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| Release: 2003, Rating: R, Runtime: 97 min. |
After reaching a milestone in my life (i.e. turning 30), I thought it fit to sit down and watch a dumb movie, one that I wouldn’t have to think a lot about, as I am getting much older now and my aging brain can’t take it. So, after seeing a quick snapshot of a badly damaged Jason Voorhees on Facebook, specifically from Freddy vs. Jason, I knew I wanted to give that movie a watch, as it’s been forever since I’ve seen it. So, that’s exactly what I did! However, I guess I really am getting old, as I don’t remember this movie being so dumb…
Short nitty-gritty plot description from IMDb is as follows: Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees return to terrorize the teenage population. Except this time, they’re out to get each other, too.Â
Freddy vs. Jason has a simple plot. Freddy is all but forgotten and Jason is dead as a doornail. However, Fred Krueger has devised a plan, where he’ll make the children of Elm Street remember him again. He searches the bowels of hell and finds Jason Voorhees, stuck in a perpetual looping nightmare, or dream in Jason’s case, where he is stalking the kids of Camp Crystal Lake and butchering them, as they taunt him about being bad and they need to be punished. Freddy appears as Jason’s mother (sadly, Betsy Palmer does not return in the role) and tells him he can’t die and he’s merely sleeping. So, he should wake up and head to Elm Street and teach those nasty kids a lesson.
Jason does just that and starts wreaking havoc on the town of Springwood. People start suspecting Freddy is coming back and this makes the kids start dreaming about him, building his power up. Unfortunately for Freddy, Jason can’t be easily switched off and starts taking kills away from Freddy, rightfully pissing him off. Freddy manages to knock Jason out and torments Jason in his dreams and at the same time the teenagers are devising a plan to bring Freddy into the real world, where the two can duke it out. An hour and 20 minutes later, we finally get to the part we’ve all been waiting for, Freddy vs. Jason, which sadly only last 15 minutes, but, what a fun and bloody 15 minutes it was!
Okay, so don’t get all up in a frenzied fit and try to burn me at the stake when I say FvsJ is dumb. I still really enjoy the movie and the ending makes everything bad that came before it, easily forgettable. However, I can’t believe how poor a lot of everything is in this movie. The acting is poor, from pretty much everyone besides Robert Englund. Monica Keena may look nice on the eyes (before her awful plastic surgery), but her acting is hard on the ears. She can’t convincingly deliver any of her lines with that voice of hers and sadly, she’s the one that should be leading the movie as the heroine! Hell, she even has the tried and tested catchphrase at the end, yet still fumbles the ball on that delivery and don’t get me started on her awful Freddy died by fire and Jason by water line. It’s just awful.
I remember when the movie was announced and that Kane Hodder wasn’t going to be Jason Voorhees, I was a little disappointed, but was willing to give the new guy a chance, that new guy being Ken Kirzinger. After seeing it for the first time, I thought he did a good job, but now seeing it many years later, I don’t really enjoy his performance as much. Jason here is too big and lumbering, always walking around like a zombie, with no real emotion. For the most part I can forgive the look of Jason Voorhees, even though, in the movie’s continuity with the rest of the series, it makes no sense he is now wearing a coat (seriously though, the series was never a stickler for continuity). They did do a pretty good job on the hockey mask, but I do wish they would’ve stuck with the battle damaged look from Jason Goes to Hell, but that wouldn’t of allowed them to show the continuing damage received from Freddy, which makes for an awesome look come the end of the movie.
Now onto Freddy Krueger, the man we love to hate and hate to love. Overall, I say Freddy vs. Jason does a pretty good job with Fred. This movie is very much A Nightmare on Elm Street movie before it’s a Friday the 13th movie (more on this later), so you know Freddy Krueger is going to be treated nicely. The makeup work is pretty good, although a little too clean and rubbery. The glove is pretty gnarly looking, with some nice big blades and Robert Englund easily slides into the role. Englund is Freddy and he always will be (screw that remake shit!).
So let’s get to the best part of the movie, the ending! A stupid plot and bad acting will fly out the window, once Freddy Krueger finally comes face to face with Jason Voorhees! The ending gives you just that and it takes place at Jason’s old stomping ground, Camp Crystal Lake. The blood flies and several limbs are removed, in a brutal and awesome fight to the death. Sadly, it doesn’t last a super amount of time, but what we see is just so freaking amazing. Who wins you may be asking? Well, that’s the interesting thing about this movie, it can totally be up to you. In my opinion, I think Jason Voorhees won, but you could see it otherwise (you’re wrong, Jason totally won).
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| The actress choices however, were never going to win. |
Freddy vs. Jason for the most part is a dumb, dumb movie. However, it does the only logical thing it could think of getting Freddy and Jason on the screen together, which honestly is a ludicrous idea to begin with, but the movie still succeeds in that matter, especially the bloody ending. Overall, Freddy vs. Jason delivers the only thing we can ask for, which is a balls to wall bloody fight between the Dream demon and Camp Crystal Lake zombie. Sadly though, that bloody fight is way too short, so for that, I give Freddy vs. Jason…
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