The fresh and fiery adaptation of Fire starter released simultaneously in theaters and on Peacock yesterday, and while writer and concept creator Stephen King gave the praise, die-hard fans are certainly finding fault with the Zac Efron vehicle. The remake of the 1984 original tells the story of a father who tries to protect his daughter – who possesses pyrokinesis – from an enigmatic agency seeking to seize her.
On Twitter, the overall response to the 2022 adaptation has been nothing short of disappointing, as people take to the app to voice their displeasure with the film based on King’s 1980 novel. That backlash even includes many popular sites, such as IGN, determining that the film “failed to catch fire” upon its scheduled release.
Firestarter, starring Zac Efron and based on Stephen King’s novel, fails to catch fire. Our opinion: https://t.co/3BzzE70wbW pic.twitter.com/JRtNxqhHFO
— IGN (@IGN) May 13, 2022
A user listed the film’s bullet points, where he expressed his discovery of the film, only to later state that it was bad.
I’m just finding out right now 1) there was a firestarter reboot this year 2) they screwed it up again
— The call comes from inside the Nash (@Nash076) May 14, 2022
Another user summed up the movie deeply in one word.
Just watched Firestarter (2022) pic.twitter.com/90WFMn0FDP
— Lebbertoxd (@InsaneLetterbox) May 13, 2022
Another user sought to praise John Carpenter’s brilliant score, but then slandered the film’s screenplay, acting and direction as a whole.
Firestarter (2022) is horrible, outside of John Carpenter’s score (which is really badass) this movie has nothing to do. Bad acting, a horrible script and it sounds like a terrible superhero origin story. I have no idea what they wanted here. pic.twitter.com/ONTKdb2FYk
– Jerome! (@JeromeM94Movies) May 13, 2022
A user criticized Fire starter for his lackluster ability to choose a genre, and only praised the film’s score.
I was begging someone to put me out of my misery watching FIRESTARTER. He never settles on the type of film he wants to be. Stock? Horror? Super hero ? Family drama? It doesn’t matter when they’re all lifeless. Has a cool retro score but otherwise let it burn. pic.twitter.com/yr6PYV7Q2f
— Matt Neglia (@NextBestPicture) May 13, 2022
An end user was as direct as possible.
I spent about 45 minutes in FIRESTARTER before realizing I could do literally anything else.
— Russ Fischer (@russfischer) May 13, 2022
Alongside the backlash online, reviews from critics are even worse, with many calling it one of the worst film adaptations of King’s work. That said, with projects like Salem Bundle on the horizon, there is still much to look forward to for die-hard fans of the famous author.
