Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Horror, Drama, Sci-Fi
Directed by Keith Thomas
Produced by Jason Blum, Akiva Goldsman
Written by Scott Teems
Based on Firestarter by Stephen King
Starring: Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Kurtwood Smith, John Beasley, Michael Greyeyes & Gloria Reuben.
Cinematography: Karim Hussain
Edited by Tim Alverson
Music by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, Daniel Davies
Production companies: Blumhouse Productions, Weed Road Pictures, BoulderLight Pictures, Angry Adam Productions
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
The plot: A couple desperately try to hide their daughter, Charlie, from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her unprecedented gift for turning fire into a weapon of mass destruction. Her father taught her how to defuse her power, but as Charlie turns 11, the fire becomes harder and harder to control. When a mysterious operative finally finds the family, he tries to seize Charlie once and for all — but she has other plans.
I was interested to see this movie.
Firestarter was so bad.
Pros: I feel for the father daughter dynamic of Andrew and Charlie & the music score from John and Cody Carpenter makes you feel Goosebumps.
Cons: This film was such a bore to watch. Right around the 2nd act McGee started to become unlikely & theirs not all that much of advertisement which is a Shane.
The Casts:
- Zac Efron as Andrew “Andy” McGee, Charlie’s telepathic father
- Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Charlene “Charlie” McGee, an 11-year-old troubled girl struggling with anger issues and mood swings mostly due to her pyrokinesis. She is also the daughter of Andy and Vicky McGee.
- Sydney Lemmon as Victoria “Vicky” Tomlinson-McGee, a telekinetic, Andy’s wife and Charlie’s mother.
- Kurtwood Smith as Dr. Joseph Wanless
- John Beasley as Irv Manders
- Michael Greyeyes as John Rainbird, a bounty hunter assigned by the Shop to track down Charlie.
- Gloria Reuben as Captain Hollister, the leader of the Shop. The character is a gender-swapped version of James Hollister.
I would skip this movie.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident film reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe.