By Mr. Will Wong
Based on Stephen King‘s Novel of the same name and the 1984 Horror starring Drew Barrymore, FIRESTARTER re-tells the tale of a girl named Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) who when triggered, is able to start fires, the ability known as Pyrokinesis. Her and father Andrew (Zac Efron) are on the run from the government who are hunting them down, in addition to a Bounty Hunter (Michael Greyeyes) who wants to use Charlie‘s powers for evil.
Hoping that second time’s the charm, this reboot by Director Keith Thomas (The Vigil) also struggles adapting its source material. Like the Film before it, translating this story to believability on-screen is its biggest challenge, and because it can never get past this, it becomes difficult to believe and suspend our disbelief. Above this, there is a disconnect between Efron and Armstrong, that we don’t quite feel connected to our two central characters and their struggle, which is a shame.
The decision to make this available for streaming was the right move as the Film doesn’t quite feel big enough to fill the big screen, but Efron should still be able to draw his predemoninantly female audience to the theatres to see this.
Universal Pictures Canada release FIRESTARTER in theatres now. The Film also streams on Peacock in the U.S.
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