Oct. 28th: Freddy vs Jason (2003)

Freddy vs Jason (2003)

Directed by Ronny Yu

               Crossovers are kind of rare, it seems that instead of sharing money, studios would rather not make any at all.  That’s how it was for years with New Line and Paramount.  Paramount eventually sold the Friday the 13^th Series to New Line, but of course there was still obstacles.  Jason Goes to Hell gave us a tease at the end, but we had to wait 10 years after for it to become reality.

               Freddy vs Jason is about Freddy Krueger using Jason Voorhees to strike fear into the people of Springwood in order for him to regain his ability to kill in dreams.  Yeah it is kind of odd but it was going to be difficult to bring these two slasher giants together regardless.  Basically Jason starts murdering people, and doing it well, in typical Jason form.  Freddy starts getting pissed because Jason is taking his kills away from him, and now they have to face off against one another.  In order to even the playing field the teens drug Jason asleep and drive him to Crystal Lake, pull Freddy out and Jason gets the home field advantage.

               The acting is decent, at least for the genre.  Monica Keena plays Lori the “final girl” she’s likable and very pretty, but as a virginal final girl next door she falls a little short for me.  Why?  She’s just too sexy.  In the way that her looks aren’t plain enough.  Think about Heather Langenkamp in the first Nightmare, she was attractive? Yes, but she’s not the girl that teen boys would lust over.  Katharine Isabelle is a little wasted in this movie, she’s really solid and probably the best actor in this movie, aside form Robert Englund.  Her character doesn’t last too long and that is disappointing. Kelly Rowland as Kia is a little annoying, and I’m not sure how she got this role aside from being in Destiny’s Child.  Mentioned earlier, Robert Englund reprises his role as Freddy Krueger and he’s great.  Englund gives every role 110% no matter how ridiculous it is, and that is professionalism.  Playing Jason this time around is Ken Kirzinger, a hulking actor standing 6’5”.  He does a fairly decent job I suppose, but Kane Hodder should’ve been asked to return.  Some of the other characters are dull, we get a Jay from Jay and Silent Bob wannabe, Will the boyfriend, Will’s friend Mark who is kind of crazy, and Linderman the dorky guy obsessed with Lori.

               With these two franchises, gore and special effects are usually a big draw.  This movie doesn’t lack in that category.  We get a bunch of kills.  Some of the best kills involve Jason folding up a douche in a bed, which is awesome.  Another memorable one is when Jason spins a guy’s head around on his body which is both hilarious and effective.  Freddy kind of gets overshadowed in the kill category, I think he really only has 2 kills, Jason picks up the slack.  The final battle between Freddy and Jason is full of blood, and violence.  They beat the living hell out of each other and we wouldn’t expect anything less.

               With a versus movie, you instantly talk to your friends about who is going to win.  So who wins in this movie?  Well it isn’t super clear.  While battling in Camp Crystal Lake on a dock, Lori and her boyfriend Will light it ablaze.  Freddy apparently kills Jason, then Lori hacks off Freddy’s head with a machete.  Both slashers fall into Crystal Lake and the movie ends.  The final scene shows Jason walking out of the lake with Freddy’s head in his hand, the camera zooms in on Freddy’s face and he winks.  Kind of lame honestly but I guess it just makes people talk about who won and who lost.  Honestly I didn’t really care who won.

               I saw Freddy vs Jason in theater, at the time I was 16ish, I thought it was great.  Now that I’m closing in on 34 (yikes) I have a different view on it.  It is definitely a product of the early 2000s, the characters are crass at times and largely unlikable, aside from Lori.  The music is decent, mostly metal and hard rock from the time and it fits with the movie.  Some of the scenes are cool like Jason walking through a cornfield while on fire, that was great.  It is a decent shut off your brain and have some popcorn movie.  If you’re looking for something high quality like the original Nightmare on Elm Street, then you’ll be disappointed, but it is better than many other slashers, especially of the 2000s.  I give Freddy vs Jason a C+, it is fun but flawed for sure and worth a watch.