IR Film Review: FIRESTARTER [Universal]
The key in adapting Stephen King films is to paint with a texture of dread while at times also registering awe with a reflection of horror. With the new remake of "Firestarter", there is potential and a necessary possibility of doing it in the more low budget Blumhouse tradition. But the reality is that the pull of the story never feels wrenching and particularly well executed (and by extension thought out in the greater mythology). The pull of the being chased motif in the texture of the McGees plight is very tertiary. The Kurtwood Smith angle and the set up there of the why is too flimsy to show what is really going on. Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Charlie, the little girl who has the ability to start fires is given a balanced texture of wanting to use her power effectively but the teaching of her prowess is never quite fully formulated. This also has to do with the writing of her parents which is alright but again never really connected.
Zac Efron, beyond taking his shirt off in the beginning, doesn't really have much to do even though he tries to look pained but the audience never quite feels for the bond. He is not bad. The reading is just, well, ordinary. The most dynamic part of the movie (helped by a effective score by John Carpenter and Cody Carpenter) is the post opening credits where you see interviews of what brought the parents to this point. In this way it reflects the way "Black Widow" started (though "Widow" -- despite what other reviews might say -- really delivered on where it was going). Sydney Lemmon plays Vicky, Charlie's mother and while her delivery is a bit better, her trajectory is cut short in a way and the eventual person that picks up the mantle in the final moments actually destroys the pertinance and rage of the story. Granted the ending sequence comes off anti-climactic anyway but the resolution (or lack per se) as the credits roll, really take away from what the story of "Firestarter" could be (even if it meant taking different dramatic license with the source material). D
By Tim Wassberg
