Carrie Review

I saw Carrie on October 22, 2013!! I was looking forward to this for months and I thoroughly enjoyed this. I felt that this was a great remake following the original while also adding elements from Stephen King's novel. Chloe Grace Moretz was excellent as Carrie White, the shy girl who gets tormented by both her peers at school, but also by her fanatically religious mother. I felt that Moretz captured every piece of what makes up the Carrie character. Personally, I find her to be one of the best young talents in Hollywood in years. I've liked her ever since I saw her in the first Kick-Ass. I've seen everything she has done and its great to see her continue her ascent in the acting field. She was perfect casting for this role. We can't talk about this movie without discussing how amazing Julianne Moore was. She absolutely nailed the religious zealot that Margaret White embodies. She is tortured in her own way as she feels that God's wrath is inside her daughter. She does want to shelter her, but at the same time it's demonic the way she approaches it. I also felt that Judy Greer did a good job as Ms. Desjardin-it was an interesting casting choice, but I remember her role in Jawbreakers and felt that she was able to use some of that in shaping herself. Plus, EVERY child regardless of how old they are needs comforting at some point. You always have to be sure to say hello or talk to a kid because it could just make their day. I always do it. The torment Carrie gets from girls for experiencing her first period is downright cruel. I am just appalled at how vicious girls can be. I know guys can get involved in heated scuffles, but when girls go to war it's pure intensity and usually can continue for years whereas sometimes when guys battle it can be over in five minutes. I liked the focus on the supporting characters as well-definitely important in shaping a movie. I really liked the Sue Snell character simply because it is incredible to see what a heart of gold she ends up having along with Tommy Ross. Both Gabriella Wilde & Ansel Elgort were very good in their roles displaying popular students that go to bat for Carrie. I really liked seeing this. It's amazing to see how kind-hearted these two really are. However with every character of light, there is always one that exhibits pure darkness and that lies in our chief antagonist, Chris Hargensen. As great as Wilde was in her good role, Portia Doubleday's role as Hargensen was excellent. She embodied a true villain that you can never root for. She is an absolute first class word that rhymes with witch. Holy crap!! This girl is everything you hate about your high school years. Doubleday did so well with it. She did so well that when Carrie eventually gets her revenge, the audience applauded loudly at the theater even at how grisly her demise may have been. That was fun to experience. It wasn't a packed theater but about half-full and it was fun to witness. The iconic prom scene is so well done and I just sat back and watched the incredible visuals when Carrie snaps. It is one of the best scenes I've seen in a while in theaters. Carrie completely covered in the pig's blood using her telekinesis creating utter chaos in the school and on the street is incredible to watch. The stand-off with Carrie & Margaret is excellent displaying both love & hatred. Carrie struggles with her darkness because she is a good soul. However, she was pushed to her breaking point and it's created a monster. The build-up to the prom scene is orchestrated well. The performances are strong throughout the movie. With horror movies, you don't need to focus on acting, but the cast still put in a great deal of effort into making believable characters and they succeeded. Moretz, Moore, Doubleday, Wilde, & Elgort all did a phenomenal job. You combine the cast shaping the characters with the story and visuals, and you get one of the better horror remakes in a while. This was one of my favorite movies of 2013-top 10 actually with Oz: The Great & Powerful, The World's End, Man of Steel, City of Bones, Blue Jasmine, Insidious: Chapter 2, Kick-Ass 2, The East, and The To Do List. I enjoyed this a great deal. Even though some of the content can be downright vicious especially the treatment Carrie gets from everybody around her, the pay-off for her revenge is so amazing to watch. Not many will rate remakes or horror movies (I consider this more of a thriller than a straight horror movie) that high, but I certainly am giving it a 5/5. I loved the movie from the opening scene showing how nuts Margaret White is all the way to the finale. Great work by everybody involved!!