attacks Million Dollar Baby, Brokeback Mountain, and the Bush Administration (actually, I'll admit to laughing at this segment). It mostly plugs at The Grudge and War of the Worlds, with Anna Faris and Craig Bierko filling in the roles Sarah Michelle Gellar and Tom Cruise played. Their mimicry looks and feels smartwith surprising CGI effects filling in the Tripods and ghostiesbut the final execution is painful.
But here's the thing: the theatre was packed and it was roaring. Our little packet of critics sitting near the aisles was the only silent section in the theatre. The man in front of me laughed so violently that his chair rocked painfully into my knees on multiple occasions. So call us jaded, but me and my fellow critics don't seem to be of the demographic Scary Movie 4 is aiming at. Those who are going to see it are, yes, probably going to enjoy themselves. But let me confidently announce that I hated this movie from beginning to end. Hell, even the credits annoyed me. I just hope that the Scary Movie series doesn't become an ongoing fixture at our multiplexes. Isn't four enough?
rating: 1 out of 4
If a comedian were to crack a thousand jokes and we laughed at four, this comedian would not be considered funny. He would be booed and thrown out of the venue and told sternly and with all seriousness that he ought to choose another profession. Now tell me this: Why hasn't somebody told this to the fellows making these Scary Movie films?
The premise is the same as the others, but this time only more stupid: Mimic as many recent horror flicks as possible, then knee, bat, bludgeon, scare, defecate, punch, and maim the characters with as much slapstick absurdity as a four year old male can muster. The problem with this formula is that by the four hundredth time I've seen somebody grimace in unexpected pain, I've stopped laughing. Spoofs can be intelligent. If done right, they can dissect the absurdity of serious films and exploit their solemnity to hilarious effect. Scary Movie 4 doesn't even make a pass at such antics. They'd rather kick ghosts in the testicles.
And the film doesn't limit itself to spoofing only horror films; it attacks Million Dollar Baby, Brokeback Mountain, and the Bush Administration (actually, I'll admit to laughing at this segment). It mostly plugs at The Grudge and War of the Worlds, with Anna Faris and Craig Bierko filling in the roles Sarah Michelle Gellar and Tom Cruise played. Their mimicry looks and feels smartwith surprising CGI effects filling in the Tripods and ghostiesbut the final execution is painful.
But here's the thing: the theatre was packed and it was roaring. Our little packet of critics sitting near the aisles was the only silent section in the theatre. The man in front of me laughed so violently that his chair rocked painfully into my knees on multiple occasions. So call us jaded, but me and my fellow critics don't seem to be of the demographic Scary Movie 4 is aiming at. Those who are going to see it are, yes, probably going to enjoy themselves. But let me confidently announce that I hated this movie from beginning to end. Hell, even the credits annoyed me. I just hope that the Scary Movie series doesn't become an ongoing fixture at our multiplexes. Isn't four enough?