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Jennifer’s Body (2009)

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Posted 8th October 2009 at 11:45 AM by Philleh

Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Fox Atomic

Megan Fox, or to be more specific Megan Fox’s derrière, is the only logical reason I can find to explain the success of Michael Bay’s Transformer franchise, it sure as shit wasn’t the clever plotting, witty dialogue and mesmerising performances that launched those movies to box-office glory; surely? Then we have Juno, a small Indie movie that contains witty dialogue and mesmerising performances, it lacked Megan Fox’s derrière but still went on to box-office glory. Now, the two have merged, and we have a wittily written Megan Fox ass-fest by the name of Jennifer’s Body… can you smell that box-office?

Needy and Jennifer are life-long friends yet they have absolutely nothing in common, other than their mutual “sandbox” love and matching necklaces with ‘BFF’ engraved on them; that’s it. Jennifer is the school hottie and Needy is popular through association, though she will not admit it to her boyfriend, Chip; who’s concerned about Needy’s relationship with Jennifer after she is given strict rules as to what she can wear when they go to a gig. At the gig Jennifer admits wanting to get with the lead singer of the band Low Shoulder, Nikolai and sets about getting in with him. During the gig disaster strikes and a fire erupts and burns the bar down, killing a few locals.

After they escape the fire Nikolai convinces Jennifer to join the band in the tour bus, Needy protests but she agrees to go with them regardless. Later that night, Needy discovers a bloodied Jennifer in her kitchen, she makes demonic screams and is unable to keep food down, spewing up a black discharge whenever she tries. Shook, Needy is left with the mess to clean up when Jennifer runs away. The next day in school Jennifer looks her normal gorgeous self and shuns Needy’s claims about the previous night, blaming it on her over imagination.

As Low Shoulder cash-in off the success of the fire, Jennifer informs Needy of what happened to her; sacrificed to Satan in hopes the band will become successful: what else are Indie bands to do these days? However there’s a glitch, the sacrifice had to be pure and Jennifer isn’t even a “backdoor virgin anymore” and her soul has been possessed by a demon that needs human blood to survive, if it dies – she dies, if it’s “full” then she has supernatural abilities; such as levitation and rapid regeneration. Needless to say, the male populace is about to take a hit in order for her to keep herself looking gorgeous, without blood she begins to deteriorate and look ugly, well, “ugly for Jennifer”.

So we have Megan Fox playing a possessed slut from hell – what’s not to like? A lot actually but there’s still some fun to be had with the film. Fox handles the role well, but Cody’s, at times, piss-poor dialogue can grate and annoy. Certain aspects of the dialogue are too witty for their own good, but being a horror comedy you can forgive it – but some dialogue is absolutely, appallingly, clichéd! I won’t drop the moment that most annoyed me as it’s at a pivotal point in the film, but Jesus – I felt a verbal slap, I pulled away from the film, questioned weather or not I heard what I thought I heard, got the ‘they went there’ nod from my friends, then just shook my head while holding my temple; while in my mind screaming “people DO NOT talk like that - ever!”. It was that bad. For a film that seems to pride itself on its life-like characters, they certainly talk like they’re in a wittily scripted Diablo Cody movie.

Where the dialogue may be the films Achilles heel, overall it’s still a lot of fun. I mean, wannabe Indie band killing a slut in order make a pack with Satan to propel their musical career but instead create a monster? A premise not used enough in the horror genre if you ask me! Those who want to read into it more can always venture down the body transformation route that Jennifer undergoes as the horror and fear that all teenagers feel during this period, but it’s pretty flimsy and has been done before, better too I may add, in Ginger Snaps.

Both films share a lot in common, but whereas Ginger Snaps was aimed at the general public, Jennifer’s Body comes across as a horror movie for the ladies. This is also one of the biggest flaws of the film – it’s so damn bitchy! You will question it all, if these two girls are life-long friends, why the deuce are they always belittling one another; and not a jokey belittling either? The male characters however, are of the stock variety, no depth to them, other than Nikolai as he’s the bad guy of the piece and some time and thought has been spent on writing his character and more importantly, making us hate him.

Jennifer’s Body isn’t going to become the cult classic is so desperately wants to be, but it will certainly entertain for ninety minutes, terrible dialogue aside, it’s a fun little ride and Adam Brody steels the film as the douche bag lead singer of Low Shoulder, Nikolai; who’s song ‘Through the Trees’ is so terribly catchy that you’ll share Needy’s anger towards the song and the band as the film progresses and they become more and more popular due to exploiting the tragedy at the bar, little aspects like this add replay value to the film and will guarantee that most will re-visit after initial viewing.

Directed by: Karyn Kusama

Written by: Diablo Cody

Cast:
Jennifer – Megan Fox
Needy – Amanda Seyfried
Chip – Jonny Simmons
Nikolai – Adam Brody
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