It has been many years since I saw the original Firestarter, with the then very young Drew Barrymore, and from memory it was of the usual standard of adaptations of Stephen King books. The memory is fading a little these days, but I remember Drew being able to start fires with her mind and little else - by no means memorable. It was a decent film, but it didn’t set the world on fire, not technically anyway.
The story was quite simple - a group of University students in the ’70s undergo experiments as a quick way to earn some cash. The experiments involve taking a new drug that is designed to enhance psychic ability. Two of the group fall in love and have a child, a daughter whom they name Charlene. Thanks to the modified genes of her parents, Charlene has the ability to start fires by using her mind. Due to this fact the “bad guys” that ran the experiments, led by John Rainbird (Malcolm McDowell), want to use her powers as a weapon.
Firestarter Rekindled appears to pick up the story with the character of Charlie, originally played by Barrymore, now as an adult and played by Marguerite Moreau. She has been on the run for many years avoiding the evil grasp of Rainbird and is living a relatively normal life. Vincent Sforza (Danny Nucci) is employed to track down missing persons, is good at his job and is assigned the task of finding Charlie McGee. The case has already been closed twice before, but his persistent employers demand the case be reopened. Vincent is unaware, but his employers are actually a consortium led by Rainbird, and their motives are not those that Vincent believes them to be.
Vincent manages to find Charlie by accident while searching for another missing person. She is working in a library, but I suspect that this may not be the best place for someone with pyrokinesis abilities to work. Vincent is unaware of his discovery at first and soon finds himself falling for Charlie, which makes out for some “hot” sex, let me tell you.
The two end up in the clutches of Rainbird and soon discover he hasn’t been dormant in all the years Charlie has been on the run. He now has a facility producing children with exceptional mind powers. The ultimate showdown is pending, Charlie must face the powerful children and put an end to the evil Rainbird.
I found this film reasonably enjoyable, but with a running time of 162 minutes it is more of a mini series than a film. There are also major similarities to the television series Dark Angel in that a genetically modified girl is being pursued by an evil corporation. The acting is believable and the storyline and script are also decent, the special effects are acceptable as well and the pace of the film is steady. Many will enjoy the first half of the film more than the second and may even switch off when the Children of the Damned kids appear, but I found them to add some much needed humour. Maybe it is just me, but I find the sight of children killing at will to be entertaining, is that so wrong?
A pleasant surprise was seeing the appearance of Deborah Van Valkenburgh as Mary Conant, another university student involved in the experiments who now lives in fear. Mary was first seen in The Warriors back in 1979 and really hasn’t done much since. Another nice surprise is Dennis Hopper, who doesn‘t appear until the latter stages of the film but does add some clout to an otherwise relatively unknown cast, McDowell being the exception.
The only thing that really irritated me during this film was the musical score. Generally the music is fine, but during intense action scenes the music played is a joke. It sounds really awful and completely misplaced. I can understand the need for dramatic music and when done right it truly adds to the scene, but this makes a decent scene become laughable. I would suggest you listen out for this during the film but trust me, you will notice.
This is not a film to set the world on fire, but it is worth a rental when you are really bored and all the big titles are already out. With a running time of 162 minutes it certainly delivers in quantity, if not entirely in quality. The story is interesting, the acting is acceptable, the special effects are decent and compared to other films made from Stephen King books Firestarter Rekindled maintains that standard. Whether that is a good or bad thing, well the jury is still out on that one.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and anomorphically enhanced for those with widescreen capability, Firestarter Rekindled is of telemovie standard but does contain a few problems. Picture is generally sharp, but there are quite a few grainy scenes. These are predominantly during fire sequences and this may partly be intentional, but it is still a hindrance to picture quality. Aliasing is also a major concern, appearing throughout and edge enhancement is also a problem. Shadow detail is limited and the colour palette used is quite bland. The English subtitles sampled are true to what is said on screen and the layer change occurs at 81:35 and is well placed between scenes.
Audio is a choice of English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Czech DD 2.0 surround. The English track was sampled and this offers reasonable sound quality. Dialogue is clear and audible at all times and synch is never a problem. The surround channel use is extensive and offers some good directional effect and musical support. The subwoofer is not over utilised, but does make some lovely rumbly noises when needed for explosions and such. By no means reference quality, but still a nice mix for what is, after all, only a telemovie.
Being a rental-only release, there are no extras supplied with this disc.
Overall, this film pleasantly surprised me. The running time is a little daunting and may require two sittings, but this film does offer some light entertainment should the local video store be all out of the latest big titles. The video and audio are of reasonable quality, the acting and story are better than expected and the special effects are not too cheesy. Compared to many previous attempts at Stephen King books, this is not too bad, so check it out if there is nothing else on offer.
