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Carrie (2013), R, 2.5 stars

Julianne Moore watching Chloe Grace Moretz getting ready for the prom.
Mostly, everybody I know has seen the original movie from 1976 by Brian De Palma. Sissy Spacek as the title character did a great job conveying her shyness and inability to fight off against the bullies in the beginning. I felt sorry for her, but there is more that meets the eye. But, Piper Laurie really had a great performance as the overprotective, Catholic mother who is fond of her religious beliefs. With this remake, do the filmmakers have the skills and discipline to create a better movie than the original?

You all know the story if you have seen the original. The movie starts out with Carrie (Chloe Grace Moretz), a high school senior with three months left of the year who is showering in the gym and she sees blood down her legs relevant to her menstrual period. She does not know what menstruation means and she thinks she is dying. Because of that, the girls in their underwear throw napkins and tampons at her. One of the girls records the event on her phone. The gym teacher (Judy Greer) escorts Carrie to her office and comforts her.

Her mother, Margaret (Julianne Moore) picks Carrie up from school early. She declares Carrie's period as a sin. She controls Carrie by putting Carrie into a "prayer closet" and performing religious antics towards her. Carrie screams and she makes a crack at the door. Her mother and Carrie are both surprised, so Carrie researches and finds out that she has telekinetic powers.

Miss Desjardin, the gym teacher, informs the girls who threw tampons and bullied Carrie will receive detention, otherwise, if they do not, they will be suspended three days and be banned from prom. Desjardin discovers the video on YouTube and it is likely that it was the girl who recorded the video named Chris (Portia Doubleday). Chris' father threatens to sue if her suspension cancelled but after the discovery, he urges her to hand Desjardin the phone to prove her innocence, but she refuses.

Of course, Carrie learns how to control her telekinesis powers. Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde) wants to try to make up to the incident. She asks Tommy Ross (Ansel Elgort) to take Carrie to the prom to have a good time. Tommy asks her and Carrie is initially confused but she accepts. I wonder what may happen during the rest of the movie.

Moretz as Carrie is very shy.
The movie has a lot of good things in it for a remake. I mean, it is better that a lot of horror movie remakes. But, it is basically the same movie for a younger generation with a lot of technology such as IPhone and YouTube. Even though the horror is still mesmerizing and scary, it is actually a good-looking movie.

I do praise the style and look of the movie, but I mostly did not find the performances that revolutionary. Moretz is a very pretty young actress but I did not see the vulnerability and shyness as a whole compared to Spacek's. I mean, I did see sparks of it but I did not fully believe it. Julianne Moore is a great actress but I felt like she was stale as a religious-fanatic mother and was not as threatening as I would have hoped to be. Most of the young teen actors' performances were forgettable. The only performance I thought had pep and presence is Judy Greer. I thought she nailed the sympathetic "gym teacher" role.

I will admit that I don't really consider Brian De Palma's 1976 version a great movie, but a good and fun flick about getting back at the people who bully you. The message is that bullying can not just harm the victim, but yourself. It's definitely shown in the infamous prom scene. But, it's the same message in the remake. It's a good remake at best, but I cannot fully recommend this remake. I felt like this was a well-made, but unnecessary movie.

**1/2

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