Firestarter

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Blu B Lots of crazy ideas, pyrotechnics, and an all star cast and yet my reaction was just a lot of indifference. Everything here is just...alright as a whole. The acting is all over the place. Sheen isn't bad, Keith isn't good, most other people are super forgettable, but the standout is Scott who is the one consistently good thing in this. Which is crazy given he has such an over the top character. Barrymore isn't bad but her performance really depends on the quality of the adult actor she's with. When it's her & Scott together she is good and they have great chemistry. It's honestly a shame Scott isn't in more of the first half. The special effects are good with tons of fire in the end. The direction is alright though. We think this is gonna be about Keith at first, than it jumps around and than becomes about Barrymore. The script makes sense and is...something man. It's so farfetched and crazy. Like it's kind of crazy how accepting it is of this over the top ridiculous idea. This is basically a less good version of Carrie. We don't really explore why she has the powers. Problem is it never really truly defines what her powers are either so it feels like random stuff just happens. And dear god some of the scenes the acting is so cheesy and campy. Whenever they use their mind powers it's laughably bad at certain times and just how serious this is the entire time makes it so odd but indirectly funny. It's got the hallmarks of a bad film but Scott, some of the production value, and the fact it never is boring saves it from being a passable train wreck. I think the biggest problem is the lack of focus on committing toeither Barrymore or Keith. And also the out of order flashbacks in the first half don't help either and make it feel very sloppy. But again it's never incoherent. Just ridiculous and farfetched. Skip This still. Watch Carrie instead. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/21/25 Full Review Jonathan O Firestarter has really impressive fire effects and incredible stunts but not feeling Stephen King's universe is like watching a different movie and the cast are terrific but not great and the writing is not good but only small good writing parts and Drew Berrymore really is a star but audiences may feel a follow up to E.T. lol. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/03/25 Full Review darren m Anyone not liking this thoroughly enjoyable tour de force of special effects and superb child acting needs their head examined. She literally burns everything and everyone in the grand scenes. What's not to like? See the clips for yourself online. The director and screenwriter understood the power of excess and entertaining horror elements. Along the lines of the Evil Dead, the creators knew to tell a story with EXCESS- a story of revenge most viewers love: complete and total destruction of bad people. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/14/25 Full Review N P So, initially, this movie wasn't on my radar at all. But, the trailer happened to be on my YouTube page, so I watched it. And, I couldn't help but see SO MANY similarities between this movie and Stranger Things' Eleven and her storyline. So, I had to watch it, and I did. The major props of Firestarter is mainly its source material, a novel by Stephen King, a horror novel legend. The unique concept of a young girl with powers being hunted and tested by the government is just a really interesting and somewhat possible concept. The synopsis of this movie would have drawn people in. But, the first half of the movie is a slow burn - it kind of meanders and I wish they would have spent more time with the family unit, so the emotional scenes and stakes would have hit harder in general. The second half, though, focuses more on the government side of things, which I enjoyed, gained more empathy and felt tense towards the climatic end for sure. Additionally, it definitely feels like a 80s movie with the synth score, and the pyrotechnics involved were wildly visually cool to look it. Feel free to check it out if you're interested! Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/16/25 Full Review Me D The movie should’ve been so good, but it wasn’t. All the brilliant actors in this don’t shine either, and some of the dialogue is just a sharp, long stab in the chest. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 06/22/24 Full Review Michael P Could be better, at this point, with how long this felt, you could just read the book instead Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/27/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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