LIKES:
The Special Effects: This film is not the high tech, overbudgeted, big bang movie superhero movies have made famous. However, the movie accomplishes the task of bringing the fire to life in terms of special effects that are both computer and what looks like traditional pyrotechnics. Fire is the theme of the movie, hence the title, but I give props for being able to bring the elements of the heat to the silver screen. Smoldering air currents, steam, boiling, and of course the raging flames await to be used in the darker means of King's imagination, and it looks beautiful with the special techniques used.
The Dialogue At Times: Feeling like something from a book, the screen adaptation accomplishes hitting that dialogue we like in a drama/thriller like Firestarter. Several parts are poetic, King's writing coming out in full force as they do their best to tame the beast of the "special feeling" inside deep inside them. Other parts may not be as fluid or artistic, but have an emotional depth to them, which comes out quite well from the performance. It feels like one of those character driven plots he does so well, and I felt it was one of the stronger aspects of the movie, and delivers the emotional moments quite well.
The Acting... at least on some characters: Firestarter has some heroes in this film picking up the load, carrying the characters and movie pretty far as it tries to fill the 90 minutes. Efron is not my favorite, but has times where he really gets the role of the caring father with a heavy past quite well. This role helped diminish the High School Musical vibes big time, and it was nice to see him expand back into the thriller genre for another round. Sydney Lemmon had probably the best performance of the night for me, a great strong role of someone taking on the weight of the world and doing her best to handle the fall out of a decision made in the past. She's collected, cool, but shows just enough vice to bring out other elements of her emotions leading to a balanced performance I wanted more of and hope to see again. As for newcomer Ryan Kiera Armstrong, the young girl has potential, showing off her ability to play an adult and child in this dance of insane storytelling. Her ability to cry and react to the horrors of her new power are certainly well-honed, but the third act of the film really shows her promise as a horror actress in the future when she gets more experience.
The Opening: The part that felt the most King to me, those opening credits are the editing work that horror fans love to dive into for their opening moments. It's got weird sound effects, horror theme texts, that filtered footage to pull you into tapes of the past. Seeing the plot set up and hearing an astounding delivery by the head was haunting and painted potential for the chills to come. It's one of my favorite horror openings in a while, but sadly it does not hold across the film in regards to the creeps it could have brought.
The Runtime/Pace: Given the shortcuts they took in this adaptation, the 90 minute run time is a bit of a blessing, as it minimizes how much you have to sit through this telling. The fast pace keeps things from becoming too drawn out, and gets to the "heat" of the moment much quicker to get that sizzling end you are looking to immerse yourself into watching.
The Music: Hands down the biggest strength of the film, Firestarter has a great supporting soundtrack to help add that shiver down your spine. The composers from the Halloween series have a hand in this score, and it works so well to bring out that disturbing background noise that gets into your head and unsettles you. As mentioned earlier, it makes for a great opener, but throughout the movie this unsettling score is the biggest horror draw of the night for this film. Nice work on this one guys.
DISLIKES:
Crosses One Of My Lines: I have not read the book, but there is a component of animal torture in this film that holds little need or class given all the other rewrites they did. Crossing this line and to this extent is something I'm not privy of seeing, so sensitive constitutions beware and prepare for this gut punching scene.
The Acting On Another Degree: For those that don't care about my line, the acting suffers from either budget or direction choices in this film for me. Many characters that are supporting don't quite feel committed to the role, or struggle to bring that emotion to the full potential they could. The big bad antagonist is one of those roles, sometimes accomplishing the malice, but often struggling to sell the lines. Others barely say anything, and when they do, don't come out as awesome as they could have accomplished had they pushed those boundaries a bit further. Only John Beasley as Irv accomplished the task, getting adequate screentime to pull his shots out and be a worthy supporting characters.
The Action: I know, it's more drama and horror than it is action, but as I said, be careful how much you twist the movie if you are going to try. Firestarter has action that at times is awesome, but sadly is missing something for me in terms of bringing it all together. While realistic, the choreography is bland, and the strategy is very simplistic as if taking the simple road was the best route. Other times, there is that sweet justice in revenge, but yet, the stakes don't feel like a winner to me and left me kind of bored in my seat. Thus, if the action was going to be done, a little more of the theatrics and planning could go a long way.
