History YMMV / Scream2

** Cici Cooper for being a NiceGirl who has some fun interactions with Randy and Mickey and an excellent [[spoiler:chase/death]] scene. Being played by the beloved Creator/SarahMichelleGellar certainly helps, and it's not hard to find people who wish she'd been around for more than [[spoiler:two scenes.]]

** Mickey and Randy, along with the film class, having a debate about whether or not sequels are any good, with Randy believing in {{Sequelitis}} and Mickey eventually trumping him with ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII''. Years after ''Scream 2'', which didn't fall to Sequelitis, a glut of sequels to anything and everything were made by Hollywood, with a handful of them not falling to Sequelitis, and some, such as ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2 [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory3 and 3]]'' (which the latter two featured Laurie Metcalf, who played Debbie Salt in this film), are widely considered superior to the first.

* TheWoobie: Maureen and Phil, especially Maureen. They're just two innocent college students trying to watch a film in the theater and Ghostface brutally kills them both. In Maureen's case, [[TraumaCongaLine she gets attacked while believing her boyfriend is behind the mask, then tries to ask for help, but the entire crowd of moviegoers wrongly assume that it's all a publicity stunt]] ''[[TraumaCongaline ''and cheer as she's bleeding to death.]]'' As if it's not enough, the only reason Ghostface attacked them is ''their names'' -- Maureen has the same name as Maureen Prescott, and Phil's surname is Stevens (one of Ghostface's past victims was Steven "Steve" Orth).

* EvilIsSexy: [[spoiler:TheDragon, played by Creator/TimothyOlyphant, is quite easy on the eyes.]]

** Mickey and Randy, along with the film class, having a debate about whether or not sequels are any good, with Randy believing in {{Sequelitis}} and Mickey eventually trumping him with ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII''. Years after ''Scream 2'', which didn't fall to Sequelitis, a glut of sequels to anything and everything were made by Hollywood, with a handful of them not falling to Sequelitis, and some, such as ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2 [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory3 and 3]]'' (which the latter two featured Laurie Metcalf, who played Debbie Salt in this film), are considered classics.

** [[spoiler:Rebecca Gayheart's role as a RedHerring college student]] in this movie is much funnier after ''Film/UrbanLegend'' made [[spoiler:Gayheart's college character the actual killer]].

* AssPull: [[spoiler: Dewey]] surviving the movie. While it made sense in the first one, his death scene here is so graphic and seemingly certain that it feels more jarring to see him pull through at the end. While Cotton does find him very soon afterwards, and could have called for medical assistance, the movie implies the paramedics only just found [[spoiler: Dewey]] in the morning - hours after he was stabbed.

* MoralEventHorizion: If his killings weren’t bad enough, Mickey leaps over the line by making Sidney doubt Derek, then killing him in front of her.

** The character Cici is killed by being tossed off a balcony. This would not be the last [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer time we saw a Sarah Michelle Gellar character die by falling from a great height]].

* EvenBetterSequel: Some fans and critics consider this film even better than the first. Retrospective reviews have praised the film for having [[https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/scream-2-anniversary-best-sequel-ever sharper writing]], [[https://www.slashfilm.com/1081024/why-scream-2-is-actually-the-best-movie-in-the-franchise/ more developed characters]], and [[https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/1245101-all-scream-movies-ranked-scream-6 more style and suspense]] than the first film.

** Omar Epps as the first victim would later be best known for ''{{Series/House}}''

** Derek being strung up by his fraternity brothers is just portrayed as "lol wacky frat hijinks!!" in the movie proper. But after the revelation come the late 00s of how a lot of fraternity and sorority "hazing rituals" are really more like low-grade ''torture'' and how several pledges have DIED partaking in them, it casts a much more gruesome pall over this incident. A closer look at the symbols and letters on Derek makes it seem more like his frat brothers didn't just write on him in red marker but perhaps even ''cut them into his skin'' with a knife.

** The clip from ''Stab'' with Sidney (Creator/ToriSpelling)and Billy (Creator/LukeWilson) are talking in the halls in which the {{foreshadowing}} of Billy's motivation being Sidney's mother having an affair with his father and thus causing his mother to leave--while claiming he accepted it--is present? It doubles as foreshadowing that his mother is the killer this time around too! The foreshadowing was used again and NOBODY caught on to it!

** [[spoiler: It is explained that Mrs. Loomis went through a lot of trouble keeping her true identity disguised. The first movie heavily implies she had not been heard from since leaving Billy, making it plausible that the media never knew what she looked like aside from pictures from before the killings. While in her disguise as Debbie Salt, she takes precautions to not run into anyone who could identify her unless she was dressed as Ghostface. When she is revealed as Ghostface, both Sidney and Gale express shock that it is her, pointing out she lost a considerable amount of weight and had cosmetic surgery which is why she blended in so well. ''Film/Scream6'' never explains how nobody already knew the established characters were related to Richie despite the fact Gale heavily investigated the case for her book. Adding onto this is that in The New '20s, it's flat-out inconceivable the identity of Richie's family, especially his father, would be unknown to the public with how mainstream social media has become unless Richie had changed his last name and erased anything that could link him back to his family should he get caught.]]

