Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘Firestarter 2: Rekindled’

Written by Scott Edwards 

It is difficult to stay off of the grid these days with all of the technology designed to find people. Even if you leave all of your devices at home, there still seems to be a way that someone will find you if they are looking hard enough. With cameras all over the place, including the little ones on people’s cell phones, if you are around a populated area, there is no escaping it. The only way to truly get off of the grid it seems is to move to a sparsely populated area with no electricity and running water and depend on nature to take care of you, at least that is what most people that are trying to get away have done and they've managed to get by pretty well to this point.

Vincent Sforza has a knack for finding people that don’t seem to want to be found. Working at Systems Operations, he is excited about his next task of finding people that were included in drug trials that are about to get a massive payout. Needing to find everyone on his list by the end of the week does not seem like that difficult a task for Vincent, but when a file for Charlene McGee gets put back on his desk for the third time, he wants to know why she keeps appearing. After coming to the conclusion that she has passed away in a massive fire when her parents were killed, Vincent turns his attention to someone that he knows is still living, but little does he know that the two are related in a strange way.

Following his leads for James Richardson, Vincent is able to get his hands on some more recently declassified documents that may give him an address for the old man. Searching through the cryptic files, Vincent comes across an old tape that will give him more questions than answers. Turning to his brother for help, Vincent sees what happened during the Lot 6 drug trials back in 1979. Watching as patients go crazy, Vincent’s brother is disturbed with the footage, but the two do not know what is really happening in the background. Keeping his focus on patient records, Vincent is able to find the name of the doctor who administered the trials, but while he is deceased, Vincent talks to his widow. With full access to all of the doctor’s files, Vincent gets a visit from a young woman who he recently bumped into at the library who calls herself Tommie. Taking an instant liking to the young woman, Vincent is ready to share things he has found, but little does he know that he has another person off of his list.

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​Charlene 'Charlie' McGee has been on the run since her parents were killed in a raid on their home. Being tested on for years by John Rainbird, she is just trying to keep a low profile and not be found again. Running seems to be the best answer since the testing conditions are less than suitable for anyone and those wanting to see her power in full effect will be disappointed since she made the promise to her father that she wouldn’t use it again. But John Rainbird is looking for his little Charlie once again and when Vincent finds out that the young woman, he has fallen for is not Tommie, but Charlie, he is ready to continue with his job and make sure that she gets her payout. Setting up a meeting for Charlie to meet with the staff, Vincent wants to be there as well to make sure that she is taken care of, but he does not fully understand the situation that he is walking into.

As John has been looking for Charlie for many years, he has continued with his experiments and has his new gang of kids at his beckoned call. Each one of the boys have taken the drug and developed a power special to himself and while not understanding what they are going to be used for, they will do anything for John since he is their father figure. With John’s new plan, Radiant Thunder getting ready to take off, he needs all of the previous experiments taken care of so no one will be able to stop him. Finding out that all of the people that he has tracked down are now dead, Vincent is starting to put the pieces together and knows that he and his family are in trouble but is mostly concerned with Charlie’s wellbeing and wants to help. Little does Vincent know that Charlie can take care of herself and the tables may be turning when it comes to her returning to the clinic to be studied once again.

In many ways, this really feels like a reboot versus a sequel as the storyline has changed from the movie that came out almost twenty years earlier. As Charlie is walking the streets and trying to stay safe, she seems to have lost control of her fire-starting powers, especially after being intimate with someone, but when the time comes to fight, she has complete control. As half of the movie seems to be flashbacks to set up what is currently happening in the story, it could have been its own story altogether, and I wish it had been since it would have made the viewing experience better. The cast was amazing for only being headed up by two headliners, since everyone else delivered very well and I could feel the story heating up as soon as Charlie was discovered. I liked the relationship growth between Charlie and Vincent, as it started out slow, they both ended up with the upmost respect and maybe a little bit of love for each other.  But John Rainbird and his plans to release his new class of talented children on the world, while erasing his old mistakes really stole the show.  Not a bad movie in any way, just wish it was sold a little bit differently since Stephen King movies are always the best when it comes to TV movies.  ​

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