I'm not sure why Diablo Cody is getting so much shit for this movie. It's not such a big deal, you guys. Teenage nerd (indicated by the glasses) Needy (Amanda Seyfried) and the eponymous hottie Jennifer (Megan Fox) have been best friends since childhood, and their relationship has stayed strong into high school even though no one else, including Needy's goofy boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons), really understands it. One fateful night, the girls see hip indie band Low Shoulder, fronted by Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody), but the bar burns down as their set begins.
A drunken Jennifer is spirited into the band's van as a confused Needy helplessly watches. Later that night Jennifer shows up at Needy's house, covered in blood, hungry for meat, and projectile vomiting oozy black liquid. Turns out Jen's been turned into a flesh-eating demon after Low Shoulder botched her "virgin" sacrifice to the devil for a record deal. Now she's feeding on teenage boys to gain super powers and stay hot, and Needy is the only one who comprehends what's happening. There will probably be a showdown at the prom or something.
I thought Jennifer's Body was pretty ok. It's got a good premise, an engaging script, and a nice cast. I'm not that into Megan Fox, but she is able to play a bitchy demon pretty well. Amanda Seyfried is the real star, thankfully, as she is more interesting as an actor and her character is pretty likable and wears glasses realistically, ie not on and off without reason (although I did wonder where they went on prom night). And I liked Johnny Simmons, JK Simmons (no relation, I think), and Kyle Gallner as the movie's supporting silly dudes. It's nice to see a genre film made by and starring women, but for horror it's not really breaking through conventions to have a woman emerge as the hero.
Admittedly, the dialogue is a bit too inundated with quirky imaginary slang, but it's not distracting, since most of it comes from Jennifer who seems like she likes just making up words. There are quite a few funny moments and lines, but nothing had me roaring with laughter. It's also not especially scary, just dark and a little gory. As many others have said, this needs to be either funnier or scarier for it to really work, and I agree. But in general I found it enjoyable and engaging, while in want of some amping up. I'm not sure why it's getting such a strong reaction, since it's an ok movie but not exceptionally good or bad. I guess everyone's expectations were too high? Let this be a lesson to you?
3.5/5
Friday, October 2, 2009
Jennifer's Body (2009)
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As horror it doesn't really work so much, but when taken as satire on teenage girls and their growing up (demon possession as metaphor so to speak) then it hits its mark quite nicely. Sort of an update of the ideas De Palma was pontificating on with Carrie.
ReplyDeleteThe movie was fine. There was a gender divide about this movie. People were saying that girls would love the power of friendship and the guys would hate it.
ReplyDeleteYou debunked that theory. I liked the film. Amanda saved the movie for being total crap.
An enjoyable teen horror with terrific performances and a nice line in jet-black humor thanks to Diablo Cody's excellent script. Nice Review, check out mine when you get a chance!
ReplyDeleteGreat review certainly! Megan Fox is absolutely gorgeous on this film.
ReplyDeletei think the mean girls meets lost boys tagline should've told a lot of people a lot of information about what to expect from this movie. it's not a horror movie. at all. there are some basic frights but really its more of a statement about horror films than anything since the original scream.
ReplyDeletei worked in a cinema when this was released and all i ever heard from people coming out of it (and other staff) was how it wasn't very scary. ffs people what planet are you on?
needless to say i am a big fan of this film. especially adam brody.