Before I start, I'd like to point out that I loved Juno. I watched it about 8 times in a week, once. It is hilarious, mostly due to Diablo Cody's ability to write snappy dialogue full of portmanteau words from the top of her head, and Ellen Page's ability to deliver them.
When I heard that Diablo Cody was writing a horror movie, and it would star Megan Fox (who's so hot right now...in both ways) I got a little excited. I envisaged a movie as sharp as Juno but those sharp words stabbing teenagers in the face/guts, and repeatedly.
What I got when I saw Jennifers Body was a movie as sharp as Juno but those sharp words stabbing teenagers in the face/guts, and repeatedly. Turns out it just makes for a worse movie than my head imagined.
Starring Amanda Seyfried, fresh from Abba butchering, as Needy, the ying to Jennifer's (Fox) yang. They are a pair of BFF's, they even have necklaces saying so, that attend school together but lead very different lives. Jennifer is a temptress who sleeps with a police cadet and pretty much anyone else, while Needy is a quiet nerdy girl with a quiet nerdy boyfriend Chip.
The film creates it's eponymous antagonist when she is put under a curse turning her into a maneater. Literally. After spooking Needy with her visceral vomiting, Jennifer freaks out the whole community of Devil's Kettle by leaving a string of half chewed bodies, making national news broadcast a cannibal is the loose, all the while a band that played the night Jennifer got cursed get slowly more famous (no prizes for guessing what happened there).
In fact, the statement in my last paranthesis applies to the whole movie. The plot is incredibly predictable, and the opening sequenuintaiteuins the last 20 minutes of the movie by showing you the fate of certain characters. There are some decent punches of dialogue, but I felt Diablo Cody had blown her load halfway through the movie and the Codyisms stop, or at least just stop being noticable.
I'd like to congratulate Diablo for her taste in music, with a Gallows poster adorning Jennifers wall, and Chip being obsessed with Motion City Soundtrack, but neither of the bands make it onto the soundtrack. Instead a mix of Florence and the Machine, and the fictional band Devils Shoulders signature American alt rock track filter out all respect I had in Diablos taste. I'm glad Diablo didn't leap on the chance to have Megan Fox dancing sexily to Nelly Furtado's 'Maneater'
though.
I'd not say Jennifers Body isn't worth seeing. I mean, it's not
Lesbian Vampire Killers, it's still a relatively decent horror movie,
and has some steamy lesbian scenes to keep people interested, and
plenty giggles. It's just not Juno meets Halloween as I hoped.
0 comments:
Post a Comment