PLOT SUMMARY: Charlie's pyrokinetic abilities cause her family to do whatever it takes to protect her from people who are after her.
There have been several movies in the past that have touched upon subjects of people who have special powers. These movies usually begin with how the hero obtained those powers, learns how to wield them, comes across a villain who either wants to steal those powers or can be defeated by them, and then ultimately the hero learns that they are now have a responsibility to look after others who don't have powers like them.
So at the end of the day we get to see a complete movie with plenty of special effects and an elaborate scene where we get to see the extent of the hero's powers.
Firestarter barely lights up. We have a protagonist who has these amazing powers, and her parents who have powers too but barely use them. What do we get?
Answer: a movie that feels incomplete.
FIRESTARTER Movie Plot
The movie begins with a couple, Andy and Vicky admiring their newborn daughter. The baby is in the crib and the parents are watching her lovingly. The moment the parents look away, the mobile over her suddenly bursts into flames.
Charlie leaps forward and pushes aside the flaming mobile and also picks up the baby. The next instant the baby bursts into flames.
The end.
Except it was all a dream.
Andy wakes up and goes around the house when he finds his daughter Charlie sitting in a corner and consoling herself after a nightmare.
At first Andy completely misunderstands when she talks about the changes she's experiencing in the body and insists she speaks to her mother instead.
Charlie is already well-educated about how her body is going to change as she grows up and tells him, "no, not that." She then tells him about the bad thing inside her that is getting worse. Andy allays her fears and tells her to focus on her surroundings whenever she feels like she's losing control over her emotions, like looking at the clock and table, etc.
Vicky wakes up and comes over and Andy then offers to make an early breakfast. Pancakes. He opens the fridge but then the scene ends. No pancakes are made.
During the opening credits we see scenes of younger versions of Andy and Vicky when they were in college and participated in experimental drug trials that gave them their special abilities.
This is probably how Charlie inherited her powers. She has a hard time at school with people calling her a freak and she trying not to turn everyone to toast. She's also bad at cutting frogs but luckily she has one teacher on her side who tells her that she can learn things from the Internet. When Charlie tells her she doesn't have Internet, her classmates titter. It's tough being a kid and not also being on social media. Kids run the risk of being treated as outcasts.
As she's moping about at home, Vicky consoles her and then later has a discussion with Andy regarding letting Charlie train with her powers rather than suppress them. Andy disagrees.
At work, he's been using his powers to get people to think differently. He gets a woman to quit smoking but then it turns out his special powers is also bleeding from the eyes.
He tells this to Vicky and she is shocked to discover her husband may be getting weaker. He gets final say and wins the debate because of this.
At school the next day, during dodgeball, Charlie is hit on the head. She starts to get angry and the gym starts to get warm. She runs away and goes to the bathroom to turn on all the taps. Steam starts to come out instead.
The only teacher on Charlie's side comes to check up on her and doesn't bother turning off the taps. They're probably hot anyway.
Suddenly one of the stall doors starts shaking and there's an explosion with fire. The teacher is thrown back and is shocked.
Of course the principal is involved and the parents are called. Charlie is suspended of course.
At home, Charlie is so upset by everything and even more with Andy. Nobody likes it when she gets angry. In the next second, Vicky's arms are set on fire. Andy manages to throw a blanket at her while Charlie calls the emergency numbers. Both parents tell her not to because they don't want anyone to trace her, which is why they don't use the Internet. Charlie reluctantly puts down the phone as her mother tells her she's fine.
She is not fine. Her hands are badly burned and she's in immense pain. Andy bandages her up. The next morning however a policewoman shows up because they've traced the call and think there may be a domestic violence situation going on, especially when she notices the bandages on Vicky's hands. She assures the policewoman she's fine and then is worried that their cover may be blown.
This incident is recorded by a nearby facility who are actively seeking Charlie because of her superpowers. Captain Hollister gives Rainbird the assignment to get Charlie.
That night, Andy takes Charlie for ice cream to cheer her up. Vicky is alone at home when Rainbird breaks in. We learn Vicky's powers are throwing things around the house which Rainbird mostly dodges. Turns out he has some powers too which is why he doesn't even wince when he's hit in the head.
He manages to overpower Vicky and she realizes she should have gotten more practice with her powers because now she's unable to save herself.
Andy and Charlie return with ice cream they will never eat. When Andy notices the photo frames have come off the walls and the house is a mess, he realizes Vicky may have used her powers to make a mess.
