I loved, loved the ending of this movie. The beginning was ruined for me, because the one review I read gave away the movie within a movie within a movie concept (ugh), so I found it funny but not very scary.
However, the ending is brilliant. I'm convinced the marketing department having Williamson say this is "the beginning of a new trilogy" was a great ploy on the audience. The fountain shot (that I hope to see in a scene on the bluray) sold these characters as parallels to the original. So, everybody thought Jill was the new Sidney. She dyed her hair brunette, she was the connection to Sid, it all made sense that they were starting off a new trilogy with her as the central survivor in a meta-reboot. She even notes to Sidney/Nev, "You're not the ingenue, anymore."
And then they completely flipped it where she was aware of this (now THAT'S META!) and was the killer. I called Charlie as a killer by the Slash-athon sequence, but I didn't figure out Jill until about 15 seconds before she unmasked herself.
She planned the murders so she could become the star of her own movie(s). It was a freaking brilliant 'No, no, **** YOU!' to all the remakes/reboots of horror movies out there, coming right off Kirby's great line reading of all, all, all those remakes we've seen in the last ten years. Plus the motive works so well for the American Idol/Facebook/Twitter generation. It's like Jill was the horror movie version of a kid on Glee who did the murders to become famous (the sequel would be a sex tape and then a show on E or VH1, I assume?). This tied into when Sidney shot Jill, she said, "Don't **** with the original." This entire cast that was supposed to relaunch the franchise with all new characters for a new trilogy. Yet, they all appear to be dead by the end and the presumed new protagonist turned out to be the killer. She doesn't need friends when she can have fans! I loved this. However, not all her friends may be dead....
I think Wes and Kevin were very clever in leaving Kirby's death open-eneded. I already see the debating on here. I look at it like this: for now she is dead. There's a chance Scream 4 is the last movie in the series. As it was really a sneaky middle finger to horror remakes (and Saw for that matter), killing off the entire new cast of potential stars just highlighted the joke. So, for that purpose Kirby can appear dead for now. However, if they make a Scream 5, they have the option to bring her back. I think they'll kind of have to if it gets made because there is only so much more steam Sidney, Dewy and Gale can provide, plus she is quickly gaining as a fan favorite. For now she's dead. However, she is the only victim we don't see die on screen (she is gasping and bleeding out when we last see her) and Dewey never specifically say she's dead. Jill assumes that and Dewey corrects her on the presumably more important family member is still alive to the recent orphan. BTW that hospital has the worse security in the world. Wouldn't nurses be flanking them as soon as she disabled Sid from those machines?. I guess it's a Halloween II reference.
Lastly favorite deaths:
1. Olivia. It was so obviously coming but was shockingly brutal.
2. Anthony Anderson (giving his character the last name Perkins was a nice touch). I know some are complaining it was too funny, but Scream has always been "too funny" and that was just hilarious. That will probably be the one people remember from this movie.
Best lines:
-SID: Don't **** with the original.
-KIRBY: I didn't get a phone call....wait does that mean I'm going to die next?
DEWY: No.....maybe?
-ROBBIE: Wait, wait....if it makes a difference, I'M GAY! (Ghostface looks at him puzzled and stumped for a moment)
-GHOSTFACE: Time for your last question: name the remake of the groundbreaking...
KIRBY: Halloween, Texas Chainsaw, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, Amityville Horror, Black Christmas, House of Wax, Prom Night, My Bloody Valentine! It's one of those, right?
(btw the last one was the trailer version, I'm pretty sure the list was longer in the actual movie).