Carrie (2013) Movie Review

Well it's been a while hasn't it? Lot's of movies coming out and I haven't had a chance to give out a review yet. The wait is over, here is my review for the remake of Stephen King's Carrie..

Carrie is directed by Kimberly Peirce and stars Chloe Grace Moretz in the title role of Carrie, and is a remake of the 1976 horror movie of the same name. It is inspired by the writings of author Stephen King, and we all know how good Stephen King's books adapt into film. However, is Carrie one of those films..

My thoughts on Carrie are going to be rather short and simple in all honesty. Basically, it is a mediocre movie, however it does have it's moments of being really good. Unfortunately, this movie suffers from the fact that it is practically the same in every way as the original Carrie movie of 1976..

The movie, as a result, suffers from this as it lacks any interest or intrigue. The plot is known before you even go into the movie theatre, which is made worse by the fact that even if you hadn't seen the original Carrie of 1976, you would still know what was going to happen. The plot develops in such an obvious way and as a result it is very hard to maintain focus while watching this movie.

The story of the movie, while interesting, is made decidedly mediocre by the writers and directors which is such a shame. The movie itself doesn't actually need to exist because it has all been done before. If you can take a story that has been made into a movie before and then tell it in your own individual way (without alienating fans of the original), you are bound to be a successful director.

It's not like I hate this movie; I actually think it is an Ok film on its own. There are some very good things that come out of this movie.

As an example, I like Chloe Grace Moretz in this movie. She definitely played her part convincingly and I really dug her character. Because of all the stuff her character goes through, you do attach a small connection with her and as a result really route for her during the end of this movie. Carrie's life is a horrible one; she is bullied everyday by the "popular kids" at school plus has to deal with a mother who is unhealthily religious. She is one creepy bitch let me tell you..

As for her mother, she is played by Julianne Moore. Man she does try a lot in this movie, but she fails to capture the imagination with her performance due to the mediocre level the movie's script is at! Nothing special really comes from anybody's mouth in this movie, just basic dialogue with maybe a cheesy one liner thrown in there..

The actors who played the school children do a sufficient job but yet again can not perform well due to the direction that this movie takes; it wants them to play up to the ridiculous stereotypical roles of high school students. More imagination with the script and characters could have really made this movie a lot better..

The way the movie is filmed also doesn't scream innovation. Some of the camera movements aren't bad per say but they just feel so dull. Sometimes movie's have that one iconic shot, or a stylistic method of filming. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but there is no originality here.

It seems all I've done is whinge but if a movie is bland and mediocre, plus has already been done before and is just being copied, I can't say many good things can I? Characters are forgettable, story predictable, the rest average.

However what I did like was the final act of this movie. Just as I was losing hope it happened and I left the theatre feeling the movie had at least slightly redeemed itself.. The movie transcends from this slow, high-school story into being one dark and gruesome tale!

There's blood, there's death, it actually seems kind of odd at first due to a sudden change of tempo. This didn't bother me at all to be honest as I was sat there enjoying watching Carrie claim her sweet revenge!

The revenge scene was the best bit of the movie. It was absolutely awesome! The way she claims it as well was cool; the use of special effects, sound editing and slow motion all finally come together in perfect harmony to deliver a sweet-ass scene which satisfies the masses!

So, was Carrie good? No. It wasn't terrible though. It was average at very best, made itself worse by completely copying the original but redeemed itself through a sweet final act. That's why I am going to rate Carrie like this:


Rating - C


1 sentence summary - An unnecessary remake, light-hearted entertainment at best!


It's good to be back reviewing movies again. I will have more content when I can post it!

Thanks for reading,
Matt