Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Jennifer's Body - 2 out of 4 Stars

Who Would Love This Movie: People who want to pay $10 to stare at Megan Fox

Best Mood to Walk In With: Silly

Don't See This Movie If: You didn't like the snappy hipster phrases in Juno

The script of Jennifer's Body makes a reference to The Evil Dead, and it is not hard to see why. Although the movie may have aimed to be an iconically over the top scary movie with a surprising cult following, Jennifer's Body falls short...very short. Basically, take the cheese factor of the 1981 horror flick, add in the patented Diablo Cody vocabulary, and you have yourself a movie that is neither scary nor overwhelmingly funny.

While phrases like "Honest to blog?" were clever and catchy in Cody's Juno, comments about characters "tampooning" themselves makes Jennifer's Body feel a bit too contrived and over the top. Same can be said for the now signature indie rock soundtrack that seems to be underlying Cody's scripts. While angsty teen songs fit well into a comedy, they do not exactly inspire the creepiness that normally goes with the horror genre.

However, those who go to pant over sexy Megan Fox will not be disappointed. Although the flick does not deliver on the jumps and screams, it certainly does bring lots of gratuitous half-naked shots of (what else?) Jennifer's body. The only comment on the acting I will make is to say that if you don't go in with high expectations, you won't be disappointed.

While this is the type of film I would expect Fox to move onto after Transformers, I was a bit surprised that the sweetheart from Mamma Mia Amanda Seyfried played the other main character. I know young actresses don't want to be pigeonholed, but this movie was a bad move for Seyfried, who could have done much better.

Keep Your EARS Closed For: The derogatory phrase about Asian nail salon workers
Keep Your EARS Open For: The surprisingly catchy song that appears over and over in the movie

All in all, if you want to see Jennifer's Body, wait to rent it. It's definitely not worth theater prices.

Movies Are Life. ~ K

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