Good news, the new FIRESTARTER isn’t awful. In fact, the Blumhouse-produced adaptation from director Keith Thomas and Scott Teems courses with vintage 80’s King vibes only having minor flaws to grapple with. For the uninitiated, FIRESTARTER is a film based on the Stephen King novel about a pre-pubescent girl Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) as she and her dad flee from government capture and exploitation. A simple setup, engaging characters, and fantastic scenarios. So why does this modern adaptation fail again to capture what resonated with readers?

In an information-packed title sequence, we learn how psychically gifted college students Vicky (Sydney Lemmon) and Andy (Zac Efron) picked up extra cash by participating in a government study. Issued an injection from something known as “Lot 6” the two were injected, then released. Years later they produced a child with psychic ability along with the power to summon ignition, aka fire. The film frames things poignantly with a nightmare from Andy who then wakes up to console his troubled daughter. The two gifted parents know the mounting threats and suggest pancakes to diffuse the situation. Soon enough, Captain Hollister (Gloria Reuben) enlists dormant operative Rainbird (Michael Greyeyes) to use his powers and capture the tangential threats of his respective experiment. We have the innocent, but empowered victims. the enslaved warriors, and the nebulous desire of an all-powerful menace pursuing everyone. So why does this far more faithful adaptation of King’s inflammatory novel still miss the mark, of by a smaller margin?

Let’s start with the script.  Adapted from King’s original novel, screenwriter Teems really leans into the narrative and story beats set out by the text. The film opens with the immediate fears of Andy for his daughter, the titular character. Charlie is a young woman without the full knowledge or command of her power and it’s all about to blow up… literally. Yes her parents have an idea of her powers, but no real control. While Captain Hollister enlists gifted ex-patient Rainbird to connect and pursue their target, we get a lesson on what is important to a young girl navigating the broadening horizons and a strange new world. What ensues is Charlie and her father Andy running as Rainbird pursues them at the direction of Captain Hollister. All of this leads to an adequate showdown supplemented with the required flourishes of enraged forces of power and vanquishing of nebulous evil. Sorry (Spoiler Alert).

I think what is so remarkable about this version is how unremarkable it is. A diagnostic test would yield a better analysis on why this doesn’t fully land, but I shall try. Efron is great as the protective father, while Armstrong pulls double duty to come off as capable. The connection between the two is believable but hardly something that sells a King-style narrative that convinces us to go on a fantastical journey. This is a story of a father hoping to protect his daughter from the consequences of her developing powers. While entertaining, it just doesn’t work. What I will say is that I expected this to be bad and, well, it isn’t. Not by a long shot. in fact, from a horror and King fan point of view, this is pretty good.

What I mean to say is that while not a triumph, FIRESTARTER is better than what we got in the 80’s. This is an adaptation that doesn’t explode, yet it gets a little closer to a true King narrative.

7 Out of 10