“So, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for!”
Well, if I’m being pretty honest, I certainly wasn’t waiting for this. In fact, having now watched it, I would have been absolutely fine if we never got it. This reboot-slash-sequel, now better know as “requel”, was about three years too late, as this film seems destined to forever be in the shadow of its previous competition. I won’t do this film the disservice of naming its competition, but I fairly sure that you can connect the dots. Truth be told, I was never much of a fan of the original film nor its sequel, so I didn’t have high hopes for this “requel.” But even so, I still found myself disappointed as I jokingly predicted who the killer would ultimately turn out to be. And predicting who it would be actually wasn’t that hard, because it seemed to be the logical move to make for the franchise, and despite that it still fell flat, as it just felt out of character. That said, it has been a long time since I saw Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. up on the silver screen, and I have to admit that was a nice bit of nostalgia.
The opening of the film essentially follows the first film to a tee, setting up the circumstances that lead our characters to become targets of a vengeful killer. This version does deviate from the original a bit more responsibly by making it less of a drunken incident and making the situation appear more accidental than it was in the 1997 version. However, this is somewhat counterintuitive to moving the plot forward, because in truth, had they been honest, I’m not even sure they would have been found responsible in a criminal court, given that they weren’t really responsible for the accident that occurred, if you ask me. All they were really guilty of was of covering it up, and once again, had they come clean, I’m fairly certain all that transpired would have been rendered unnecessary.
On a positive note, the film did have at least one cameo that took me by surprise, and that I appreciate, bringing back a original character beside the ones that were advertised. Another cameo took place as part of a after-credits scene to set up a sequel, and while it was nice to see another original character, I am very skeptical of the chances of that sequel coming to fruition. Just seems like a bit of wishful thinking, because there was nothing really compelling about this installment. It just felt like a real rehash and an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of individual cast members. Naturally, Hewitt and Prinze Jr. were recruited to bridge the new film with its predecessor. I think if both, or least of their involvements, had been held back and kept under wraps, it would have upped the shock value of the film. In regards to the new members of the franchise, such as Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), the vapidness of her character started off funny, then become a bit grating by the end of the film. I don’t blame Cline, who I found put on a good performance; I just think she wasn’t given much to work with on the page. Given the collateral damage her character was responsible for, it was very hard to garner any sympathy for her. This was actually my first introduction to Chase Sui Wonders, who for all intents and purposes functioned like Hewitt’s in the original films. I found Wonders intriguing, but again, I just wanted depth with her character. She is clearly among the most affected by what happens; that shows in her steamy scene with her love interest, in which she makes a request that gives him pause. Not to mention her reckless behavior immediately after the accident. I was intrigued by her character the most. I just wished more time was spent with her and how she was processing it all.
In conclusion, the movie just wasn’t my cup of tea. as it just didn’t feel necessary. In all honesty. and without mentioning any names, there was no new ground to cover with this film that another franchise hasn’t already covered. As I said, they did make an effort with the killer reveal. but as I’d already had a sneaking suspicion about that, it fell flat as far as I was concerned. I can see fans of the original two films wanting to see this as part of a nostalgia tour. but given that I wasn’t a big fan of the other films (outside of a one-and-done watching of them), I could have done without this legacy sequel.
