Given the state of the remake business in Hollywood today, one shouldn't be too surprised that Stephen King's early work has been given a fresh coat of cinematic paint. Not that this film completely disregards Brian De Palma's stylish and memorable 1976 adaptation. Yet, with a well- respected director in Kimberly Peirce and a very up-and-coming actress in Chloë Grace Moretz, you would think this movie could be capable of a little more oomph in its delivery. What we're left with is trashy, a little fun, and a whole lot of disappointment.
A perfunctory prologue and coda to bookmark this film leave a bad taste in the audience's mouth, but we keep our hopes up for the main bulk of the story, which gives us the forlorn Carrie, her religious-fanatic mother and a criminal attempt by high school girls to humiliate this most unpopular girl for seemingly no reason whatsoever. The acting is mostly solid, although some of the minor roles like Judy Greer seem out of place and not in conjunction with the tone of the story. Julianne Moore takes her psychotic mother role to an almost camp level with a real-life Evil Queen look and a touch of human compassion for her daughter. Moretz will be a huge star someday in part because of her incredible ubiquity, but she is far too beautiful to convincingly play a mousy, rejected high school teen. From the first shot of her, we cannot accept all the cruelty she receives, especially to the level which it escalates.
The rest of the girls look at least five years older than Carrie and seem almost orgasmic in reaction to humiliating her. One thing Peirce does bring to this remake is a subtle hint of lesbianism attraction, especially regarding Margaret White. Yet, it too bears little to the main crux of the story, which of course is that tragic night at prom. Here, special effects trump any sort of real terror and fear, leaving us somewhat impressed but otherwise unmoved. An anti-bullying message tacked on as the last line is completely unnecessary and gives this whole project an air of self-righteousness that tastes terrible. The best part of this movie should be a vested re-interest in De Palma's earlier classic. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie will never be forgotten to horror film fans, which is something that cannot be said for this updated Carrie and Margaret White.
A perfunctory prologue and coda to bookmark this film leave a bad taste in the audience's mouth, but we keep our hopes up for the main bulk of the story, which gives us the forlorn Carrie, her religious-fanatic mother and a criminal attempt by high school girls to humiliate this most unpopular girl for seemingly no reason whatsoever. The acting is mostly solid, although some of the minor roles like Judy Greer seem out of place and not in conjunction with the tone of the story. Julianne Moore takes her psychotic mother role to an almost camp level with a real-life Evil Queen look and a touch of human compassion for her daughter. Moretz will be a huge star someday in part because of her incredible ubiquity, but she is far too beautiful to convincingly play a mousy, rejected high school teen. From the first shot of her, we cannot accept all the cruelty she receives, especially to the level which it escalates.
The rest of the girls look at least five years older than Carrie and seem almost orgasmic in reaction to humiliating her. One thing Peirce does bring to this remake is a subtle hint of lesbianism attraction, especially regarding Margaret White. Yet, it too bears little to the main crux of the story, which of course is that tragic night at prom. Here, special effects trump any sort of real terror and fear, leaving us somewhat impressed but otherwise unmoved. An anti-bullying message tacked on as the last line is completely unnecessary and gives this whole project an air of self-righteousness that tastes terrible. The best part of this movie should be a vested re-interest in De Palma's earlier classic. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie will never be forgotten to horror film fans, which is something that cannot be said for this updated Carrie and Margaret White.