Every week there are numerous releases in movie theaters around the world. This week we wanted to mention and talk about a film that opens today in Spain but has already been released in other parts of the world. It is Firestarter, the movie based on the classic novel of the same name by Stephen King.
This film tells the story of a girl with extraordinary powers who fights to protect her family and herself from the sinister forces that want to capture and control her. Andy (Zac Efron) and Vicky (Sydney Lemmon) have been on the run for over a decade in a desperate attempt to hide their daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) from a shadowy government agency bent on harnessing her powerful gift as a weapon. Andy taught Charlie how to master her strange power, usually triggered by anger or pain. But by the time Charlie turns 11, the fire is becoming increasingly difficult to control. After an unexpected incident reveals the family’s location, a mysterious man sets out in search of Charlie to get his hands on her once and for all. But Charlie has other plans.
Directed by Keith Thomas, this film establishes itself as a new installment of the novel that already had its first adaptation in 1984. Of this one we remember above all a Drew Barrymore who came to the project with 9 years after her great leap to fame in E.T., the extraterrestrial. This film directed by Mark L. Lester passed through theaters without generating much interest.
Unlike its predecessor, this new version comes with a display of visual effects in keeping with the times. Presumably this new version is more concerned with the psychology of the characters, although its forte is the combustion unleashed in images. The film is framed more in the thriller than in the horror genre.
King has hated some of the adaptations of his novels and 1984’s Firestarter is at the top of his list. He once said: “Firestarter is one of the worst of the bunch, although in terms of story it’s very close to the original. But it has no flavor; it’s like mashed potatoes in the cafeteria. There are things that happen in terms of special effects in that movie that don’t make any sense to me.” Let’s hope with this new one he doesn’t have the same feelings.
Dácil Palmero