Directed by: David Zucker
Cast: Anna Faris, Charlie Sheen, Anthony Anderson, Leslie Nielsen, Camryn Manheim, Simon Rex, Georhe Carlin, Queen Latifah, Eddie Griffin
Classification: M15+
Running time: 90 mins

Signs, The Ring, The Matrix and 8 Mile take a beating in the third instalment of the Scary Movie series. Reporter Cindy Campbell uncovers a plot involving aliens and crop circles while having to contend with killer videos and a slew of freaky people doing freaky things (ie Michael Jackson) while simultaneously falling in love with an up and coming rapper and saving the world from evil.

There’s not much else you can really tell of the story of a film of this genre, you have to sit and experience it first hand and try to pick the film references and enjoy the visual comedy. This type of genre is nothing new for director David Zucker who is responsible for such 80’s spoofs as ‘Top Secret!’ and ‘Airplane!’. I was a fan of those films when I was younger but I didn’t enjoy SM3 as much.

There are a lot of Hip Hop stars thrown in for good measure with Ja Rule, Wu Tang and Fat Joe making cameos, coupled with second rate comedy and I pretty much felt the movie lost any appeal it had to me where the ones before it rang true with irreverence and tongue in cheek idiocy , this film relied too much on toilet humour and lame references. The Hip Hop presence was unnecessary, last time I checked 8 Mile wasn’t a horror flick.

As far the acting went I felt that a poor script left some funny comedy veterans with a lot of unfunny dialogue. Why!? This film had Charlie Sheen and Leslie Nielsen and wasted them. These guys were the Hot Shots! And Naked Gun franchises and should have been insulted really with the material given. Nielsen has a few funny moments as the bumbling president of the USA but all the joy of watching him do what he does best was tainted by the constant presence of Ja Rule at his side as the head of White House security. He just isn’t funny.

Sheen plays ‘Tom’, a minister who’s wife (Denise Richards) gets killed in a car accident (Signs send up) and unfortunately is kept on his leash creatively. His character was boring and didn’t get any dialogue. His brother George (Simon Rex) has more of a role as the struggling up and coming rapper and as Cindy’s love interest. Eddie Griffin (as Orpheus) was a good cameo, the Matrix send up is pretty funny and even Queen latifah as Aunt Shaneequa (Oracle from the Matrix send up) was also good. Anthony Anderson as George’s friend Mahalik is probably the most humorous character. I never get sick of that guy.

You are either a fan of the genre or you’re not, but even if you are I think you might be disappointed with this film. It’s a sad day when the combined comedic mights of Charlie Sheen and Leslie Nielsen still doesn’t justify the ticket price of watching Scary Movie 3.

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