Friday the 13th (2009)
BY Ryan LaMarca / 2009-02-17
Jason Voorhees, the masked master of the machete, is back for blood in this, the all-new "Friday the 13th." It's almost hard to believe that this is the twelfth movie in the enormously successful and popular horror franchise that was started way back in 1980. Although marketed and advertised as a remake of the first movie, "Friday the 13th" 2009 is essentially "Friday the 13th: Part 12," and for that I am actually grateful as it is truly much better this way. Remaking the original movie would have been such a waste because the studio never would have kept the original ending intact. Nevertheless, being a massive fan of this series, this "reboot" had a lot to prove with me, and for all intents and purposes, it passed with flying colors.
While vacationing in the woods near Camp Crystal Lake, a group of teenagers fall prey to a mysterious masked man. Several weeks later, Clay (Jared Padalecki), the brother of Whitney (Amanda Righetti), one of the missing teenagers, goes to the lake to search for her. Along the way, he meets another group of kids on their way to a house on the lake. With barely anyone willing to help him in his quest to find his sister, Clay eventually discovers the existence of the hockey-masked Jason Voorhees (Derek Mears) as the kids begin to die one by one.
As the movie began I must admit that I was not entirely impressed. The prologue did not accurately depict the rest of the movie left to be unveiled. It felt too general, too routine, like it could have been anybody else besides Jason doing the killings. But as the film began to progress, more and more of the story revealed a strong devotion to making it a uniquely "Friday the 13th" movie. This new movie was written by the same pair, Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, responsible for writing "Freddy vs. Jason," an excellent entry into both characters' series. More and more into the movie, it became evident that these two guys knew what they were doing in writing this movie and how to handle the Jason character properly.
My main problem with the aforementioned prologue was that it fell more into the category of retread. It felt like we'd seen it all before because we actually had, literally. The very beginning of the movie serves as a good introduction for explaining the origin of Jason as briefly as possible, including the story of Pamela Voorhees. It was the subsequent part about the kids camping in the woods that I did not find all too interesting because of the fact that it was all too familiar. Luckily, after this, the movie improved tremendously. Many of the other references to the past films are more like homages than anything else.
The best way to describe the new "Friday the 13th," which I will occasionally refer to as "Part 12" is simply everything a "Friday the 13th" movie should be. That's not saying it is a perfect "Friday the 13th" movie mind you, but a decent entry in the series canon. As I mentioned before, I was entering this movie with almost extreme prejudice because of my disdain for the current trend of remakes. The "Friday the 13th" movies are dear to my heart, and the notion of remaking the first movie almost sickened me. But luckily, unlike Rob Zombie's "Halloween" remake, we actually got a worthy sequel with "Friday the 13th." The film also accomplishes its mission to reboot the franchise and renew a waning interest in the general public.
"Friday the 13th" features a meaner, leaner Jason than we've seen in recent years. After stinkers like "Jason X," the series was in dire need of a recharge. "Friday the 13th" takes Jason back to his roots at Camp Crystal Lake where he gets to doing what he does best. Although he's more formidable in this new movie, it was jarring to see Jason smarter and faster than ever. We also witness the evolution of Jason throughout the movie as he initially sports the potato sack from Part 2 before donning the iconic hockey mask he received in Part 3. Nonetheless, Jason's still great with a wide array of weapons and ready to use any household item to kill those pesky teenagers.
The 2009 relaunch of "Friday the 13th" is a laudable entry into the film series, and I am extremely grateful we received a brand new story for this film instead of a lifeless retread of the original movie. It's not a great movie, but it is a good one, falling more along the lines of Parts 2 and 6 in terms of quality. When the movie started being its own film and not simply a rehash of the other movies, I slowly began to respect and accept it. Jason is truly back in full form ready to scare the next generation of moviegoers. If we can get more movies like this, I would wholeheartedly welcome a revival of the series.
Post Your Comment
Avatar
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel