Video Summary

The revival of the **Scary Movie** franchise featuring the Wayans brothers has sparked a reflection on the current state of comedy films in theaters, which have diminished significantly in recent years. While the original **Scary Movie** was a remarkable success, the new installment has received mixed reviews, primarily attributed to the absence of Keenen Ivory Wayans as the director. During promotional activities, the cast’s camaraderie was evident, with some recognizing the franchise as their big break, making the film's stakes feel personal. Despite moments of humor, particularly from legacy characters like Doofy (played by Dave Sheridan) and Ray (Shawn Wayans), the overall comedic execution fell flat. The reviewer humorously tracked their laughter and smiles during the film, noting only three laughs and 15 smiles, suggesting that only 18% of the jokes landed well. The film, while somewhat entertaining, could not match the legendary humor of its predecessors, largely due to what seemed like a lack of thorough direction and refinement in its script. Critics pointed out that the dialogue felt like a first draft, lacking the punch and creativity that marked the earlier films. Although Marlon Wayans praised the talents within the family for crafting what they deemed timeless comedy, the review expressed concern that there was an overconfidence in their approach, leading to unpolished content. There were noticeable differences in performances, with new cast members not delivering the kind of comedic energy seen in past films. The review also commented on the marketing of the film, which promised bold humor and boundary-pushing jokes but ultimately delivered a more subdued comedic experience. Despite these shortcomings, the reviewer encourages others to see the film as a way to support the return of comedy in theaters, albeit rating it a low 4 out of 10, indicating it as the weakest installment in the series so far. Overall, nostalgia plays a significant role, as fans may reminisce about the icons of comedy who shaped the genre in the early 2000s, prompting curiosity about their current endeavors, including unexpected success stories like an original cast member who has found financial success through OnlyFans.

Full Video Transcript

0s: Comedy movies have basically gone
1s: extinct from movie theaters this decade.
3s: So, what better way to bring the genre
4s: back to the big screen than with the
6s: Wayans brothers in the Scary Movie
7s: reboot? And this movie really showed
9s: that the person responsible for why the
11s: original was so great is not the one who
13s: gets credit for it. It was really great
15s: to see the band get back together. All
17s: throughout the press tour, you could see
19s: how special their bond is. It's how many
21s: of them got their big break. And
23s: especially, I didn't realize this, but
26s: the first Scary Movie was her first
28s: audition ever.
29s: >> My first audition in LA.
31s: >> What?
31s: >> Yeah. Keenen asked me to fly down and
34s: audition in front of him. I spent a week
36s: auditioning, broke, really terrified.
39s: I'd never done comedy. Friday I booked
41s: the role, and I was flying first class
43s: for the first time in my life.
45s: >> This series obviously means the world to
47s: her, and you could see just how serious
49s: she took this movie. The legacy
51s: characters were by far the best part of
53s: this movie, particularly Dave Sheridan
55s: who plays Doofy and Shawn Wayans who
57s: plays Ray. I actually think Doofy was
59s: funnier in this movie than the original
61s: Scary Movie. Dave's got serious comedic
64s: chops, and he has not lost a step at
67s: all. Shawn does Ray great as well, and
69s: almost every joke that landed for me was
71s: because of these two guys, which is
73s: pretty insane because I went through
75s: Shawn's filmography, and this is his
77s: first role in a decade, and he hasn't
80s: been a consistent actor in nearly two
82s: decades. Major props to him for pulling
85s: it off again.
85s: >> We're here to drink, play bad music, do
88s: some half gay
90s: >> Why just half gay?
91s: >> had a pretty solid second act, and
93s: overall, I was never really bored
95s: watching this movie. So, I guess that's
97s: at least not a negative. The movie
99s: overall, with the exception of Doofy and
101s: Ray, just wasn't very funny. I was
104s: genuinely curious going into the movie
106s: how many times I would actually laugh.
