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As an adaptation from Stephen King’s novel and a remake of a classic horror movie, “Carrie” came with a lot of expectations before it hit theaters. Although “Carrie” was an entertaining film, it failed to terrify and in the end didn’t leave the audience particularly satisfied.
The remake of the film follows the life of Carrie White (Chloë Grace Moretz) as she attempts to navigate high school after years of homeschooling with her “deeply religious” mother, Margaret White (Julianne Moore). Although this is a horrifying experience in itself, Carrie also must come to terms with new telekinetic powers that appear out of nowhere. Her mother declares these powers are the work of the devil inside of Carrie. The poor girl must deal with the torment of her classmates until, finally, one of the popular girls, Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde), decides to help Carrie. Sue convinces her boyfriend to take Carrie to prom, where the tormenting continues, and she finally snaps.
Basically, “Carrie” is the original film with a different cast of characters in a modern setting. If the intent of the movie was to bring attention back to the old, familiar story, then the writers did their job well. However, beyond that, it lacked originality or creativity. Prom is an ideal setting to make terrible things happen, and yet it was impossible to be afraid of high school dances after watching the film. Religious fanatics are meant to be portrayed as the antagonists, and yet this movie failed to offend or inspire fear.
The actors, at least, performed well. They brought the characters to life again so the audience was free to pull for the good guys and hiss at the bad guys.
Often, however, the characters lacked depth; these bad guys lacked redeeming qualities that might allow the audience to empathize with them, and the good guys immediately repented for wrong doing and stuck to their noble intent.
“Carrie” wasn’t boring,or even a waste of time; it was simply a little lackluster. If you’re looking for terror, “Carrie” just isn’t your flick.
RATING: 2.5/5 stars
