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Two out of Five stars
Running time: 83 mins

The law of diminishing returns is in full effect here – there are a couple of inspired gags but most fall embarrassingly flat.

What’s it all about?
Anna Faris returns as loveable dimwit Cindy Sherman, who goes from looking after a creepy old lady (just like in The Grudge) to dodging an alien invasion (just like in War of the Worlds) to hiding out in a weird village (just like in The Village), aided by her sex-crazed sidekick Brenda (Regina Hall) and Tom Cruisealike neighbour Tom Ryan (Craig Bierko). The film also takes some amusing potshots at the likes of Million Dollar Baby and Saw, amongst others.

The Good
After four Scary Movies and a host of ditzy cameos in a surprising number of films, Anna Faris has the whole dumb blonde routine down to a fine art and she’s on superb comic form here, ably supported by Bierko and Hall, who gets all the best lines. However, the best thing in the film is Leslie Nielsen (as the bumbling Bushalike President), who steals the show, despite only appearing in about three scenes.

The way in which the various plots are blended together is impressively smooth and the high production values are evident in the faithful and surprisingly effective recreations of the films being spoofed.

The Bad
There are a couple of inspired gags but for the most part the gags fall horribly flat. There’s also way too much in the way of puerile, gross-out humour. You know you’re in trouble when even your diarrhoea gags aren’t funny.

Also, too many of the jokes rely on US-specific points of reference and cameos from US personalities, who are significantly less famous over here.

Worth seeing?
In short: funnier than Date Movie but not as good as Scary Movie 3.