More Time With Supporting Characters: Part of what I think limited the acting was how limited the characters felt in this movie. Firestarter really has about two characters getting most of the time, while the others who hold many keys to the tale are simplified. Again, so much potential in a King story, but the approach and plans on where to release it got in the way to make a cheaper version that did not utilize the characters as well as they could. Back to the drawing board on this one boys, because balance and strategizing could have saved it.
Not Scary: I don't believe this particular movie was made for being a deeper horror film, like at all. However, there was again potential in this movie that did not quite come out in the full effects I think they wanted. Firestarter felt more drama and Sci-Fi than the genre King is famous for, and those going in for that jump scare, disturbing concept, will be disappointed outside of a few moments. Maybe those who are very prone might like the toned down scares and still ump, but for seasoned pros, this won't even phase you.
The Story/Ending: This has to be the worst part of the movie for me, in that the film does not feel like a King story adaptation. Look at It, the Shining, and Dr. Sleep, movies that managed to take the time and effort to mimic the time and effort to match King's brand of storytelling. It feels more like the book coming to life and accomplishes so much in keeping thins alive in the grand scheme of things. However, this time, the movie feels more of a knock-off and highlights of the story, only getting just enough to pass for a story, but lacking the full emersion these books are known for holding. That character development, that build up a tale's revelation, and the exciting climax moments, all lost to the quick and easy loadout they wanted. And it really comes to life at the end of the film, where a quick runtime made the final ordeal a breeze to accomplish, with again little connection or sizzle.
The Verdict:
Overall, Firestarter accomplishes a loose feel and quick display of the King Universe and the haunts you can play in. It's got a quick pace, solid opening, decent acting, and visuals to pain the world in that foreboding light the author is famous for having in his works. And while these elements and the chilling music are golden, there is also other elements that don't quite succeed in making this the best King adaptation, despite the improvement in technology. Secondary characters are not used as well, the scary/suspenseful elements are missing, and a fast pace get in the way of the full effect this movie could have had like others of his works. Still, the benefit of streaming on Peacock should help plenty of people see it, which I hate to say is the venue to watch this movie in if you want to maximize your budge.
My scores are:
Drama/Horror/Sci-Fi: 5.5- 6.0 Movie Overall: 5.0.
The Special Effects: This film is not the high tech, overbudgeted, big bang movie superhero movies have made famous. However, the movie accomplishes the task of bringing the fire to life in terms of special effects that are both computer and what looks like traditional pyrotechnics. Fire is the theme of the movie, hence the title, but I give props for being able to bring the elements of the heat to the silver screen. Smoldering air currents, steam, boiling, and of course the raging flames await to be used in the darker means of King's imagination, and it looks beautiful with the special techniques used.
The Dialogue At Times: Feeling like something from a book, the screen adaptation accomplishes hitting that dialogue we like in a drama/thriller like Firestarter. Several parts are poetic, King's writing coming out in full force as they do their best to tame the beast of the "special feeling" inside deep inside them. Other parts may not be as fluid or artistic, but have an emotional depth to them, which comes out quite well from the performance. It feels like one of those character driven plots he does so well, and I felt it was one of the stronger aspects of the movie, and delivers the emotional moments quite well.
The Acting... at least on some characters: Firestarter has some heroes in this film picking up the load, carrying the characters and movie pretty far as it tries to fill the 90 minutes. Efron is not my favorite, but has times where he really gets the role of the caring father with a heavy past quite well. This role helped diminish the High School Musical vibes big time, and it was nice to see him expand back into the thriller genre for another round. Sydney Lemmon had probably the best performance of the night for me, a great strong role of someone taking on the weight of the world and doing her best to handle the fall out of a decision made in the past. She's collected, cool, but shows just enough vice to bring out other elements of her emotions leading to a balanced performance I wanted more of and hope to see again. As for newcomer Ryan Kiera Armstrong, the young girl has potential, showing off her ability to play an adult and child in this dance of insane storytelling. Her ability to cry and react to the horrors of her new power are certainly well-honed, but the third act of the film really shows her promise as a horror actress in the future when she gets more experience.
The Opening: The part that felt the most King to me, those opening credits are the editing work that horror fans love to dive into for their opening moments. It's got weird sound effects, horror theme texts, that filtered footage to pull you into tapes of the past. Seeing the plot set up and hearing an astounding delivery by the head was haunting and painted potential for the chills to come. It's one of my favorite horror openings in a while, but sadly it does not hold across the film in regards to the creeps it could have brought.
