Movie Review Firestarter

Firestarter 

Directed by Keith Thomas

Written by Scott Teems

Starring Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Kurtwood Smith

Released May 13th, 2022

The remake of Firestarter is the result of what I call, I.P mining. The idea is to take a relatively memorable property from the past, attach a young movie star, and rake in the profits. That’s the goal anyway. Whether the re-makers of Firestarter will profit from their I.P mining is something only time and box office will tell. What I can tell you about the makers of Firestarter 2022 is that their movie recycling is more akin to composting. It stinks.

Firestarter 2022 stars Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Charlie, a child with dangerous powers. Charlie can move things with her mind. She can read people's minds. Most dangerously, Charlie has pyro-kinesis which means she can create fire with her mind. Charlie got her powers from her parents. As college students, Andy (Zac Efron) and Victoria (Sidney Lemmon) participated in a government sponsored experiment. The experiment gave both Andy and Victoria a powerful form of E.S.P.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review The Old Way

The Old Way (2023) 

Directed by Brett Donawho 

Written by Carl W. Lucas 

Starring Nicolas Cage, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Le Gros 

Release Date January 6th, 2023

Published January 10th, 2023 

The Old Way stars Nicolas Cage as former gunfighter Colton Briggs. A well known and much feared outlaw in his day, Colton is now domesticated. He has a wife, Ruth (Kerry Knuppe), and a daughter, Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), and a dry good store in town. He's become an upstanding citizen so naturally, his past is coming back to haunt him. Enter a group of bandits led by James McCallister (Noah Le Gros). McCallister and his gang are on the run from the law when they happen upon the Briggs' home while Colton is away at work. 

Through a fluke of fate, the home that the bad guys want to hole up in for a night is that of the man that killeed McCallister's father and uncle right in front of him more than a decade ago. Though he's well aware of Briggs' reputation as the coldest of cold blooded killers, McCallister and his goons, Boots (Shiloh Fernandez), Big Mike (Abraham Benrubi), and Eustice (Clint Howard), set about torturing and murdering Ruth with McCallister hoping that her murder will bring Briggs out of outlaw retirement. 

Indeed, this does provide motivation for Colton to dust off his long black coat and revolvers but there is a potential impediment to Colton's roaring rampage of revenge. Colton's daughter is still alive. She was with Colton at his story when her mother died. Thus Colton must decide what to do with his little girl while pursuing his outlaw revenge. Lucky for him, Brooke has a lot more of her father in her than he might imagine. Brooke doesn't cry over her mom's death, she picks up a shotgun. 

That's a good set up for a western story. Sadly, as that story plays out in The Old Way, it never gains much life. What's lacking in The Old Way is something to really set the story apart from other similar stories. You might reasonably assume that casting the wildly charismatic and unpredictable Nicolas Cage might provide that unique quality but you'd be mistaken. Unfortunately, Nicolas Cage delivers one of the most by the numbers performances of his career in The Old Way. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media.