Carrie

Carrie (2013)

Predicted Rating: 3.5 Stars

Directed by: Kimberly Pierce (Boys Don't Cry). Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass), Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights) and Judy Greer (Arrested Development)

A new adaption to the 1974 Stephen King novel and a re-make of the 1976 Brian De Palma film, Carrie tells the story of of teenage outcast Carrie White (Moretz). She has been raised by her radical christian mother, Margaret (Moore), who has sheltered her from any social interaction. After Carrie is teased by her fellow class mates after she gets her first period and does not know what it was, she discovers she has telekinetic powers. To punish the girls for their bullying of Carrie, Miss Desjardin (Greer) subjects them to a physical training session and anyone who does not complete it does not get to go to senior prom. Feeling sorry for her role in the attack, Sue Snell offers her spot in the prom so her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, can take Carrie to the prom.

I think the jury is still out on shot for shot remakes. Some can have their merits, whilst some, such as the abomination that is the Anne Heche/Vince Vaughn Psycho remake, can be down right awful. I was not expecting Carrie to be a shot for shot remake but in the end it wasn't half bad. However, the remake still needs to include something that distinguished it from the original. In Carrie it was the use of technology. This worked for 21 Jump Street but it was not as effective in Carrie. Granted the filming of the tampon attack and the subsequent online posting was a clever addition but far too often the use of technology would get shoved in your face with many shots of "look here is a mobile phone." In the end this is an admirable shot for shot remake because it would be difficult to differentiate from the original without essentially taking a huge dump on the book but you can't help reminisce about the 1976 version whilst watching the 2013 version.

I was a tad disappointed about some of the stuff that was left out of the remake. Most of the iconic moments such as the tampon scene and the bucket of pigs blood was included but a couple of important scenes where missing. One is not a scene but more of a technique, which is the use of split screen when Carrie destroys the prom. I can see how this may look lame by today's standard but I will have to admit it looked pretty cool in the original. The other thing was the ending. The original features one of the most iconic and shocking endings ever when Carrie's hand comes out to the grave grabbing the sole survivor of the attack, Sue Snell. I again understand that it was not included because you would see it coming, however I argue that many people would not expect it and I think it should have been added.

As this is a character driven story, the film relies heavily on the performances of the actors to truly make this a great film. The performance from Julianne Moore as Margaret White is nothing short of sensational. She seemed genuinely emotionally scarred and the addition of her self harm was chilling. Chloe Grace Moretz was good as Carrie but she often seemed to confident as she talked diminishing some of the vulnerability that Carrie is supposed to display. It is difficult to top the performance of Sissy Spacek, as she is almost perfect for the role and Chloe Grace Moretz is just a tad too attractive, but Moretz does do the best she can. Again Judy Greer as Miss Desjardin was great but not quite perfect. She is too "bubbly" for the role and she is also a tad too old. Despite some of the downfalls, all of the performances where fairly good and make the film what it is.

Overall: A decent shot for shot remake with some great performance but it does not live up to the expectations set by the original. 3 Stars