The Runtime/Pace: Given the shortcuts they took in this adaptation, the 90 minute run time is a bit of a blessing, as it minimizes how much you have to sit through this telling. The fast pace keeps things from becoming too drawn out, and gets to the "heat" of the moment much quicker to get that sizzling end you are looking to immerse yourself into watching.
The Music: Hands down the biggest strength of the film, Firestarter has a great supporting soundtrack to help add that shiver down your spine. The composers from the Halloween series have a hand in this score, and it works so well to bring out that disturbing background noise that gets into your head and unsettles you. As mentioned earlier, it makes for a great opener, but throughout the movie this unsettling score is the biggest horror draw of the night for this film. Nice work on this one guys.
DISLIKES:
Crosses One Of My Lines: I have not read the book, but there is a component of animal torture in this film that holds little need or class given all the other rewrites they did. Crossing this line and to this extent is something I'm not privy of seeing, so sensitive constitutions beware and prepare for this gut punching scene.
The Acting On Another Degree: For those that don't care about my line, the acting suffers from either budget or direction choices in this film for me. Many characters that are supporting don't quite feel committed to the role, or struggle to bring that emotion to the full potential they could. The big bad antagonist is one of those roles, sometimes accomplishing the malice, but often struggling to sell the lines. Others barely say anything, and when they do, don't come out as awesome as they could have accomplished had they pushed those boundaries a bit further. Only John Beasley as Irv accomplished the task, getting adequate screentime to pull his shots out and be a worthy supporting characters.
The Action: I know, it's more drama and horror than it is action, but as I said, be careful how much you twist the movie if you are going to try. Firestarter has action that at times is awesome, but sadly is missing something for me in terms of bringing it all together. While realistic, the choreography is bland, and the strategy is very simplistic as if taking the simple road was the best route. Other times, there is that sweet justice in revenge, but yet, the stakes don't feel like a winner to me and left me kind of bored in my seat. Thus, if the action was going to be done, a little more of the theatrics and planning could go a long way.
More Time With Supporting Characters: Part of what I think limited the acting was how limited the characters felt in this movie. Firestarter really has about two characters getting most of the time, while the others who hold many keys to the tale are simplified. Again, so much potential in a King story, but the approach and plans on where to release it got in the way to make a cheaper version that did not utilize the characters as well as they could. Back to the drawing board on this one boys, because balance and strategizing could have saved it.
Not Scary: I don't believe this particular movie was made for being a deeper horror film, like at all. However, there was again potential in this movie that did not quite come out in the full effects I think they wanted. Firestarter felt more drama and Sci-Fi than the genre King is famous for, and those going in for that jump scare, disturbing concept, will be disappointed outside of a few moments. Maybe those who are very prone might like the toned down scares and still ump, but for seasoned pros, this won't even phase you.
The Story/Ending: This has to be the worst part of the movie for me, in that the film does not feel like a King story adaptation. Look at It, the Shining, and Dr. Sleep, movies that managed to take the time and effort to mimic the time and effort to match King's brand of storytelling. It feels more like the book coming to life and accomplishes so much in keeping thins alive in the grand scheme of things. However, this time, the movie feels more of a knock-off and highlights of the story, only getting just enough to pass for a story, but lacking the full emersion these books are known for holding. That character development, that build up a tale's revelation, and the exciting climax moments, all lost to the quick and easy loadout they wanted. And it really comes to life at the end of the film, where a quick runtime made the final ordeal a breeze to accomplish, with again little connection or sizzle.
The Verdict:
Overall, Firestarter accomplishes a loose feel and quick display of the King Universe and the haunts you can play in. It's got a quick pace, solid opening, decent acting, and visuals to pain the world in that foreboding light the author is famous for having in his works. And while these elements and the chilling music are golden, there is also other elements that don't quite succeed in making this the best King adaptation, despite the improvement in technology. Secondary characters are not used as well, the scary/suspenseful elements are missing, and a fast pace get in the way of the full effect this movie could have had like others of his works. Still, the benefit of streaming on Peacock should help plenty of people see it, which I hate to say is the venue to watch this movie in if you want to maximize your budge.
My scores are:
Drama/Horror/Sci-Fi: 5.5- 6.0 Movie Overall: 5.0.