Thereâs a scene early in Firestarter where parents Andy and Vicky McGee (Zac Efron and Sydney Lemmon) disagree about how to raise their young pyrokinetic daughter, Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). Andy believes Charlie should suppress her psychic fire-starting abilities, so as not to attract unwanted attention, while Vicky believes that she should embrace them. Both parents have Charlieâs best interests at heart, though their methods drastically differ. Itâs in scenes like these which focus on the McGee family dynamic that the film works best. Unfortunately, it never quite reaches that level again.
Stephen King is a master at crafting juvenile characters, and the same is true in Charlie. Sheâs grappling with her burgeoning pyrokinetic powers as well as the typical frustrations and worries of an eleven-year-oldâschool bullies, puberty, arguing with her parents over her lack of independence. Some of Kingâs portrait of Charlie transfers to the filmâlike Charlieâs heartbreaking desire to be normal and fit in with her peersâbut on the whole, sheâs not developed enough for us to really care about her or her journey. Sure, we know about her powers and complicated emotions, and we sympathize with her as she spends the film evading nefarious government agents who are trying to locate and study her like a lab rat. But the film just doesnât take great enough pains to show us why we should care. In fact, Charlie isnât particularly likeable here. Yes, she has difficulty regulating her emotions, especially given the storm of tragedy brewing around her, but her vengeance feels particularly mean-spirited. Imagine if Carrie had begun with her revenge at the prom without showing what led to it. Thereâs no real build-up, no earned catharsis.
The same goes for Andy (whose ending is incredibly anticlimactic and unearned), as well as the members of âthe Shop,â the menacing organization hell-bent on studying Charlieâs powers. Kingâs novel paints them as a particularly powerful and horrific human threat, but the film doesnât focus on the Shop enoughâeither as an organization or the people running itâfor us to see them as antagonistic as it probably intended.
However, one of the filmâs highlights is the character of assassin John Rainbird (Michael Greyeyes). Though heâs only in a few scenes, Greyeyes manages to do a lot with a little, successfully conveying Rainbirdâs backstory and conflicted morals in determined strides or careful glances. Itâs easy to imagine that thereâs a much more interesting film focused on deepening his character, but unfortunately the picture seems content to relegate him to the generic role of Bad Guy Assassin.
There are times when a more interesting feature can be seen poking through the surface, such as the McGee family dynamic, the killer soundtrack from John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies, or the atmospheric opening credits (both which give the film a cool 1980s vibe), but overall, itâs missing the source materialâs character depth, grittiness, and sense of paranoia.
Thereâs nothing terrible about Firestarter. Itâs just bland (especially for a chase movie). And thatâs somehow worse. When filmmakers have a treasure trove of Kingâs character work and suspense at their disposal, itâs mindboggling why itâs not taken advantage of. The result is an adaptation thatâs more lukewarm than flaming hot.
Also See: Stephen King Adaptations That Didnât Quite Work
Special Features:
Those looking for a hefty portion of special features wonât be disappointed. The Collectorâs Edition Blu-ray of Firestarter features nearly an hour of bonus content, including feature commentary by director Keith Thomas, 7 deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, and an alternate ending (which is not drastically different from the finished film).
Thereâs also 4 âMaking Ofâ featurettes (âA Kinetic Energy,â âSpark a Fire,â âIgniting Firestarter,â and âPower Struggleâ) that feature interviews with producer Jason Blum, Keith Thomas, writer Scott Teems, as well as the filmâs stars like Ryan Kiera Armstrong and Michael Greyeyes.
Firestarter is available on Blu-ray and DVD as of June 28th.