Friday, 20 November 2009
Try not to fail just yet...
Right, I've been a little short on inspiration lately, plus I have marketing exams in less than 2 weeks, hence the lack of regular blogging. I am plotting... something though.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Film Review: Jennifer's Body
WARNING! The below post may contain some mild spoilers. I won't reveal any major plot points or twists beyond what's already in the trailers, but perhaps don't read on if you want the film to be completely fresh.
So this is the film all of the teenage boys have been waiting for. The teaser trailers hint at a brief glimpse of breast, or a smidgen of bum, but finally here is Megan Fox in all her glory. There's no need to deny it, the main selling point of Jennifer's Body has been Fox in a lead role that doesn't also involve giant transforming robots and Shia LaBeouf's gammy hand. As it is though, I feel the whole promotional campaign has been barking up the wrong tree. This isn't a film about Fox being sexy whilst eating boys, it's a film about dysfunctional and toxic female relationships, teen ones to be precise. Any woman will tell you about the 'friend' at school who erred a little too far on the side of bitchy. The one who manipulated more than she offered a shoulder to cry on. Perhaps this should be marketed as a smart girls night out rather than a wank-fest. Anyway, Amanda Seyfried is the real star as Jennifer's dowdy best-friend Needy (a play on Anita), whose female intuition leads her to realise the recent murders in their small town are down to her newly-demonic sandpit playmate, and she's the only one who can stop her.
Much has been made of screen-writer Diablo Cody's supposed feminist credentials, and there are hints of it as we get strong female leads who take charge of their own sexuality (much like the smarter Juno). However, they are ultimately pitted against each other in strung-out cat-fight rather than railing against the sexist boys. There are also moment of pure exploitation, harking back to B-movie horrors of the 70s and 80s, most famously a protracted kiss between Jennifer and Needy that's as long as it is unnecessary. On the flip-side, there is a wonderfully sweet and awkward scene between Needy and her boyfriend that's one of the most honest depictions of the clumsiness of teen-sex I've seen on screen.
Adam Brody ('The OC' and...errm...well that's it) is an entirely serviceable Brandon Flowers-esque indie singer in league with Satan, but any cute, dark-haired and eyelinered boy could have played the same part. The band are largely a disposable plot point who drop in and out of the film, there to facilitate Jennifer's transformation before disappearing until the final denouement. But there is quite a funny running joke where the band's song becomes an anthem for the town after a disaster during their gig and Needy, the only one who knows the real horror of what happened, can't escape it, much to her frustration.
Cody was always going to have trouble following the brilliant, Oscar-winning Juno, so it was a smart move to turn to the horror genre for a change of pace. Whilst the idiosyncratic dialogue that she is making her trademark doesn't seem as natural here, there are still a fair few laughs to be had. There are also some genuinely creepy moments and a healthy smattering of gore to please the horror fans. The biggest let-down of the film is probably Fox's decidedly shaky acting. She is surely well aware that she doesn't win any roles on acting prowess alone, and she plays up the sexy angle well, but it would have made for a better film if an actress with more wit and élan could have gotten their teeth into the script (excuse the pun).
Ultimately, this is a fun but throwaway mish-mash of genres. It doesn't break any boundaries but is a great foil to the ubiquitous and humour-free teen-slasher or torture-porn films that have dominated the horror market the last couple of years. Although not faultless, Jennifer's Body is more than just a vehicle for Megan Fox's "smart bombs"...
6.5/10
So this is the film all of the teenage boys have been waiting for. The teaser trailers hint at a brief glimpse of breast, or a smidgen of bum, but finally here is Megan Fox in all her glory. There's no need to deny it, the main selling point of Jennifer's Body has been Fox in a lead role that doesn't also involve giant transforming robots and Shia LaBeouf's gammy hand. As it is though, I feel the whole promotional campaign has been barking up the wrong tree. This isn't a film about Fox being sexy whilst eating boys, it's a film about dysfunctional and toxic female relationships, teen ones to be precise. Any woman will tell you about the 'friend' at school who erred a little too far on the side of bitchy. The one who manipulated more than she offered a shoulder to cry on. Perhaps this should be marketed as a smart girls night out rather than a wank-fest. Anyway, Amanda Seyfried is the real star as Jennifer's dowdy best-friend Needy (a play on Anita), whose female intuition leads her to realise the recent murders in their small town are down to her newly-demonic sandpit playmate, and she's the only one who can stop her.
Much has been made of screen-writer Diablo Cody's supposed feminist credentials, and there are hints of it as we get strong female leads who take charge of their own sexuality (much like the smarter Juno). However, they are ultimately pitted against each other in strung-out cat-fight rather than railing against the sexist boys. There are also moment of pure exploitation, harking back to B-movie horrors of the 70s and 80s, most famously a protracted kiss between Jennifer and Needy that's as long as it is unnecessary. On the flip-side, there is a wonderfully sweet and awkward scene between Needy and her boyfriend that's one of the most honest depictions of the clumsiness of teen-sex I've seen on screen.
Adam Brody ('The OC' and...errm...well that's it) is an entirely serviceable Brandon Flowers-esque indie singer in league with Satan, but any cute, dark-haired and eyelinered boy could have played the same part. The band are largely a disposable plot point who drop in and out of the film, there to facilitate Jennifer's transformation before disappearing until the final denouement. But there is quite a funny running joke where the band's song becomes an anthem for the town after a disaster during their gig and Needy, the only one who knows the real horror of what happened, can't escape it, much to her frustration.
Cody was always going to have trouble following the brilliant, Oscar-winning Juno, so it was a smart move to turn to the horror genre for a change of pace. Whilst the idiosyncratic dialogue that she is making her trademark doesn't seem as natural here, there are still a fair few laughs to be had. There are also some genuinely creepy moments and a healthy smattering of gore to please the horror fans. The biggest let-down of the film is probably Fox's decidedly shaky acting. She is surely well aware that she doesn't win any roles on acting prowess alone, and she plays up the sexy angle well, but it would have made for a better film if an actress with more wit and élan could have gotten their teeth into the script (excuse the pun).
Ultimately, this is a fun but throwaway mish-mash of genres. It doesn't break any boundaries but is a great foil to the ubiquitous and humour-free teen-slasher or torture-porn films that have dominated the horror market the last couple of years. Although not faultless, Jennifer's Body is more than just a vehicle for Megan Fox's "smart bombs"...
6.5/10
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