108s: So, I actually brought an index card and
111s: a pen to the movie to take note of how
113s: many times I actually laughed. And about
115s: 30 minutes in, I hadn't laughed one
118s: time, and I also hadn't even smiled one
121s: time, and I was getting really nervous.
124s: So, I added a line under the laughs
127s: tally for how many times I smiled.
131s: Thankfully, in the second act, things
133s: really picked up, and I definitely added
135s: tallies in both sections. So, yeah, in
138s: case you can't read that, that is a
140s: total of three laughs and 15 smiles for
143s: the duration of the movie. If you say
145s: there's a joke a minute on average, then
148s: about 18% of them landed in some form or
150s: fashion for me.
152s: The problem is that the 82% that didn't
155s: really didn't. This wasn't even in the
157s: same universe with the level of humor
159s: that the first two Scary Movies were, or
162s: honestly, the ones after those as well.
164s: I really wanted to piece together what
166s: went wrong with this movie, and there
168s: are two major things that stand out.
171s: They both stem from Keenen Ivory Wayans
172s: not directing this movie. I have no idea
175s: why they didn't bring him back as the
177s: director, because by the end of the
179s: movie, it was painfully obvious that he
182s: was the biggest reason why the first two
184s: were so legendary. When you listen to
185s: them talk 26 years ago, he really put
188s: the writers to work with constant
190s: rewrites to make sure the movie was as
192s: funny as it could be.
193s: >> Okay, this is the one. You guys go write
195s: this. And they went off with a couple of
197s: their buddies, and they wrote it.
199s: Brought it to me, I gave them notes on
200s: it, and we went back and forth about 10
202s: drafts.
203s: >> Like 20 drafts.
204s: >> Yeah.
204s: >> And then even after the studio greenlit
206s: it, I said, 'Okay, let's go back to it.'
208s: >> But then, this just clearly didn't
210s: happen with this movie. It truthfully
212s: felt like a first draft, at least with
215s: the dialogue. I was sitting there
216s: thinking, 'Would this be funnier with
218s: S-tier comedic talent delivering these
220s: lines?' And maybe, but at the same time,
224s: I don't even think the greatest actors
226s: would have made this movie hilarious. I
228s: challenge you to watch Scary Movie,
230s: Scary Movie 2, and Scary Movie 6
232s: back-to-back-to-back, and I guarantee
234s: you'll notice how lazy and uninspired
236s: the dialogue feels in this one compared
238s: to the classics. Marlon talked on the
240s: press tour about how funny his family
242s: is.
242s: >> We did it with, you know, White Chicks,
244s: with, you know, Scary Movie. We're a
246s: brand that knows how to make the world
248s: laugh.
249s: >> Comedy is about making people laugh. You
251s: can't fake it, you can't think about it,
253s: you just do this thing that God gave you
255s: this instinct to do.
257s: >> You could watch a Wayans brothers
258s: something, and you still going to laugh
260s: like it's your first time seeing it cuz
261s: we don't do jokes, we do classics.
263s: >> And I really worry that they went in
265s: with a little too much confidence and
267s: just assumed their first crack at
269s: everything would be hilarious, and they
271s: didn't have Keenen or Keenen-like person
273s: overseeing the project to make sure they
275s: punched everything up to a 10. And yes,
278s: I know Keenen co-wrote this movie, but
281s: there's a huge difference between being
283s: the guy and being another chef in the
285s: kitchen. But the other way in which this
287s: movie really missed Keenen was just with
289s: the overall direction on set. Just
291s: listen to what the cast of Scary Movie 2
293s: talks about him.
294s: >> knows what's useful and what's not,
296s: what's a waste.
296s: >> He's like, 'Where's [music] the joke?
298s: Film that.'
299s: >> He kept saying that there's no vanity in
301s: comedy.
301s: >> So, he just really helped sort of
304s: help me work through those barriers.
306s: >> Hey.
306s: >> The great thing about Keenen is that he
308s: the directing is more like, 'Hey, maybe
310s: it's funny if you do this.'
