Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Firestarter’

Written by Scott Edwards 

Making new friends is difficult for many people since they do not know who they can trust. There are the lucky few that are able to gain this trust at the drop of a dime and while they have the ability to make new friends with ease, they may not always be the ones you can depend on. You need to look deeper into the friendships with these people since they may not always be there when you need them the most, not because they do not want to be, but because they have so many others that depend on them as well. Trying to make sure that the friendship is genuine, you may have to test the boundaries to make sure they will be there for you in your time of need.

After being part of an experiment, Andy and Vicky go off to live their lives as a family and having a daughter Charlie, they could not be happier. But there is a fear in the house as they continue to get phone calls making sure that they are still around and nothing has changed. Both had positive results from the experiment, while Vicky can read peoples thoughts, Andy gets the power of suggestion and Charlie was born with the power to start fires with her mind. Wanting to train their daughter how to control this power, Andy and Vicky test her every day, but sometimes things get out of hand when Charlie loses her temper. Life seems good, but when Andy gets home from work one day and finds the men from The Shop have killed his wife and are trying to kidnap his daughter, all bets are off.

Taking to the road to find a safe place to hunker down, Andy and Charlie are alone and do not know who they can trust besides themselves. Without any more money and items to sell or trade, the two are forced to steal some money to make ends meet. While it is not in their nature, Andy knows that it must be done so the people from The Shop cannot get their hands on his daughter and conduct their awful tests as he knows they will. While hitchhiking, the two are picked up by Irv Manders who offers them a nice meal, but when the men from The Shop find out their location, they intervene and discover the power Charlie possesses. Being able to escape once again, Charlie promises herself and her father that she will never use her powers again, but what she does not know is that there is another hunter looking for them and this one always gets his man.

Being drugged, Charlie and Andy find themselves in The Shop, but are not allowed to see one another. As Captain Hollister wants to see how both of his new subject's powers work, he is dedicated to making their lives worth living until the next step is taken. With help from The Shop's assassin John Rainbird, Charlie is befriended by the nice orderly John who takes a kind liking to the little girl. Knowing what must be done, John convinces Charlie to show off her gifts and if she does it enough, she will be able to see her father again. While her powers continue to grow, Charlie gets fed up with the lies that the people in The Shop are telling her and demands that she get to see her father now. But her threats are not enough to convince the group to make this happen, but little do they know that while Andy appears to be a good patient, he is working on a way to break the two out and close down The Shop forever.

I keep seeing comparisons between Firestarter and Stranger Things, and you know what, they are pretty similar, but in a good way. Since Stranger Things is a tribute to everything 80’s, Firestarter is the 80’s. With more of the father/daughter dynamic, it houses a strong storyline that shows how far each of them will go when the going gets tough. Not having a mother has weighted heavily on Charlie and you can see it in her eyes when meeting Irv’s wife. Only wanting to keep his daughter safe from all of the testing, Andy has his power honed in and is able to escape the men from The Shop several times, but when the numbers become greater, he lets his daughter take the reins and show what she can really do. What I liked most about this story was the trust that Andy and Charlie had with each other and it never ended, even when they were separated. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more about Charlie and her gifts since we all know she is the Firestarter, but she has other powers that are referenced in the movie, that are never truly shown. Well, it might happen in the sequel, you never know.

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