My Review: Carrie (5/10)

"There are other people out there like me who can do what I can do."

And there are other people out there that have adapted the same novel that this film is based on. Brian de Palma did in the 70's and the film has reached some sort of cult status since then. I was never a huge fan of that film and really didn't care too much for this remake. I never found Carrie's character terrifying so I didn't expect this to be a horror movie either. The reason I did decide to go see this was because I really like Chloe Grace Moretz and have seen almost everything she's done. Despite how much I like her, I don't think she brought anything new to the role of Carrie and wasn't able to carry this film. The entire film felt more of a remake of De Palma's film than a reimagining of Stephen King's classic novel. This version didn't bring anything new and thus felt completely unnecessary. The bullies in this film are so stereotypical and over the top that the film felt like a comedy at times. The greatest thing about Carrie was Julianne Moore's performance as the overzealous religious fanatic. I thought she was great, but the rest of the cast didn't really convince me beside one or two supporting performances. I still didn't hate this film, but I thought it was just another average and uninspired remake. At least director, Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry) hired actual teens to play the part of High School seniors instead of older actors like De Palma did. So at least she gets some credit for that. I wanted to like Carrie because of Chloe Grace Moretz, but this just wasn't the role for her. I just never connected with this film.

Carrie White (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a quiet and shy girl who lives with her overprotective religious fanatic mother Margaret (Julianne Moore). Carrie is different due to the fact that she's been sheltered by her mother for so long and for that reason she gets bullied on a lot at school. She has the misfortune of experiencing her first period in the locker room at school after her gym class. Her mother has never talked to her about this so when she sees the blood she panics and begins to scream. All the girls realize what is going on and so they begin to make fun of her and pretty soon the entire school finds out about it thanks to Chris (Portia Doubleday) who uploads the video on the internet. Her beautiful classmate, Sue (Gabriella Wilde), feels bad about the way she treated her and to try to make things right she asks her boyfriend, Tommy (Ansel Elgort), to ask Carrie to prom. Carrie begins to discover that she has telekinetic powers and decides to research in school during her free time, while Chris who was banned for prom plans the perfect prank on her. Little do they know that Carrie could be a dangerous if they continue to push her.

If you've seen the Brian de Palma version then you pretty much know how the film is going to turn out. There is nothing fresh or unique about this film, but it isn't terrible either. The film has nothing to offer really and we as an audience are left waiting for the build up to the infamous prom scene. If you enjoy mindless films than you will probably enjoy Carrie, but if you were expecting a reimagining than you will leave disappointed. In a time where teenage bullying is hotter than ever, Carrie could have brought some new insight, but it failed to do so. It never says anything new about being a social outcast and in the end you have to wander what the point of the entire film was.