Souviens-toi... l'été dernier

1997 was a wild year. Jennifer Love Hewitt and her pals in Southport, North Carolina, committed flat-out murder-and somehow managed to build a franchise out of what should've been a one-and-done slasher flick. Now, 27 years later, we're back with the worst-kept secret in horror history. What began with four friends has evolved into a new generation mirroring those same moments.

I'm all for paying homage and drawing inspiration from the original, but this film felt like callback central. Reference after reference. A loosely connected series of events that kind of made since... maybe. Its a legacy sequel so yeah expect some nostalgia, however the script seemed very rush and the film suffered because of it.

The connection between the original cast and the new generation was half-baked at best. I was glad to see Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., but their presence felt forced, like the film just wanted the audience to just go along with it.

As for the new stars there were some decent performances, a couple of laughs, however nothing truly stood out. I didn't feel invested in any of the characters and the film didn't give a reason why I should.

Dunno what the negative reviews are on about. I Know What You Did Last Summer was always seen as a lesser version of Scream, released one year later. I grew up in the height of these teen slashers and I enjoyed them (also thinking of Urban Legend here). I knew they weren't great quality, and not critically acclaimed but I enjoyed them. They're like murder mysteries where you actually get to see the murders and have a go at guessing whodunnit.

This new revival of IKWYDLS is almost exactly like watching the original when I was only 10, as a 37 year old. It is just plain silly fun with some glaring plot holes and daft decisions all round. I did guess who the culprit was early on but that didn't take away from the fun of being teased with the alternative motives. And we got to see some legendary 90s icons again which hits the nostalgia bell that the film knowingly mocks when Julie states "nostalgia is overrated". It even felt like the 90s in how little CGI and cinematography is used. It's fairly straightforwardly shot with one scene being an exception.

This film isn't falling down in its silliness, it is self aware - it knows it isn't contributing to a quality film legacy (the original only has 5.8 on here, guys) and everyone should accept that it's never going to be oscar worthy. It's a daft over the top teen slasher and it delivers exactly what it says on the tin.

The first 2 minutes are as good as it gets - the inner monologue of a 25 point IQ who chose UofMich - enough said - she should be offed just for that. Terrible lighting, terrible acting, script sucks - you were hoping they all died - but it took 31 minutes for the first dead body. You couldn't tell any of the characters apart and the location/set up was so ridiculous. Seriously - THIS is your idea of a reboot of a great movie?

This movie felt very reminiscent to the first I know what you did last summer, except a little bit worse in the overall picture. The movie does have its good moments where its really good, but it also have moments that made me scratch my head. The movie clings very heavily to the formula of the first movie which sometimes makes it feel more like a copy of the original movie rather than a sequel.

Starting with the good stuff I gotta say that the tension is very much there. The movie keeps you on toes and the kills are well done. The cast also delivers solid performances and it was nice to see the original characters return for this one. The movie does a good job at not getting boring or slow down too much which makes the movie have a nice pace.

As for the bad, the movie has the same problem as the first one had with who the killer was. I found the reveal in the first movie unsatisfying and a little lazy, but the reveal in this one literally makes no logical sense to me. The movie doesn't spend any time into the why the killer does what they do. It establishes no real reason to what linked the killer to the why. The characters in the movie are also ridiculously stupid in the movie to the point where their actions or reasons why they split up makes absolutely no sense. I'm fine with a character being written as stupid, this was characters written as being in defense mode doing absolutely everything not to be in a safe place. With that the movie also doesn't feel like its own movie as it constantly follows the tracks of the first movie, to the point where the movie almost holds the audience's hand just to say, "Oh do you recognize this from the old movie?"

Overall, I did have a good time watching the movie, but I also recognize that the movie doesn't try to do anything to make it stand on its own merit.

It's nice to see a sequel years later of one of my favorite movies ever, but is it really necessary?

It tries so hard to mimick everything from the original that it gets old REALLY quick.

Unlike sequels to other older movies like Star Wars, Halloween or even Hocus Pocus that the new characters are so boring that you just don't care what happens to them, the new ones are OK. Not good, just ok. Except Danica, she's horrible. And I liked that they weren't just copies of the original cast, they FEEL like a new group.

The killer reveal was dumb and the last scene is just another "yeah girl power" moment that no one asked for.

Honestly, I like going out yesterday to watch it, but I won't be seeing this one again. The original I've seen about 20 times and it never gets old.