It’s not Zac Efron abominable in Peacock’s adaptation of Stephen King’s 1980 novel fire starter, but he distracts. Every now and then, while watching, the thought comes up unbidden, as if it had been set by one of the film’s media protagonists: Oh yes, Zac Efron will be there. As with the 1984 film version fire starter – widely recognized as one of the worst King adaptations – the cast and crew of 2022 fire starter contains names that seem too familiar for this particular project. Where the new version actually outperforms the ’84 film is that in this case it provides at least a few of those names.
Efron stars alongside Sydney Lemmon (HelstromFear the walking death) and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Anne with an E, Black widow) as Andy McGee, patriarch of a small clan burdened with destructive psychic powers coveted by a CIA-like government agency known as DSI. Andy can psychologically “push” people into doing things, an ability he uses in an early scene to cure nicotine addiction for money. Vicky (Lemmon) refuses to even use her ill-defined powers. And her young daughter, Charlie (Armstrong), treats her pyrokinetic abilities like a mental illness, using breathing exercises and self-soothing techniques to keep them in check.
King’s novel and the 1984 film both begin in media res, after DSI agents finally track down the McGee family and force Andy and Charlie to go on the run. The 2022 fire starter goes back to the moment when Charlie’s powers reappear, so Scott Teems’ embarrassing script can explain a few things. Teems also wrote disappointingly in 2021 Halloween killsand fire starter similarly suffers from coarse presentation and intricate themes. (Similar to halloween kills, This movie can’t seem to decide if murder is bad.) The year 2022 fire starter‘s dialogue is ridiculously boring, a real slobbery sandwich on white bread that only the most seasoned members of the film’s cast – namely Kurtwood Smith in a bit role as the penitent government investigator and Michael Greyeyes as the all-powerful DSI assassin Rainbird – can resonate halfway respectable.
Greyeyes in particular is a highlight. He’s good at everything, to be fair, and this movie really doesn’t deserve it. (The fact that Rainbird, a Cherokee character, is actually being played in the brown face this time by a local actor and not by George C. Scott is a point in the remake’s column.) When Rainbird strides around with great intent and objects throwing his thoughts around the room, Greyeyes makes him an anti-hero to cheer for. And once Charlie (although perhaps not the script) fully embraces the puberty metaphor and turns her blossoming powers into a coming-of-age moment, she’s a hoot too.
That doesn’t apply to the rest of the cast, who at moments when they need to deliver more than one line of dialogue at a time are flopped onto the proverbial iceberg and blown out to sea. General, the 2022 fire starter it’s pretty okay when nobody’s talking. The hands-on telekinesis and fire effects are dramatic and professionally executed. And despite some really confusing color grading in the film’s first half, director Keith Thomas displays a bit of low-budget flair during the climactic pyromaniac showdown. (That being said, it underwhelms compared to the cocaine-decade excess at the end of the 1984 film. Score one for the original version.)
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Photo: Universal Pictures
In another highlight, John Carpenter and his son/bandmate Cody wrote the score for the new one fire starter, a reflection of Carpenter’s willingness to work on films as long as he can just do the fun parts, and then go back to watching basketball. (This Blumhouse production also shares some behind-the-scenes personnel with the reboot Halloween franchise, which further explains the Carpenters’ presence on the project.) No matter how hard other people might try, no one can compose an eerie yet catchy synthesizer line like the man himself. Much like Greyeyes, this film probably does not to earn John Carpenter, but it benefits from his dedication.
fire starter predates the 2010 wave of “upscale” superhero films – in fact, the ’84 version doesn’t have the S word at all. (Unfortunately, it’s spoken here, albeit quite late in the film.) And to be clear, neither fire starter Movies compete on the same level as movies Fast color or Midnight Special, Both share elements with this horror-esque, paranoid sci-fi thriller. But sometimes in the world of remakes and Stephen King adaptations – and especially when the two overlap – “quality” can become awfully relative. fire starter 2022 is a slight improvement over the ’84 original, if only because it has a handful of redeeming qualities rather than virtually none.
fire starter is currently in theaters and Streaming on Peacock.
