Firestarter

 This is a true story.

One weekend, I decided to stream this and another film together. That weekend, my plans were derailed by something I couldn't have guessed would ever happen: taking on a stray mastiff in the middle of labor. Turning my house into a canine maternity ward for her and her nine puppies didn't leave me time for anything. I finally made up for it this past weekend. 

Now for the fifth time I discuss a Stephen King adaptation. Firestarter was previously adapted in 1984 with Mark Lester directing Drew Barrymore and George C. Scott. This new film by Keith Thomas made headlines after star Ryan Kiera Armstrong was nominated for the Razzie Award for Worst Actress, which was quickly rescinded after everyone pointed out that nominating a kid for that award was in poor taste. That's good, because while the film has problems, she isn't one of them.

Charlie McGee (Armstrong) is basically Carrie if she also had pyrokinesis. She inherited her powers from her parents, Andy (Zac Efron) and Vicky (Sydney Lemmon), who gained their powers from being guinea pigs for "The DSI." The McGees have been on the run from the DSI for years. One day, Charlie's powers go awry in public. The DSI finds them and sends their best agent, John Rainbird (Michael Greyeyes), after them. Rainbird kills Vicky, while Andy and Charlie go on the run again. Of course, Charlie has to fight them eventually.

Armstrong is fine as Charlie. She's sympathetic as she tries to get a handle on her fiery powers. She has a theoretically strong moment when she relays to Irv Manders (John Beasley), the farmer that took her and Andy in, and has just betrayed them to the police, a comforting message from his paralyzed wife. The "theoretical" part relates to this film's biggest hindrance: the script. The first act is fine, but the second act starts zooming through the story at record speed. Things like Rainbird's heel face turn and Charlie embracing her powers are rushed. Charlie's talk with Mrs. Manders is blunted by it being off-screen. It picks up steam during the climactic assault on the DSI, particularly when some poor mooks come face-to-face with Charlie. At least, when they aren't wearing protective suits.

What can I say about the visual effects? Andy's use of his powers has a visually brutal side-effect. One particular fireball at the Manders farm assault looked far too cartoonish. A few other moments are impressive (Charlie's powers manifesting at school), while others are horrific (her accidentally frying a cat). The climactic assault falls under the impressive spectrum, overall. The effects are decent, but the score is better. For starters, it was composed by John Carpenter, who at one point was supposed to direct the 1984 film, along with his son Cody and Daniel Davies. It's a nice and foreboding score as memorable as John's score for his Halloween movies.

Firestarter needed a lot more kindle for its story to ignite. It's not a good Stephen King film, but it isn't terrible either. It's an ok use of 94 minutes, especially if you can find it for free. I saw it through Amazon Prime, though Peacock might still have it after all this time. As for the other film, the real main attraction of that weekend, that review is finally coming soon.