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Somehow it seemed
inevitable. Megan Fox, who has actually
usurped Amanda Peet’s reign as ‘Worst
Working Actress of Our Age’, starred
in a movie where she’s supposed to
be super hot, super bitchy and super deadly.
From her previous roles and way too many
interviews, the only one she seems right
for is the one in the middle. She is only
middling on the hot scale, and deadly…
well somehow I doubt she could beat D.J.
Qualls at arm wrestling. Unfortunately,
her non-role in the banal “Transformers”
movies has propelled her into the limelight
and one can only hope that the clock is
running out on her 15 minutes.
That said, Fox’s most recent role
is as Jennifer, a high school cheerleader
who, who through an unfortunate series of
events, has turned into a flesh-eating monster
(something we can all relate to from our
high school days).
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Of course, her pre-possessed character in “Jennifer’s
Body” pretty much ate everybody up and spit
them out, so after ‘turning’ she really
doesn’t seem that much different (except
instead of spitting out she swallows… oh
that sounds all KINDS of wrong…). However,
as most girls of her ilk do, she has a mousier
friend (a far prettier Amanda Seyfried) who is
determined to put a stop to her cannibalistic
proclivities and has to ‘man up’ as
it were, to do so.
Basically, with “Jennifer’s Body”
what we have here is semi-typical horror film
about a possessed girl who eats people. Surprisingly
what elevates it just past being typical is the
pretty decent script by Diablo Cody. You might
remember Cody winning an Oscar for her “Juno”
script, but now she has turned her Joss Whedon
wannabe dialogue to the horror genre. And while
it pales in comparison than anything Joss could
give us, it still rates high enough and is cleverly
entertaining and funny enough to make this a film
that I actually recommend.
Looking past the mannequin in the starring role,
the rest of the cast delivers promising performances
that make the movie a fun watch. Seyfriend especially
does a great job as she turns from mousy to mighty.
Here’s an actress that we should be keeping
our eyes on. Add to this the excellent special
effects work by the masters at KNB, and “Jennifer’s
Body” becomes a delightfully bloody good
time.
20th Century Fox’s Bluray release of “Jennifer’s
Body” offers an awesome transfer considering
there are so many dark scenes in the movie. The
contrasts are string where they need to be and
when it needs to be colorful, the colors really
pop. The film also offers a lot of action scenes
and loud pop/punk songs mixed in with the dialogue,
all of which sounds perfect on a good surround
system.
The Bluray also gives you the opportunity to
watch either the theatrical version or the director’s
cut, and I would have to go with the latter. As
opposed to just adding in scenes, there is a lot
that was re-edited and the whole flow of the film
just works better. This should have been the version
released. As for features, there are commentaries
on both versions. During the theatrical version
you can listen to director Karyn Kusama and Diablo
Cody laugh their way through various insights
on the film as well as differences between the
two versios. Alternatively you can listen to just
Kusama during the director’s cut, but she
isn’t nearly as interesting on her own.
You’ll also find some deleted scenes, a
gag reel and some video diaries by some of the
cast and crew. Most of these aren’t anything
special, but fans of any of the actors might get
kick out of them. There’s a better than
average ‘Making of’ featurette that
actually offers some good info during its short
running time. Fox has two featurettes of her own,
the first allowing her to do a PSA about Peer
Pressure (which is a joke), the second trying
to show us how hot Megan Fox is supposed to be
(which isn’t a joke, but should be). Finally,
there is a lengthy interview of Diablo Cody by
some kids who are still in film school (as opposed
to stripping before becoming an Academy Award
winner…).
As much as I cannot stand Megan Fox (and no,
it’s not the ‘I’m jealous cause
I can never have her’ type of despise –
she really is only average at best), “Jennifer’s
Body” was a fun watch, and a better than
average horror comedy.
Directed by: Karyn Kusama
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons,
J.K. Simmons, Amy Sedaris, Adam Brody
Extras: Theatrical and Unrated Versions; Commentary
on the Theatrical Version by Director Karyn Kusama
and Writer Diablo Cody; Audio Commentary on the
Unrated Version by Director Karyn Kusama; Deleted
Scenes; The Dead Pool; Cast & Filmmaker’s
Behind the Scenes Video Diaries; Gag Reel; Megan
Fox Extras
Specification: 1080p High Definition (1.85:1);
English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 11/29/2009
MPAA Rating: R
http://www.foxbluray.com
We'll give Jennifer's Body (Bluray) a B-.
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