Stephen King’s 1980 novel Firestarter gets its second big screen treatment following the 1984 original. The bare bones of the story remain the same, with a young girl, Charlie McGee, inheriting an enhanced version of her parents powers that they obtained as a result of secret medical experiments.
The original was a mid-range Stephen King adaptation and this squarely falls into the same category. At just 94 minutes, the plot feels quite rushed with the climax a bit of a damp squib.
On the plus side, Ryan Kiera Armstrong is a big improvement on Drew Barrymore as Charlie and Gloria Reuben suitably menacing as the head of the facility hunting Charlie. There are some impressive effects and an excellent typical synth based score from John Carpenter, with his son Cody and regular collaborator Daniel A. Davies.
Rating: 6 out of 10