Jennifer's Body

It's hard to tell what to think of this film. First dismissed as trashy titillation, and now revered as an underrated classic of the 2000s, which impression is more accurate? To be honest, it's somehow both at once. The film's strengths and weaknesses follow a "spiky" profile with very strong points and very negative points at the the same time.

Let's start with the positives. Megan Fox was surprisingly adept in her performance as Jennifer, the high school queen turned seductive succubus, with every glance and smile showing her powers of manipulation over the other characters. In other scenes, she expresses fear, insecurity and love, demonstrating Fox's range beyond the shallow first impression many had of her in the 2000s. The other side of the coin is Amanda Seyfried's performance as the bookish and attached "Needy", who goes through her own transformation into a fierce demon slayer. The dynamic between these two characters is the real heart of the film, which is about Needy outgrowing her attachment to Jennifer and her self-centred ways.

Then to the negatives. Unfortunately, the critics are right about much of the film being by-the-numbers slasher fare. The deaths of many characters seemed like the same repeated scenes of idiotic horror film characters walking into their own demise. The film may have been trying to do something original by reversing the genders, but it barely goes beyond the trashy exploitation of Species (1995), and never really made any "empowering" statement to me. The aftermath of those deaths are also handled badly, as the film doesn't really know whether the audience is supposed to hear funny quips and laugh at what's happening, or see traumatised teenagers and feel deeply impacted by what's happening. This whiplash between comedy and horror muddles the emotional stakes of the film, as the protagonist is fuelled by avenging these deaths.

All in all, it's a fun film, it just didn't live up to its potential. It's a real shame that this 6/10 film was not "fully cooked", because the ingredients of a strong 8/10 film clearly lurk underneath and reveal themselves at times - but only for brief moments.

The writer, Diablo Cody, has stated that she never meant for this to be categorized as a "horror" film, which is precisely what happened. This movie is a fine example of a dark comedy. The dialogue is very quotable, and, if you have a twisted sense of humor and enjoy sarcasm (as I do), you will enjoy this movie. The "scary" scenes aren't scary; there is a lot of over the top gore. Essentially, this movie mocks teen horror flicks. It plays off of the emo trend to create ironic humor, and the laughs come when you least expect them. It also has a respectable soundtrack. If you've yet to see this, I recommend it as a rental for a night in. You will be entertained. Please realize that this is a comic gem full of snark and wit, and don't expect to be frightened. Sit back and enjoy it for what it is; entertainment.

Clearly this is a movie that polarizes opinion, but I'd urge anyone with a taste for black comedy to give Jennifer's Body a chance. Having finally seen it, I enjoyed myself so much that I was left a little mystified that so many people seem to hate it.

Let's be straight about this, Jennifer's Body isn't awards material, but neither is it trying to be. It's a deliberately cheesy and darkly comic movie that definitely harks back similar movies from the 80s. Some of the darkest parts of the movie had me stifling guilty giggles; that's good black comedy in my book.

I thought the performance from the two leads was solid and enjoyable. Megan Fox played up Jennifer's sexiness, but gave her a subtle undercurrent of insecurity which gave tension to the character. Amanda Seyfried's Needy might not have been the cheerleader but was really the more settled and self-assured of the two characters.

Friendships held since childhood can become somewhat ambiguous as people age. This movie captured that well. To me the kiss between Jennifer and Needy really showed the low-key battle that was constantly raging between them, one they weren't consciously aware of most of the time.

Funniest scene for me involved some extremely shallow hipsters involved in some very dark dealings. Deliciously silly.

So, in conclusion, give this movie a try. There's a strong chance that you'll have a very good time.

I'm quite surprised by the voting the movie received. But then again it goes to show you, that there are quite a few different tastes out there. Jennifers Body isn't the best movie, not this year and definitely not of all time. But it's exactly what you should expect from a movie like this.

Megan Fox plays her role really great, as she did in "How to lose Friends and alienate people" along Simon Pegg. Considering all the media attention she's getting, it must be tough for her to choose her next project. And it's nice to see the girl that was singing and dancing on a Greek island (Mamma Mia), getting her nerd on. She's the "ugly" duckling sort of (yeah I know, if that's ugly, I'm going to marry it) and is a strong counter point to Megan Fox.

The movie is full of ambiguities and that's what I like about it. It has a great script (for a genre movie) and delivers fully on it's premise.

Jennifer and Needy have been friends since childhood. Now in high school, people can't believe that the two are friends, Jennifer, the hot cheerleader, and Needy the geek. All seems well until Jennifer drags Needy to a club to see a band. A fire erupts, and Jennifer is taken with the band. When she comes back, she seems different, she occasionally gets uglier, she always acts like a bitch, and she wears pink and acts all happy while everyone else is morning the loss of some of the students. Why does she act this way, because she has been possessed by a demon. The only way she is able to stay pretty and young is to feed on teenage boys. Now Needy must find a way to rid her friend of the demon, before anyone else is killed.

I enjoyed this movie, and talk about a shocker, I thought this movie was going to be just Megan Fox killing people. And to be honest, I wasn't that far off. It's both scary and funny.