Blu-ray Review
Jennifer's Body
Directed by: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody, Johnny Simmons
Running Time: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: R
Due Out: December 29, 2009
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PLOT: A high school girl (Fox) unexpectedly becomes a boy-devouring demon. The only person who can stop her? Her best friend, Needy (Seyfried).
WHO'S IT FOR?: The young women who want to see a movie about two BFFs fighting, or the dudes who didn’t get enough of Megan Fox when she ran in slow motion in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Either group has to be prepared for some self-aware camp.
MOVIE:
The horror of Jennifer’s Body is not Megan Fox ripping boys open – it’s that the movie spoils a few times over its chance to be a witty reflection of high school’s many absurdities. Instead it prefers to parody high school trauma, which is a far less unfunny subject than popular girls and dumb jocks. But there aren’t too many laughs to chew on, as most of the humor centralizes from Cody’s made up words or her vendetta against relatively outdated pop culture characters like Hannah Montana or Maroon 5. And even for a dark comedy, Jennifer’s Body has some issues with tone. In the same way that the emulated Heathers failed, jokes are inappropriately placed in the most tragic scenes, which questions how serious even the seemingly pure dramatic scenes should be taken.
The story does have a few spurts of creativity, such as the Satan worshiping indie group Low Shoulder, or the mysterious black hole at the bottom of the town’s waterfall. But most of Jennifer’s Body is disappointingly straightforward – Megan Fox eats dudes while balancing a story of unlikely friendship with the freaked out Needy. The most that Jennifer’s horror can bring to the table is the unusual way her character is a champion of grrrl power.
This movie has a near naked Megan Fox, blood, demon teeth, Adam Brody taking a few jabs at Brandon Flowers of The Killers, and even the return of Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody. But I’ve seen girl fights in high school that were more wholly entertaining.
MOVIE SCORE: 4/10
EXTRAS
Megan Fox Is Hot - A compilation of footage from the film where Megan Fox does "arousing" things. This type of feature has no purpose except to save someone the time of making their own "pleasurable" videomix for something like Youtube.
Video Diaries - Amanda Seyfried, Megan Fox, Johnny Simmons, producer Daniel Dubiecki and writer Diablo Cody were all given handheld cameras to give us some less-serious and personal "behind the scenes" footage.
Megan Fox Peer Pressure PSA - Continuing the dark comedic nature of the movie, this is a brief fake PSA that has Fox recommending you "eat and kill" those who try to turn you into something you're not. Ha ha, I suppose.
Jennifer's Body: The Dead Pool - A detailed explanation of the fight scene that takes place at the indoor swimming pool. Make-up, stunt acting, set design, and other aspects of moviemaking are discussed.
OTHER EXTRAS:
Life After Film School With Writer Diablo Cody Gag Reel Deleted Scenes Commentary with Karyn Kusama and Diablo Cody (Theatrical Version Only) Commentary with Karyn Kusama (Extended Version Only)
EXTRAS SCORE: 6/10
OVERALL
Most of the "behind the scenes" footage from this entire Blu-ray concerns the climactic swimming pool segment, with a lot of disregard to any other big moments from the film. Still, what is available is a decent amount of personal footage that shows cast and crew interacting with the shared of excitement of making a movie as wild as Jennifer's Body. This Blu-ray comes with a digital copy, so those who are gung-ho about Fox's slow motion running sequences in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be able to keep all of her "moments" in their iPods and laptops. As for an audience, this DVD focuses its aim on the Megan Fox audience, as there are two ridiculous features that are all-Fox. At the same time, they are all-together useless if she isn't your bees knees.
FINAL SCORE: 5/10