'Firestarter' a thrill ride for King fans

In the Universal/Blumhouse presentation of ‘Firestarter,’ for more than a decade, Andy and Vicky have been on the run, desperate to hide their daughter Charlie from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her unprecedented gift for creating fire into a weapon.

Andy has taught Charlie how to defuse her power, which is triggered by anger or pain. But as Charlie turns 11, the fire becomes harder and harder to control.

After an incident reveals the family’s location, a mysterious operative is deployed to hunt down the family and seize Charlie once and for all, but Charlie has other plans. ‘Firestarter’ is another film adaptation based on the works of Stephen King that fans of the author will likely enjoy. This 2022 adaptation delivers quite a few exciting moments, especially once Charlie starts having trouble controlling her power.

The awesome music done by the great John Carpenter really helps set the mood for this thriller. One thing that is really interesting is when you see the family using their power. And, when Charlie gets closer to finding who’s after them, it gets really intense. The last few moments of the movie are really action-packed and can leave you on the edge of your seat.

Now, there are a couple things that could’ve been improved on. The filmmakers definitely should’ve been more in depth with the federal agency that is after the family. Sure, it can be mysterious about not revealing a whole lot about the agency. But, it definitely could’ve helped the movie. Also, the movie could’ve been a little longer and seemed rushed in a few spots.

Overall, ‘Firestarter’ is not one of the best film adaptations based on Stephen King, but it definitely will keep you entertained.

The cast: Zac Efron (Gold; Scoob!) as Andy McGee; Ryan Kiera Armstrong (American Horror Story: Double Feature) as Charlie McGee; Sydney Lemmon (Hulu’s Helstrom) as Vicky McGee; Michael Greyeyes (Apple TVs Home Before Dark) as Rainbird; Gloria Reuben (Showtime’s City on a Hill) as Captain Hollister; John Beasley (Sinister 2) as Irv Manders; Tina Jung as Ms. Gardner; Hannon Younis as Darla Gurney and Kurtwood Smith (Hulu’s The Dropout; Netflix’s The Ranch) as Dr. Joseph Wanless. ‘Firestarter’ is written by Scott Teems (Halloween Kills) and directed by Keith Thomas.

In April 2017, Universal and Blumhouse Productions announced a remake/reboot of the 1984 movie. Over the years, Blumhouse brought many thrilling features to the big screen, such as the recent ‘Halloween’ trilogy (the third being released this fall), ‘The Purge’ series; ‘The Invisible Man’ and the upcoming ‘The Black Phone’ just to name a few.

Filmmaker John Carpenter, who worked on the score for this version, was originally set to direct the original ‘Firestarter.’

Carpenter was ultimately replaced after ‘The Thing’ didn’t perform well at

the box office (which later became a cult classic).

‘Firestarter’ is rated R for violent content and has a running time of 94 minutes.