He goes into the living room and there's Rainbird holding Charlie at knifepoint with one hand and uses the other hand to cover her eyes.
Andy tries to use his powers of push but he's too weak. He wants to know where his wife is and Charlie gets anxious when she can't find her mother.
When they find that Vicky was killed, Charlie uses her powers to set Rainbird on fire and then accidentally burns the whole house down.
Andy and Charlie escape and so does Rainbird.
While Andy reminisces about his late wife, Charlie is busy lighting a cat on fire after she gets scratched by it.
Andy comes over and sees the cat still half-alive and advises her to use her powers on it once again. The cat is cremated at this point while Charlie weeps.
They still give it a burial and also create a memorial for Vicky.
Meanwhile Captain Hollister visits Professor Wanless who had injected people with drugs all those years ago and tried to create superheroes.
He warns her that Charlie and her powers she dangerous and they need to be careful. Hollister doesn't care much for warnings.
Andy and Charlie manage to stop and ask for a lift from an elderly man. Andy uses his power so that the man thinks he's being offered hundred dollars to give him a ride. In actuality, it is only one dollar.
That's a neat trick. Except Andy is still unstable and looks pretty much close to death when he uses his power.
At the house, the old man is watching TV and of course on the new channel, at that exact moment, there is a report about Andy being on the run with his daughter, after killing his wife.
Andy assures him he didn't kill his wife. Charlie comes in to back up her father. The old man relents and agrees to help them but oops the police has arrived. The old man had called them. When?
Wasn't he just watching the news report when Andy walked in? Or had he watched the report already and was watching it again?
Anyway, the cops are about to apprehend them when Rainbird pops up and kills everyone. He wants only Charlie.
Andy finds a way to get his daughter to run away and uses his bleeding eyes trick to confuse Rainbird.
Rainbird does see Charlie run in the fields and then suddenly she disappears. He goes to Andy, commends him on his neat little trick and then strikes him. The trick ends. Charlie is visible once again.
Even if it wasn't, Rainbird had already seen which direction Charlie was fleeing in. Had Andy used his powers before he could have stopped Rainbird from seeing her run in the fields?
There is no other place to go from there, no different directions Charlie could have taken. Of course, Rainbird would have known where she had run off to.
Anyway, Charlie is seen running and heading towards the forest. Before Rainbird can do anything else, the people from the facility show up. Andy tries to use his bleeding eyes trick again but the agents tell him they're wearing special contact lenses that screen them from special powers. Andy is thrown on the ground and taken away. As is Rainbird.
FIRESTARTER Ending Explained with Spoilers!
At the facility, Hollister isn't too pleased to find that Rainbird has begun to sympathize with Charlie because he had gone through experimentation as well.
She has Andy tied up in a chair and assures him that Charlie will come to them now to save her father.
Charlie of course has murder on her mind and is headed to the facility but first, she uses mind tricks to get three boys to give up their cycle and clothes. The road is straight but she again asks for directions and they point at the way she was going already.
Charlie reaches the facility and uses her powers to get in and reach her father.
Standing behind the glass, Hollister is with Andy and happy to see her. Andy tells his daughter to burn everything. Including him. Hollister believes for a nanosecond that Charlie wouldn't do that to her father. But Charlie is a dutiful daughter who does exactly that.
Hollister and Andy burn while the guards come in. Charlie screams a lot and somehow people erupt into fire.
She reaches Rainbird and he comes to her himself, ready to be killed. Charlie almost sets him on fire but then decides nope, let it be.
She doesn't spend that much time before igniting her father but takes her time to think about sparing her mother's killer.
The facility burns down and Charlie is exhausted and emotional. Rainbird picks her up in his arms and walks away as the credits roll.
The end.
The movie could have been a lot better considering it was about people with special powers but the way those powers are presented is almost comical.
Like Andy's powers seem to be more about bleeding eyes than anything. Charlie's powers seem to be screeching really loud. Vicky, poor thing, just gets to toss about household items here and there. Sure, she hadn't used her powers and was out of practice or perhaps she never had strong powers to begin with, but her scenes could have been a lot better.
The only thing working in the movie's favor is the pace. Had the movie dragged on, this would have definitely been a chore to watch.
The climax needed work too. What could have been a memorable scene turns out to be very dull as Charlie keeps screaming non-stop.
The movie definitely does not ignite any enthusiasm as you watch it.
Scare Scale: 2.5/5
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