Unnecessary Remake - Carrie (2013)

I was originally going to write a full length review of Carrie. After watching it, I decided, this movie isn't worth the effort. It is not a horrible movie, per se; it just offers nothing new, making it pointless.

The plot is very similar to the 1976 classic. The opening is new, showing the birth of Carrie (Chloë Grace Moretz). It is pretty intense with Margaret (Julianne Moore) apparently unaware that she is pregnant, giving birth at home. After that, the story sticks close to the original film. Carrie is an outcast at her school. She freaks out while having her first period and becomes the target for Chris (Portia Doubleday) and her friends, who are painted in a very Mean Girls mode; caricatures, who target Carrie for no particular reason. She also begins to display telekinetic abilities immediately upon having her period. Nicer girl Sue (Gabriella Wilde) convinces her boyfriend Tommy (Ansel Elgort) to take Carrie to prom to make up for her part in humiliating Carrie. At prom, Chris douses Carrie in pig's blood and accidentally kills Tommy. Carrie unleashes her telekinesis, killing many of the students, including all of her tormentors. She heads home and kills mom, but spares Sue when she realizes she is pregnant. Carrie apparently commits suicide, although the ending implies she may have survived.

There is a missed opportunity to explore cyber-bullying and, perhaps, take the story in a new direction. Instead of De Palma's fresh, masterful cinematography, director Kimberly Peirce tells the story in a visually bland fashion. There are more special effects, with Carrie displaying her telekinesis almost immediately. Instead of the spare, but effective use of practical effects in the original, we see a lot of mediocre CG. This is particularly bad during the prom massacre. What was a quick, horrify sequence in the original, suffers from showing too much and is topped off by a laughable sequence in which Carrie flies out of the prom, instead of Spacek's serene walk through the devastation she has caused. And what was a quick, brutal end for Chris in the original is dragged out to the point of inspiring derisive laughter.

Another problem with the film is with the casting. While the actors are fine, Chloë Grace Moretz is too cute to be believable as the outcast Carrie. The girl is supposed to look "peculiar" and embody the outsider. This is something Sissy Spacek was able to capture. Even after she gets made-up for the prom, she still looks odd. Moretz never embodies the physicality of the outsider and even before the prom, she looks way too cute. This gives the film the feel of one of those "ugly duckling turns into swan" movies. While a good actor can embody a variety of personalities, their looks do come into play in certain roles. When Carrie, the outsider, looks more attractive than the "in crowd" this becomes a problem. Unless, of course, this is made part of the story, that the other girls are propelled by jealously. This is not the case.

Ultimately, this is a competently made film with a pretty good cast that fails because it doesn't have anything new to say about the story, nor a new, unique visual style to tell it in. Do yourself a favor; watch the original and avoid this version of Carrie.