DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Anna Faris as CINDY Charlie Sheen as TOM Simon Rex as GEORGE Leslie Neilsen as PRESIDENT HARRIS Anthony Anderson as MAHALIK Regina Hall as BRENDA MEEKS Rated PG-13 Studio: Dimension Films Directed by: David Zucker Back to DVD Review Home |
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As the first two “Scary Movie” films loosely followed the plot of “Scream,” this one loosely follows the plots of “Signs” and “The Ring.” Charlie Sheen plays a pastor who has lost his faith after his wife was bisected in a car crash. He wakes up one day to find malevolent crop circles in his corn. Meanwhile, Anna Faris plays a now-blonde Cindy Campbell who is a news anchorwoman that discovers a videotape that will kill you in seven days after you watch it.
Yeah, I’m not too concerned about the plot, either.
“Scary Movie 3” falls in a long line of screwball comedies like “Airplane,” “The Naked Gun” and “Hot Shots.” Many of the same faces from these old ZAZ (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker) pictures make a return to the screen, including Leslie Neilsen and Charlie Sheen. In fact, this film actually serves as a nice bridge between these older films and the newer “Scary Movie” and “Scary Movie 2.”
Director David Zucker was hand-picked by Miramax honcho Bob Weinstein to secede Keenan Ivory Wayans as the auteur of this new film. Although they lost a director with such a strong tie to an urban audience and put one of the whitest guys in Hollywood in his place, the writers were able to still insert plenty of racial humor, which worked only in the hands of cast members Anthony Anderson, Queen Latifah, Eddie Griffin and Kevin Hart. Also, it doesn’t hurt to enlist a cavalcade of the top rap artists. (Not that Zucker had heard of any of them before he was handed a call sheet.)
If you’ve already seen “Scary Movie 3” in the theaters (or even just seen the trailers), you’ll know some of the movies it spoofs. There’s scary movies like “Signs,” “The Ring” and “The Others.” There’s also some not-so-scary material like “The Matrix,” “8 Mile” “American Idol.”
With all the extras on the DVD, you can now see it borrow from other films (rather unsuccessfully) like “They,” “The Hulk” and “A Beautiful Mind.”
The absolute funniest part of the DVD is the commentary on the deleted scenes by director David Zucker, producer Robert Weiss and screenwriters Craig Mazin and Pat Proft. I literally had tears coming out of my eyes as I listened to the filmmakers writhe in pain as they watched the scenes they already knew “stank like the plague.”
It takes a big man to put their mistakes on a DVD. It takes an even bigger man to endure them with the audience through a commentary. I have gained eternal respect for these men - not just because they did this, but because they are unabashedly honest about how and why these scenes don’t work. It’s like watching an old “Mystery-Science Theater 3000” episode with real people.
The pinnacle of this hilarity is when they usher the viewer through the 10-minute long alternate ending. There are some hysterical gags in this section, including Leslie Neilsen as the President of the United States crapping his pants and then having his aid change his diaper in a corn field, but on the whole this alternate ending is terrible.
In my initial take on the theatrical release, I complained about how much of Queen Latifah and Eddie Griffith was left on the cutting room floor. In the alternative ending, you get to see what hit the floor, and you realize it belongs there. One of the finest points of wisdom the filmmakers have as they watched failed joke after failed joke from “They” and “The Hulk” is: “Don’t spoof movies that no one likes.”
The DVD has a nice assortment of extra features. The commentary is the best part - not just for the aforementioned alternate ending, but also for their discussion of the film itself. Zucker, Weiss, Mazin and Proft explain the evolution of some of the jokes, which ones they think don’t work and why changes were made - some at the very last minute possible.
Three featurettes are also available, including a 25-minute “The Making of Scary Movie 3” and the shorter spoof “The Making of Scary Movie 3... FOR REAL.” There is also a “Hulk vs. Alien: Behind the Scenes of the Alternate Ending” featurette, which of course won’t make any sense unless you watch the alternative ending in which George (Simon Rex) morphs into the Hulk and defeats the alien invaders by stuffing their heads up his butt and decapitating them. (Hey, I warned you that even the filmmakers thought this ending stunk.)
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Widescreen (1.85:1), enhanced for 16x9 televisions. French language track; Spanish subtitles; English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.
