I've never counted myself as a fan of the original Carrie, so how exactly does this remake fare in my eyes?
The film is helmed by Kimberly Pierce (I believe I read that she's a feminist somewhere, not sure where), and she changes things up a bit. In this adaptation, the underlying subtext seems to be about not being ashamed of your body, and empowering yourself. I'd say this film definitely has some feminist messages in here, but they are handled pretty well and actually help to strengthen the material just a little bit.
Chloe Grace Moretz is pretty good as Carrie. In this adaptation, Carrie takes charge for a change (a pretty big shift from the original film). Carrie researches her new found power, and actively works at fine tuning it. Moretz has a natural beauty to her, which the film succeeds at covering up behind a facade of normalcy and awkward-ness. Moretz is (obviously) pretty good as Carrie, and her freak out at the prom is actually pretty well done (she seems in control of the carnage she wrecks, but at the same time it seems like something else has taken over momentarily....the darkest part of herself). I liked Moretz's Carrie, and while she is a sympathetic monster in the book, in this remake she is more-so portrayed as a normal teen female with a few issues.
Julianne Moore is pretty good as Carrie's mom. Instead of being a complete nut, she is portrayed here as a person with a few psychological issues that prevent her from being a good mom. I will say that while Moore can be effectively disturbing here, the original's Piper Laurie did a better (and more memorable job) with the role.
Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan's characters are portrayed by Portia Doubleday and Alex Russell respectively. They aren't in the film much, but their characters are given a new dynamic. Whereas in the original, Chris clearly wore the pants in the relationship in the remake both share about equal footing. I liked this since it made their relationship a bit more interesting. Luckily, Chris is still the under-handed conniving bitch we all love to hate but she is given some moments of weakness here that strengthen her character a bit. Billy is no longer a complete doof, he's actually pretty sinister and scary and is the one who orchestrates the prank at the prom (yes, it was Chris' idea but Billy is the one who decides to go through with it.)
Surprisingly, I felt that the strongest part of this film was Sue Snell and Tommy Ross, both of whom have significantly more beefed up characters and screen time. Sue (as portrayed by Gabriella Wilde), is one of the popular girls who picks on Carrie. However, after the shower incident something inside her snaps and she decides that she doesn't want to be this person anymore. Feeling guilty, she talks her totally awesome boyfriend Tommy (as portrayed by Ansel Elgort) into taking Carrie to the prom. A good deal of screen time is dedicated to exploring both Sue's and Tommy's characters, and I really dug this. For Sue, this is an attempt at a redemptive journey as she tries to make things right (willingly sacrificing her own chance at a magical night in order to do so, what a great gal). Another thing I really dug was that Tommy seemed way more sincere here. In the original, he seemed to be going along with the plan just for Sue, but in the remake he seems to be doing this because he genuinely likes Carrie. What's most interesting is that my previous experiences with these actors wasn't all that pleasant. Gabrielle Wilde was a blank, dumb slate in the just-plain-bad Endless Love, and Ansel Elgort was reduced to teen/tween dream boy material in the just-ok Fault In Our Stars. However, Gabriella Wilde seems to actually be acting here and whereas Elgort's chiming schtick felt false in Stars, it feels pretty real and genuine here. I guess it's time I give both these actors a second chance.
Judy Greer does an ok job as Ms. Desjardin,a gym teacher that is struggling with her conflicting emotions over Carrie and eventually becomes somewhat of a mentor to the poor girl. Barry Shabaka Henley was enjoyable as Principal Morton, the principal of the school who seems uncomfortable talking about Carrie's puberty issues and is enjoyable awkward when dealing with them. I honestly felt that Henley made more of an impression than Greer. I always enjoyed his scenes, and I found his character funny and likable.
Now onto probably the film's only real weak point: the CGI. Almost every effects sequence involves heavy use of CGI, even when the effects could have been done practically instead. It doesn't help that the CGI is pretty bad here (it really pulled me out of the film). I also didn't like the scenes where Carrie was discovering her powers, I understand that it's all part of the message of the film, but the scenes felt kind of silly. Luckily, the prom scene is pretty well done (even if it does fall prey to that awful CGI). Moretz and Elgort completely anchor the scene, and I actually found myself FEELING in the parts before the prank is pulled. The carnage that ensues is pretty brutal, and I found the whole scene to be stronger than the one from the original (plus, Carrie does wreck some stuff outside of the school which is a clear nod to the carnage that ensues after prom in the novel).
I can't say that Carrie 2013 is a stronger film than the original. It does some things better than the original, but also slips and slides a bit too. I'll say that this and the original are of equal value (although I found that I enjoyed this version a bit more than the original). Carrie 2013 doesn't change much up from the original film, for the most part it stays the course (in fact, the modern day setting doesn't add all that much to the proceedings except a few cell phones, computers and hip modern songs). If you enjoyed the original, there's a good chance you'll enjoy this remake too.
3 STARS
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