With a star like Megan Fox and a title like “Jennifer’s Body”, one would think this would be a must-see movie, right? Wrong.
Not only does this film take a beating in the box office, “Jennifer’s Body” is not even worth purchasing a ticket for the experience. Though Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried look stunning, the plot seems like it has come straight from a 1970s horror film based in high school.
“Jennifer’s Body” was released on Sept. 18, and it is no surprise that the film is rated “R” for sexuality and bloody violence.
Directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody, “Jennifer’s Body” is a twisted combination of “The Exorcist” and “Silence of the Lambs,” with a dark sense of high school humor that makes you feel like you are watching a teen-comedy soap opera.
The setting is in a town appropriately named Devil’s Kettle. The aptly named Needy (Amanda Seyfried) and Jennifer (Megan Fox) share a close friendship that borders on the erotic.
Despite the fact that Needy is a reserved wallflower and Jennifer is a shallow prep with the gift of seduction, the two girls are almost inseparable.
Everything goes downhill when Jennifer decides to take Needy to Melody Lane, the local bar, for a rock performance. Jennifer is increasingly bossy and turbulent as the movie progresses, so Needy rarely says “no” to her best friend’s wishes.
In a tragic turn of events, a fire spreads and consumes the bar taking, several lives and causes a massive panic. Jennifer and Needy escape, but Jennifer acts catatonic while Needy desperately tries to bring her back to reality.
Jennifer is pulled away by the lead singer of the band, Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody) with whom she flirted with earlier. The bar is still ablaze, but all the lead singer cares about is trying to get Jennifer in his van. Like in most horror movies, sex sells.
Needy is shaken up and returns back to her home where she seeks comfort from her boyfriend. After her boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons) reassures Needy, she hears a knock at the door and feels it is safe to answer it.
After seeing no one there, Needy goes back inside only to find the bloodied and demonic Jessica.
After spewing dark fluids all over the kitchen floor, “Emily Rose”-style, Jennifer disappears. After this incident, men all over the town are seduced by Jennifer's body, and then mutilated. It is up to Needy to stop the rampage from continuing and save the men of Devil’s Kettle from her best friend.
The pros to this film are few and far between, but Fox is not only physically a goddess, but plays a possessed, conceited succubus pretty well.
Seyfried also gives a riveting performance. She plays her role as the shy girl who next door really well, and her acting really sells “losing her mind” throughout the film. If it wasn’t for Seyfried’s acting, the movie would have been a total lost cause.
The film did have some interesting special effects. The dark lighting and ominous surroundings remind me of the Tim Burton movie “Sleepy Hollow.”
While seeing Fox spew black blood from her mouth is pretty cool, it is also enticing to watch the transformation Jennifer goes through when she becomes less human while things turn sour. For the many shortcomings “Jennifer’s Body” has, special effects is not one of them.
Jennifer’s Body” is definitely not worth the hype. It has some good scenery, like brooding buildings and moonlit windows that creep you out, but this movie is as scary as a toned -down version of “Hostel” with all of the elements of high school.
The movie was pretty slow to get to the scary moments, and when it did get to the killing, the action left much to be desired.
This film was supposed to be Cody’s next raging success after her Oscar award-winning screenwriting for the movie “Juno,” but she has certainly disappointed her fans and possibly ruined her screenwriting career.
It is unfortunate to say that Cody dropped the ball on this one.
As harsh as it is to say, Cody is looking like a one-hit wonder director. Perhaps she should stop making movies and go back to being a “stripper journalist.”
Though I would give Fox and Seyfried a much higher rating, I give “Jennifer’s Body” one star out of four.
‘Jennifer’s Body’ sucks in more ways than one
Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody returns to big screen with major disappointment
Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Updated: Friday, October 30, 2009
5 comments
Myname
Well...im gona downlad this movie just to pause it and play with my junk...
Anon.
This is the worst film I have ever seen! I wouldn't give it 1 star! The more the film went on, the more I just wanted to walk out! But being a media Student I thought I could not make a judgement without watching the whole thing - But now I regret even that! I would have been much better off not even knowing about the film!The only remotely good bit was when Jennifer Dies! Rubbish Story and just (mostly) pathetic attempts at horror and comedy, I wouldn't even recommend it to my enemies!!Sorry Diablo Cody, You're not that good!!
Your name
Jennifer not Jessica, lol. But yeah, the all movie is random.
SLee
Diablo Cody is just a one trick pony and "Juno" was awful and so contrived anyway.
Daniel Bridges
Hm. Curious, Johnathon. What prompted you to see this horror film?(Juno was a weak film, too, by the way. It was wishy-washy, with no strong message of morality, just a funny vehicle to find a smart-mouthed teenage girl attractive.)
