Scream 4 Review

   I shouldn't have been surprised but I was.  In fact the surprise grew and was quickly followed by disbelief, confusion and downright anger.  When first told by a friend that there was to be a Scream 4 that was the series of emotions I went through after prematurely and erroneously telling him he was perhaps mistaken.

   But first, a trip down memory lane!

   In early 2001 I sat in a sold out movie theater in Burlington, NC.  I actually remember the date, February 4th, as it was a good friend's birthday.  I had an idea and being too timid to do it myself, turned to my friend Mario and said, "you should get all these people to sing 'Happy Birthday' to David.  He stood up and accomplished said feat.  Many of us had spent that afternoon (and previous evening I believe) watching the first b2 Scream movies on the 3rd floor of our dorm.  Then our small caravan ventured to the theater for Part 3. Even though one friend whispered me his theory on the killer which turned out to be true, I loved Scream 3.  It was smart, scary and effectively surprising in the way it concluded the trilogy.  It smartly went back to the beginning and tied the whole film series together, as opposed to simply adding another movie to the list (yes, I'm speaking to you, Saw people).  It was in a word, satisfying.  The fact that it wasn't written by Kevin Williamson was saved by the combination his own already conceived story lines that were then given over to screenwriter Ehren Kruger, who had recently wowed me with his debut script for "Arlington Road"
   Since I pride myself on writing no spoilers unless I proclaim at the start of an entry that I feel I must do so, I will not do so here.  Therefore, my review is thus.  What I liked:  The film kept the spirit of the original in its tone and sense of humor.  The film kept my guessing.  It also kept its climax a secret though I also admit I never really thought too much about it.  Most of all it seemed to me that the purpose of Scream 4 was to serve as a passing of the torch to the next chapter in the series.  We have Scream 1, 2 and 3 as Chapter One and Scream 4 as the start of Chapter Two. 
   What I didn't like:  Though it kept me guessing I wasn't as entertained as before nor did I care as much to see the story though.  The characters, both new and old, seemed under developed and thus less likable.  I felt less for Sydney and Dewey though I sort of liked Gayle's new arc.  I only hope that future entries will flesh out the characters better.
   Final Grade:  B.  Its my least favorite in the series thus far but its still better than most of the films in its genre.

Book Review: Romanitas by Sophia McDougall

  

   Recently I finished Sophia McDougall's novel Romanitas, the first in a trilogy about a modern world still dominated by The Roman Empire.  I am a great fan of alternative history in any form so I was intrigued when I found out that this 2005 novel presented a modern tale of revenge and love against a backdrop of slaves, crucifixions and Praetorian guards.  That being said, I can't help but come away from it more than a little disappointed, but more on that in a minute.

   As the story opens there is a massive state funeral for the Emperor's brother and sister-in-law who recently died in a car crash leaving behind a teenage son, Marcus.  Very soon after he is summoned to the villa of old family friends and told that they have reason to believe his parents were murdered.  This sets off a series of events that force Marcus to flee for his life into the underground of the Empire.  Meanwhile a young runaway slave named Una (who has mysterious mind-reading powers) rescues her brother Sulien from certain death before his crucifixion.  Together our three heroes meet up in a secret camp for escaped slaves trying to survive without being found out. 

   As I said, I was disappointed with this novel.  The writing showed a few flashes of brilliance during moments that otherwise would have been mundane.  But other than that the idea of a modern Roman Empire is almost completely lost.  Apart from large televisions that pop up along with the occasional car, there was little to remind me we are talking about a world circa 2005.  Very little explanation is given to how the Empire operates internally or externally with its competing nations.  Instead the novel focuses on Marcus, first his escape from danger then his quest for revenge.  The descriptions of settings were clunky and much of the dialogue boring.  It was almost like a short story had been stretched out when it should have been wrapped up much, much faster.  I had a hard time remembering who all these characters were and for some reason, a very hard time finding out how old there were and then remembering that fact as well.  That is partly my fault but you can only keep turning back pages hoping to find reminders before you simply give up.

   I will say the last 40-50 pages were by far the best in the novel.  The ending twists were surprising and since this is the first in a series of books the ending did leave me wanting to find out more.  The explanations though fell a little flat and I can only hope they are explored further in the next book.  Will I read the next book? Yes I will. But it won't be anytime soon. 

 Overall grade:  C+ (the end saved it from being a C)