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Overall Rating : 6.5/10
Directed By : David Zucker
Anna Farris (Just Friends)
Regina Hall (Scary Movie 3)
Anthony Anderson (Urban Legend : Final Cut)
Craig Bierko (Cinderella Man)
Supplied By : Dimension Films
Film Reviewed By : Rick Blalock
Date Reviewed : Jul. 28, 2006
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| PLOT Cindy finds out the house she lives in is haunted by a little boy and goes on a quest to find out who killed him and why. Also, Alien "Tr-iPods" are invading the world and she has to uncover the secret in order to stop them. |
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| THE REVIEW In this fourth installment in the SCARY MOVIE franchise Cindy and the gang are back and in trouble once again! This time, Cindy has been hired as an aide to an elderly woman whom is terminally ill, what she doesn't know is that a spirit of a murdered Japanese boy still haunts the woman's house. Cindy see's the boy(whom happens only speak Japanese brand names when he speaks - which somehow Cindy can translate to English) He tells her that she must find his killer and that once she knows she will know the answer to how to save the world from giant alien I-pod killing machines - whom just so happens to be destroying the planet at that very moment. Meanwhile, Tom Ryan and his While searching for the boy's father Cindy has a few misadventures that an old pal Brenda, whom she had thought to be dead and a studly klutz of a man in Tom Ryan who, with his family are fighting off the Aliens. Between Tom and Cindy blooms an attraction which also serves as a reason for their will to survive to become even stronger. Unlike most films I review, before viewing this one, I knew exactly what I was getting into. I have seen the previous installments, but the memories of them are very bleak, as it has been awhile. But one thing I do remember is that I have always liked the films' seamlessness - the filmmakers are always able to blend a plethora of movies together without missing a beat, all while still making sense of it all. Here in SCARY MOVIE 4, The film starts out with one of it's funniest scenes and it is the scene most seen in it's movie trailers. The scene involves one Shaquille O'Neal waking up in a bathroom, alone or so he thought, until he hears a familiar voice - the voice turns out to be Dr. Phil McGraw himself. The two men are chained up by one leg, and they are confused, that is until a puppet shows on a screen located on the wall. The puppet says he wants to "play a game...(hmmm sounds awfully familiar) in the game he says if Shaq can hit a free-throw he and Phil will me shown their way out. As if you expected him to make it on the first shot....his field goal percentage isn't to good you know? Shaquille misses several shots and they all deflect off of different objects all falling and hitting Dr. Phil on his bald cranium. One finally goes in and the puppet give the two of them jigsaws, they unsuccessfully try to saw through the chains until Shaq tells Phil they must cut through their feet - in which phil ultimately cuts off his unchained foot and later passes out. This scene was pretty funny, I always laugh whenever seeing it - when Shaqulle mistakes Phil's voice for Kobe Bryant's is just classic. Other films sampled are ; SAW 2, THE GRUDGE, FINAL DESTINATION, and LAND OF THE DEAD, the film's major aspects come from THE VILLAGE and WAR OF THE WORLDS however - it also pokes fun at a few non genre award winning film in MILLION DOLLAR BABY, HUSTLE & FLOW, FAHRENHEIT 9/11(I believe), and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, SCARY MOVIE 4 does make you laugh as that is it intention, sometimes the jokes are a bit forced upon you and fail to work but for the most part it exceeds in keeping the humor alive....who can't help but laugh when a Michael Jackson look-a-like shows up right in the heart of an alien invasion trying to score some kids for the night? He doesn't pick up any kids but gets blasted by an alien ray, the rays make him change from bleached Michael, to black Michael, to Thriller Michael, and then to an old aged Michael....all before incinerating him leaving nothing but his nose behind. I would love to write about all of the happenings but there are just too many to cite, as with all of the SCARY MOVIE films. The acting is what you'd expect in a film of this type, you don't have to actually be a perfect actor to be funny, but you do have to know how to deliver the funny. Anna Faris and Craig Bierko do an excellent job as Cindy Campbell and Tom Ryan respectably. This is my first time seeing Bierko, but he had me laughing quite a bit...especially in the final scene that involves he and an Oprah look alike, recreating the Tom Cruise immature puppy love, freak out dork-fest. Anna Faris, is an actress that, until recently really annoyed me, for a reason in which I don't know. I guess it is because most of her previous characters have been basically the same, an airhead clueless type. After her performances in JUST FRIENDS and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (although a small role) she proved to me that she is a very versatile actress, particularly in JUST FRIENDS although the character was still air headed, she was also obsessively psycho... she had me laughing to no end. In SCARY MOVIE 4 she seemed more comfortable with the role of Cindy this time, as her comedic delivery, to me seemed more genuine and less over-drawn... I enjoyed SCARY MOVIE 4 a lot, the spoofs, as I said are seamless and the pace moves along quite smoothly without dulling down. I wouldn't say that the 4th installment is my favorite however as SCARY MOVIE 2 has always been the one I enjoyed the most. |
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| GORE
METER 1/10 Virtually no blood...there's really no need for it these or more straight comedy, that just happens to be bases on Horror ideas and not their gore itself. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 3/10 The score, just like the movie kind of spoofs the scores of the legit films in which they are spoofing....nothing too original to me. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM The SCARY MOVIE series has been a very successful one for both Miramax and The Weinstein Company and with the way they are formulated and more and more movies coming out that are "spoof worthy" if you will, there is no telling when and how this series will ever end. I did expect that by the fourth chapter, the idea would start to fizzle away, but I can't say that it has, as I was still entertained - I highly recommend... This DVD will be available on August 15,2006 |
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