Firestarter
For more than a decade, parents Andy and Vicky have been on the run, desperate to hide their daughter Charlie from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her unprecedented gift for creating fire into a weapon of mass destruction. Andy has taught Charlie how to defuse her power, which is triggered by anger or pain. But as Charlie turns 11, the fire becomes harder and harder to control. After an incident reveals the family's location, a mysterious operative is deployed to hunt down the family and seize Charlie once and for all. Charlie has other plans.
- Released: 2022-05-12
- Runtime: 94 minutes
- Genre: Fantasy, Thrillers
- Stars: Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Zac Efron, Sydney Lemmon, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Greyeyes, Gloria Reuben, John Beasley, Tina Jung, Hannan Younis, Gavin MacIver-Wright, Jeremy Ferdman, Jamillah Ross, Morrissa Nicole, Sheila Boyd, Darrin Maharaj, Danny Waugh, Lanette Ware, Hunter Smalley, Isaac Murray, Nicholas Vilord, Vas Saranga, Shane Marriott, Moses Nyarko, Claire Armstrong
- Director: Keith Thomas
Comments
- Lilith_i - 9 January 2023
Doesn't hold a candle to the 1984 film...
That being said, I'm really at a loss for words this time.
One would assume this could have been a good enough film, not great, not amazing, let's just aim for good... but no, the dialog is so "tired"?
The last "stand" between the evil woman and the girl is awful, it doesn't convey anything but boredom. She isn't scary, she isn't convincing, she isn't even evil enough, she just spewed some words strung together that are supposed to what? Convince the girl, us, who? Boring words with no emphasis at all.
Mother is so inconsistent, daughter should learn to use her powers, but she doesn't practice, so we the "bad guy" comes around she's such an easy target that is almost ludicrous. She manages to throw a couple of frames around, for what?
Bad guy kills her, of course... is he supposed to be dangerous? What exactly are he's powers? Good aim? Well, so so aim actually, and passing for the dad later on, but no really explained, and has a what now? Obligation to look after the girl for killing her mother and capturing her father? And girl just accepted going with him at the end? What? A cat (he she they? Aren't cats "it"? Ah, wrong book...) scratches her and she mostly blew it up, a classmate bullied her and she exploded the stall door, but the guy who killed her mom gets a pass? She probably did like her (sarcasm).
Dad just like moves the plot along, badly... this movie is so strange as it is slow and fast in all the wrong places, they only things we are sure off is what dad does, because it seems daughter can do a little of everything? But dad does little tbh, but at the same time he has the most time on screen as girl? Or was it just an illusion? Not sure.
Girl is just boring too, she has kind of a superhero montages, the classic let's gather our weapons/powers before our final confrontation, which makes little sense, and is quite the fire hazard small film if you wanted to use it during fire season, I mean the amount of dry leaves and bushes around her during her practice? She doesn't even care to practice somewhere else? She knows what she can do, what fire can do, right?
Anyway the final showdown is so boring, a couple of mediocre men try to stop her in very mediocre manners... is this a movie for children? Only the guys at the end with fire suits really give her trouble, but she couldn't hack it, had to be saved, why wouldn't she just boiled their bodies in the suits as a final empowered move? But no, bad guy now turns good guy and saves the day... vomit. - Steve_Jax - 11 December 2022
Never seen the original one, starts ok, rushed final
I embarked on this new version of Firestarter, having never watched the original one, and for about 1 hour or so, I was convinced to being watching a decent product, I like Zac Efron, he's a very versatile actor, and I liked also the acting of the mother, I don't recall her name now, so I remained positive, even when they kill the cat of nobody, and weirdly occupy the house of the old couple.
But then the little girl is forced to flee to the forest, and at exactly that moment, the entire movie crumbles, the screenplay becomes so obvious and boring, and the entire final scene of her training, stealing bicycles from a IT babygang, and then penetrating the facility to try saving the father, is totally laughable to me, and so much ill-thought.
Another forgettable movie, where some good acting is totally stranded in a poor screenplay, and in a rushed final with little meaning.
