Friday the 13th

Junkyard · February 13, 2009, 12:50:21 PM

Anybody else seen this?

I saw it, and for my part, I thought it was an okay Jason film. Trouble is, other people have done more interesting things with the slasher concept since then, and this movie offers nothing new.

Also, even though I don't really watch many slasher movies, I could tell what was going to happen a full minute ahead of time about 98% of the movie. Even for the genre, that's pretty pathetic.

The F13 processess:
1. Character wanders off alone.
2. Character gets spooked.
3. Character approches possible Jason hiding place.
4. Tension (supposedly) builds.
5. Character realizes it isn't Jason, breathes sigh of relief.
6. Jason shows up suddenly behind Character.
7. Character becomes Victim in one of many cliche fashions.

I'd call that a spoiler if I felt saying "It does what every other movie of the subgenre has been doing for years" was a spoiler.

Kudos go out to Michael Bay for what I have to assume was his contribution to the film: I wanted every one of those characters to reach a gristly end. No one does that quite like Michael Bay.

RVR II · February 13, 2009, 12:57:45 PM

I think you need to post your review on YouTube!

PsypherPunk · February 13, 2009, 02:11:17 PM

I just got back from seeing this and while I should really know better, I had my hopes up. I'm now going to watch A New Beginning again just to prove to myself it can't possibly be better than this cinematic turd.

Relaxing Dragon · February 13, 2009, 06:02:40 PM

Just got back from it, and I liked it. It felt like a Friday the 13th movie should feel like. Not calling it the best of the series or anything (it's certainly no Part VI), but it was definitely better than a couple of them. I loved the new Jason, the put some hard, fierce life back into that guy. Other characters were par for the course for the series; just a bunch of stoners, sex-addicts, and douchebags, with the occasional 'hero' thrown in to survive. Nothing special, nothing noteworthy (except I would like to say that the comic relief worked pretty well here. Some lame racial jokes, but apart from that I was laughing where I was supposed to many times).

I really only had two problems with this movie. First, Jason taking a prisoner = what? Doesn't make much sense at all, that's just not his style. Second, the kills, while nice and bloody, weren't all that creative. Stab here, stab there, impalement and axe throw everywhere, but nothing truly memorable or outrageous (though I do give props to Jason for being one hell of a marksman).

So overall I give it good marks, and say go for it if you're a big Jason fan.

Junkyard · February 13, 2009, 07:05:37 PM

The prisoner thing was something I questioned, but accepted. They needed to give the characters a reason to push on there, and they made enough of a case for it, for their purposes.

As for a video review? Maybe after it comes out on DVD. I just like to work with pictures. (Course I get more viewers when it's new.... hmmm.....)

Relaxing Dragon · February 13, 2009, 07:24:11 PM

Quote from: Junkyard on February 13, 2009, 07:05:37 PM
The prisoner thing was something I questioned, but accepted. They needed to give the characters a reason to push on there, and they made enough of a case for it, for their purposes.

I dunno, I just couldn't make it work. I suppose it's possible that Jason could've mistaken her for his mother, since he's done that several times before. Of course, in every one of those times, the encounter was over in a few seconds, not this six weeks business. Then maybe it's because she had that locket and that always slows him down, but in the movie it makes it seem like he's seeing it on her for the first time. There just wasn't any good reason for her to be down there at all (from Jason's perspective I mean).

The way I see it, it would've worked if she was killed from the get go and the corpse stored down there. Then, when the brother and that one girl (it's a Friday the 13th movie, so forgive me for not knowing their names) were going through the cabin, one of them could've fallen through the trap door (instead of being lured down with screaming). They wander about, find the corpse, brother has a tearful reunion, they run to escape Jason (who has a near miss with his machete instead of getting the girl through the chest), and the rest of the movie plays out the same way it did (just with the girl in place of the sister). Just would've made more sense for everyone involved in my opinion.

Junkyard · February 13, 2009, 07:45:32 PM

Unfortunately, the fact that the "good girl love interest"-y character died was the closest this film came to a twist. Would you really rob it of that?

Relaxing Dragon · February 13, 2009, 07:49:47 PM

Well, I suppose my problem with that is that I knew it was coming. They went through all that effort to establish the sister as alive, so they weren't going to kill her off. And with her that made three at the end, which is one too many for the end survivor group (two at most, unless there's a little kid in the picture). And her death was pretty much confirmed a few seconds before it happened with that little tube. No group in a horror movie ever makes it through one of those without someone being snuffed by the killer (though I must admit, I was a bit surprised by the stab. I thought Jason would just grab her and yank her back, then stab her). So, I'd be alright with it, yeah.

RobtheBarbarian · February 13, 2009, 07:52:26 PM

I have a friend who wants to see this. There is literally nothing interesting about this movie. The original Friday the 13th movies were boring once teenagers getting killed stopped being a novelty, and they ended up doing stupid shit like shooting Jason into space and having him possess other people's bodies to give it some semblance of variety. Since this is a remake of the original, we can't hope for even that much. The slasher franchise boiled down to it's barest essence is probably the most powerfully boring and stupid thing that could ever be put to film.

Relaxing Dragon · February 13, 2009, 08:11:49 PM

I'm actually not sure I'd call this a remake. The first one is pretty much condensed into the first minute of the film, and the second is almost all in the pre-title 10 minute segment (and even then it could only be called the second because Jason's got the bag over his head). It's basically it's own sequel, put somewhere in the middle of the series (pre Tommy Jarvis, on what little continuity the series has) with a quick recap before it (which other ones did, like Part IV).

Junkyard · February 13, 2009, 09:06:57 PM

Well, they wanted to remake it, but they wanted Jason. In the end it's not so much a remake as a re- imagining...
... you know, without the imagination.

Relaxing Dragon · February 13, 2009, 10:56:01 PM

Reboot, I believe the term they're using is.

RoninFox · February 13, 2009, 11:04:43 PM

Then is this a "game over-user wins" situation?

Relaxing Dragon · February 13, 2009, 11:17:15 PM

Well, assuming the user is Jason, then yes, yes it is.

TeamRAD · February 14, 2009, 01:21:03 PM

Quote from: RobtheBarbärian on February 13, 2009, 07:52:26 PM
they ended up doing stupid shit like shooting Jason into space

Yeah, but shooting him into space ruled!

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