Firestarter (Mini-Review)

Firestarter is the second movie adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. Charlene "Charlie" McGee is a little girl with a deadly secret. She posses the power to start fires with her mind. This due to the fact that her parents were experimented on and given special abilities of their own. Charlie has lived her entire life on the run with her parents trying to give her a normal life despite overwhelming odds. But when she loses control at school, her world is turned even more upside down. Firestarter was released in 2022. It was directed by Keith Thomas. It stars Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and Sydney Lemmon.

It has been a long time since I read Firestarter. So maybe it's just my poor memory, but a lot seems to be taken out of the latest adaptation. It seems like there is a lot of story that was left on the cutting room floor. I was already on edge because of the short runtime but shorter movies aren't always bad. I don't mind watching a shorter movie as long as the experience is good. The Grudge (2020) was a short movie but it was an entertaining ride. I'm hoping that after it has left theaters there will be an extended edition.

Now I have a high tolerance for bad movies. I find that some bad movies are fun for one reason or another. So this adaptation being bad shouldn't have bothered me. Yet I dislike it the most of any movie I've seen this year (so far) as it doesn't have heart. Ambulance was bad but what a ride it was! Memory was horrible but there was the entertaining "we know where he's hiding because of pigeon poop" scene that made it bearable! Firestarter had some good scenes but all of them faded away shortly after leaving the theater. Though I guess that cat scene stuck with me.

Ryan Kiera Armstrong does a good job portraying Charlie. She makes the young girl feel extremely human. You can believe that she's struggling with her powers and the moral dilemma presented to her. Charlie has to decide whether she wants to be a hero or be consumed by hate that feels so good to her. I wish that her character arc had an ending as she doesn't make a decision by the end of the film. Yes, she decides to go after those that want to experiment on her but it never feels like she decides what path to go down. If the sequel would be of better quality, I wouldn't mind another film to explore Charlie's moral path.

The death scenes weren't graphic enough for my tastes. This film was rated R and yet it feels like it should have gotten a PG-13 rating. Now lower rated movies aren't always bad, but they can't get away with gore like R rated films can. People get burned alive but there's not a great deal of detail to it. One death near the end of the movie really annoyed me as you only see the people burning alive for a second but never get close enough to see the burning in detail. And that death is extremely important!

I would recommend Firestarter to those looking for a short horror movie.