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I think that the Scream franchise as a whole is one of the most consistent in the genre, and this film in particular has always been one that I’ve really enjoyed. Like any good follow up, it finds ways to go bigger than the first. The college setting obviously gives it a larger scale, it provides more kills and gore, and being a Scream film, it goes even further with the meta commentary on horror movies. Right off the bat, the introduction of the Stab movie-within-a-movie is genius and allows this film and all the installments that came after it to go more introspective than ever before. The focus in this film is primarily on sequels, and just like how the original found ways to poke fun at the tropes of slashers, this film finds ways to poke fun at the tropes of horror sequels in some very clever ways. There are some great sequences of the characters discussing sequels and the specific “rules” they follow, and even a great running gag discussing what sequels are better than the original (I firmly believe that Mulan 2 is not one of them!). As an actual horror film, this might be one of the more effective entries in the franchise as a whole. It contains some of the best chase sequences, and each one found great ways to build effective suspense and tension. However, for as much as it gets right, there also are a few missteps in the writing. The story as a whole feels far more contrived and sloppy than the original, and it contains some dumb, occasionally baffling character decisions from both the killers and protagonists. From the camera work to the music choices, it also distinctly feels more like a product of the 90s than the original, which generally makes me less likely to revisit it. Issues aside, I still find a lot to appreciate in what they did here, and I think in many ways it does stand out as an above average horror sequel, even though it isn’t perfect.