A
straightforward
mishmash
of
the
earlier
I
Know…
movies,
where
the
obvious
silliness
remains
intact
but
the
fun
quotient
comes
discounted,
observes
Mayur
Sanap.
Nobody
watches
teen
horror/slasher
flicks
thinking
they
are
a
masterpiece.
At
best,
these
movies
are
passable
entertainment
with
some
guilty
pleasure
attached
to
them.
I
went
in
for
I
Know
What
You
Did
Last
Summer
expecting
the
same
mindless
fun
of
the
1997
original,
which
was
introduced
to
Hindi
audiences
back
in
2003
with
Anurag
Basu’s
unofficial
remake
Kucch
To
Hai,
starring
Tusshar
Kapoor
and
Esha
Deol.
The
expectation
was
in
check,
given
the
not-so-great
reputation
of
these
movies,
but
the
recent
revival
of
titles
like
Final
Destination,
Scream
and
Halloween
showed
that
a
fresh
makeover
is
possible
to
energise
these
old
franchises.
Turns
out,
this
latest
reboot
version
of
the
I
Know…
movies
is
just
a
nostalgia
bait
that
somehow
dumbs
down
on
everything
thats
entertaining
about
the
franchise,
including
OG
stars
Jennifer
Love
Hewitt
and
Freddy
Prinze
Jr,
who
are
wasted
in
ludicrous
cameos.
The
same
old
plot
is
trotted
out
yet
again.
A
group
of
adults
—
who
are
indistinguishable
from
each
other
because
of
their
uniformly
annoying
personalities
—
gets
entangled
in
an
accidental
death.
They
make
a
covenant
to
keep
their
secret.
Exactly
a
year
after
the
incident,
a
mysterious
figure
with
a
hook
appears
who
*surprise
surprise*
knows
what
they
did
last
summer,
and
begins
killing
the
group
members
one
by
one.
The
story
is
a
straightforward
mishmash
of
the
earlier
I
Know…
movies
where
the
obvious
silliness
remains
intact
but
the
fun
quotient
comes
discounted.
The
situations
are
predictable,
the
deaths
are
unimaginative,
the
characters
are
flat,
and
the
acting
is
bad.
The
whodunit
aspect
keeps
you
hooked
with
some
mindless
bloodshed
that
occurs
at
regular
intervals.
Writer-Director
Jennifer
Kaytin
Robinson
(whose
writing
credits
include
Thor:
Love
and
Thunder)
and
her
writing
partner
Sam
Lansky
resort
to
genre
clichés
without
bringing
any
fresh
ideas.
There
is
really
no
suspense
or
tension
built-up,
it’s
just
attractive-looking
characters
running
around,
screaming,
and
saying,
‘Please
don’t
kill
me’
only
to
be
killed
the
next
moment.
Given
how
little
you
are
invested
in
them,
it
doesn’t
matter
if
these
characters
lived
or
died.
One
could
forgive
most
shortcomings
if
the
conclusion
was
at
least
effective.
But
the
final
twist
is
so
absurd,
so
unintentionally
hilarious
that
it
would
make
an
Abbas-Mustan
flick
look
superior
in
comparison.
After
all
that
tiresome
play,
there
comes
the
inevitable
to-be-continued
ending,
which
would
make
even
the
franchise
loyalists
roll
their
eyes.
I
Know
What
You
Did
Last
Summer
Review
Rediff
Rating:
