Firestarter: Stephen King Remake Fails to Reignite

By Thom Ernst

Rating: C

My resolve to not compare director Keith Thomas' Firestarter to the 1984 version starring Drew Barrymore dissolves within minutes of the film's opening. Seconds even.

I suppose it was foolish to try. Comparisons are inevitable. And it shouldn't be overlooked that the fond memories I have of the first Firestarter (and I have plenty) are subject to have changed over the decades.

Still, I understand that not everyone has seen or is familiar with Mark L. Lester's version. This Firestarter will be their original Firestarter. And to them, Thomas, who directed the understated yet effectively creepy The Vigil, was not making a remake; Thomas was making his version of the Stephen King's book.

Ryan Kiera Armstrong doesn’t quite have Drew Barrymore’s spark.

But what then to make of the movie's poster featuring Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Charlie McGee sporting a fiery rage, looking a whole lot like the poster of Barrymore as Charlie McGee sporting a fiery rage?

Then, as though “pushed” to see them— “pushed” being an operative term specific to the film describing a telekinetic ability to make others see or do your will—resemblances of the pouts, tears, and worried frowns that identified Barrymore's Charlie comes through in Armstrong's performance. It's all there but for Barrymore's signature lisp—an attribute that served Barrymore's Charlie very well.

Thomas seems committed to maintaining a status quo with King's novel and a significant nod to the '84 film, but to a surprisingly lesser effect. But if much of the film is faithful to the original (at least the beginning), what could I possibly attribute to my disappointment?

Could it be Thomas' studied moves to build suspense where surprise might have been better? I am not talking about jump scares but rather the sudden break from normalcy into a world of violence.

Thomas is betrayed by the very style that served him well in The Vigil, a story based on a Jewish tradition of assuring evil spirits don’t cart off with the deceased's soul. Allowing the camera to track characters through dark hallways and into vacant rooms, trailed by an ominous silence, works when there is a deceased body in the living room. but the battle seems lost from the start when the prevailing threat is exposing the veneer of an atypical family.

There are significant changes in the script by Scott Teems (Halloween Kills), a screenwriter who is on a horror remake/sequel roll, with Insidious 5 and The Exorcist still to come. Thomas and Teems have updated the story not just to explain and then excuse the use of cell phones, but to add a dose of 'girl-power' to a male-dominated tale. Some of that is reflected in the casting, which I'll address in a moment.

Charlie's vulnerability is a significant part of King's novel and the '84 movie. In Teems' script, Charlie remains an appropriately frightened little girl. But here, much of her vulnerability is either written out or refocused into other anxieties. I argue that at the heart of this story is a child's loss of innocence and the heartbreaking realization of ultimate betrayal.

This brings us to Rainbird (Michael Greyeyes), the vicious assassin portrayed back in the day by the late Geroge C. Scott. The original has Charlie befriending Rainbird, posing as an empathetic janitor. Charlie's betrayal, done, as I recall, to significant effect by Barrymore, is devastating to watch, and it perfectly stages the 'Carrie-like' ending.

The route Teems takes gives Charlie more independence, but instead of offering a desirable role reversal, he's created a Charlie we're less invested in.

Greyeyes is the right person to cast as Rainbird, but, unfortunately, Teems didn't give him the same opportunity issued to Scott to create a genuinely diabolical psychopath who uses a child’s trust and friendship as a weapon.

Gloria Reuben replaces Martin Sheen as Captain Hollister. Reuben does bureaucratic villainy fine, but again the script doesn't offer her much to work with.

Kurtwood Smith's cameo as the hospitalized Dr. Joseph Wanless is so overwrought with doomsday prophecies that he hardly seems reliable. Is that the point? I don't think so.

Zac Efron who seems to be slowly transforming into Jared Leto, plays Andy, Charlie's dad. Efron suffers the most. His star recognition sets him apart from the cast and makes him stand out in a way that removes us from the movie.

But Firestarter's worst failure is the effects. You'll witness it early in the film, and you'll be reminded of it near the end.  

I leave you with this: I saw Firestarter at a late-night screening. A person in the audience talked loudly on their phone for much of the film's second half. No one asked them to stop. No one cared.

Firestarter is directed by Kevin Thomas and stars Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Gloria Reuben, and Michael Greyeyes. Firestarter is currently playing in cinemas.