* HamAndCheese: [[spoiler: Laurie Metcalfe and Timothy Olyphant bring the ham that is needed when revealing themselves as Ghostface]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Joel is well-liked for having a boatload of funny lines and being [[GenreSavvy smart enough]] to get the hell out of dodge when things start to get ''real'' serious.

** [[spoiler: It is explained that Mrs. Loomis went through a lot of trouble keeping her true identity disguised. The first movie heavily implies she had not been heard from since leaving Billy, making it plausible that the media never knew what she looked like aside from pictures from before the killings. While in her disguise as Debbie Salt, she takes precautions to not run into anyone who could identify her unless she was dressed as Ghostface. When she is revealed as Ghostface, both Sidney and Gale express shock that it is her, pointing out she lost a considerable amount of weight and had cosmetic surgery which is why she blended in so well. [[{{Film/Scream6}} Scream 6]] never explains how nobody already knew the established characters were related to Richie despite the fact Gale heavily investigated the case for her book. Adding onto this is that in The New '20s, it's flat-out inconceivable the identity of Richie's family, especially his father, would be unknown to the public with how mainstream social media has become. (Unless Richie had changed his last name and erased anything that could link him back to his family should he get caught.) ]]

** [[spoiler: It is explained that Mrs. Loomis went through a lot of trouble keeping her true identity disguised. The first movie heavily implies she had not been heard from since leaving Billy, making it plausible that the media never knew what she looked like aside from pictures from before the killings. While in her disguise as Debbie Salt, she takes precautions to not run into anyone who could identify her unless she was dressed as Ghostface. When she is revealed as Ghostface, both Sidney and Gale express shock that it is her, pointing out she lost a considerable amount of weight and had cosmetic surgery which is why she blended in so well. [[{{Film/Scream6}} Scream 6]] never explains how nobody already knew the established characters were related to Richie despite the fact Gale heavily investigated the case for her book. Adding onto this is that in The New '20s, it's flat-out inconceivable the identity of Richie's family, especially his father, would be unknown to the public with how mainstream social media has become.]]

* GeniusBonus: [[spoiler:The reveal that Billy's mother is the killer was a nod to Mrs. Voorhees in the original ''Friday the 13th''. Laurie Metcalf, who plays Mrs. Loomis, is most famous for her role in the sitcom ''Roseanne'', where her mother was played by Estelle Parsons. Parsons was the original choice to play Mrs. Voorhees before she dropped out and was replaced by Betsy Palmer.]]

* CompleteMonster: In Kevin Williamson's [[http://www.scriptdelivery.net/source/resources/screenplays/scream2.pdf original screenplay]], [[spoiler:[[PsychoForHire Derek and Hallie]] are a pair of young psychopaths seeking to imitate--and exceed--the original Woodsboro killings to achieve FameThroughInfamy. Backed by the vengeful Mrs. Loomis and sharing the mantle of Ghostface, Derek and Hallie meticulously infiltrate Sidney Prescott's social circle, becoming her new boyfriend and roommate, respectively. Filming their own [[JackTheRipoff copycat murders]], they murder a couple at the sneak preview of ''Stab'' and push another college student into a glass door to the deck below, mutilating her chest and leaving her body hanging from a tree. Stepping up their game and killing Randy Meeks, they proceed to [[CopKiller murder two police officers]] that were in their way and Hallie's own innocent boyfriend, Mickey, before sadistically attaching the corpse of one of Sidney's friends, Joel, to a wall for a cheap laugh. Planning on finishing their massacre with the triple murder of Sidney, Gale, and Cotton, Derek and Hallie wanted nothing more than to send a message to the happy endings of Hollywood and prove their own nihilistic philosophy of [[CardCarryingVillain punishing innocents to inherit the Earth as murderers]].]]

** [[spoiler: This movie has the killer have a secret relationship to a previous character that is the source of their motivation, with Debbie Salt actually being Mrs. Loomis. In this movie, it is foreshadowed that Debbie Salt already at least knows the main cast and that the killer is Billy Loomis' mother. The viewers just don't connect the two till after The Reveal. Plus, the previous movie established the existence of Billy's mother. Scream 3 would try this with Roman Bridger with far less success as almost the entire explanation of his backstory would be relegated to the third movie. The most connection we would end up receiving was an explanation for Maureen Prescott's promiscuous behavior, which had been established in the first movie.]]
** [[spoiler: It is explained that Mrs. Loomis went through a lot of trouble keeping her true identity disguised. The first movie heavily implies she had not been heard from since leaving Billy, making it plausible that the media never knew what she looked like aside from pictures from before the killings. While in her disguise as Debbie Salt, she takes precautions to not run into anyone who could identify her unless she was dressed as Ghostface. When she is revealed as Ghostface, both Sidney and Gale express shock that it is her, pointing out she lost a considerable amount of weight and had cosmetic surgery which is why she blended in so well. Scream 6 never explains how nobody already knew the established characters were related to Richie despite the fact Gale heavily investigated the case for her book. Adding onto this is that in The New '20s, it's flat-out inconceivable the identity of Richie's family, especially his father, would be unknown to the public with how mainstream social media has become.]]