311s: >> You just didn't have that kind of magic
314s: at all with this movie. In fact, the
316s: three times that I did laugh were either
319s: visual gags that didn't need direction
321s: at all
323s: or they were just recycled jokes from
325s: the first two Scary Movies that Keenen
327s: directed. The performances, especially
330s: from the new cast members, were really
332s: missing a serious comedic punch, and it
335s: could be that they just didn't cast
337s: actors who were specially trained in
338s: comedy. I mean, it's by far the hardest
341s: thing to do in acting, but I'm not
344s: completely sold because for me, there
346s: was a real step down from Anna, Regina,
348s: and Marlon. When I've seen them be funny
351s: in the past, I just have a really strong
353s: feeling that if Keenen had directed this
356s: movie, even with the script that they
358s: had, it would have been significantly
361s: funnier. It just felt like everyone was
364s: so uptight and just trying way too hard.
368s: Look at these snippets of Scary Movie 2.
370s: >> There's something going on in this
371s: house, Professor. I'm not crazy.
375s: >> [screaming]
377s: >> Woo, that's heavy.
378s: >> I better use my strong hand.
381s: >> Oh!
382s: >> Strong hand. Look, he got the panties
385s: and
387s: You'll need that for later.
388s: >> Okay.
389s: >> Here we go. Follow me, child. Watch my
392s: body.
393s: >> Do you notice how loose and free the
395s: scenes feel and how there aren't any
397s: moments of anyone being, 'Look at me.
400s: Aren't I funny?' But it constantly felt
402s: like that was what was going on in this
404s: movie. Since they took a shot at Judd
406s: Apatow in this film, I'll let him
408s: explain what was going on with the
409s: performances in this.
410s: >> You can tell an actor thinks they're
413s: being funny, it instantly is awful. Like
416s: if there's any self-awareness of like,
418s: 'This is really working.' And so the
420s: cockiness of doing improv well, even if
423s: the jokes are good, like takes you out
425s: of the scene. It only really works if
426s: people are so deep in character that
429s: when you're in editing, it could seem
430s: seamless, almost like a documentary.
432s: Like when it works, it's like, 'Oh, this
433s: was like a documentary of peeking in on
435s: people.' And when it doesn't work, it
437s: looks like someone thinks they're
438s: hilarious.
439s: >> Aside from all of this, they really
441s: didn't deliver on their marketing
442s: promise at all. They teased this as, 'No
446s: one is safe. All lines will [snorts] be
447s: crossed.' And I walked out of this
449s: thinking, 'What lines did they cross
451s: again?' Now, I'll be fair. Most people
454s: wouldn't do the pronouns or gay joke in
456s: the trailer in modern times. I'll give
459s: them that. And I'm not this movie would
461s: make the average Redditor's brain
462s: explode, but at the same time, I'm a
465s: Chappelle guy and I watch comedies from
467s: the 2000s and earlier all the time. This
471s: movie was incredibly tame compared to
474s: those. I guess at the very least, this
476s: movie does prove that you won't be
478s: canceled for telling jokes on quote
481s: sensitive subjects anymore. I didn't
483s: hate the movie though, and especially
485s: given they at least made an attempt at a
487s: 2000 style comedy, I highly recommend
490s: you check it out for yourself in
491s: theaters. I'm just one guy and
493s: supporting it will no doubt help signal
495s: to Hollywood that we want comedies in
498s: theaters again. With that being said,
500s: this is personally the weakest of the
501s: six movies for me and I'm going to give
503s: it a four out of 10. But the nostalgia
505s: of Scary Movie might have you wondering
508s: what happened to so many of the comedy
510s: acting icons of this era, and you may be
512s: surprised to learn that one of the stars
514s: of the original Scary Movie has actually
517s: since become an OnlyFans millionaire.
518s: Her story's far from the craziest
520s: though, and I break it all down here.