If ever there was a star-making vehicle, it’s Jennifer’s Body. Regulated to toiling in the shadow of the Transformers, Megan Fox gets the spotlight to herself here and takes full advantage. As Jennifer, a small-town minx who winds up possessed by a demon, the actress delights in dominating the screen, preening, teasing and munching on anyone who gets in her way. It’s obvious she’s having a good time in this gore-drenched exercise and we can’t help but laugh at how audaciously sexy and violent she and the film become.
Matching her step-by-step is Amanda Seyfried as Needy, Jennifer’s best friend who makes some hard choices to save her wayward pal. Fox is center stage but Seyfried shows her chops as Needy grows into a kick-ass warrior. Diablo Cody’s (Juno) script crackles and director Karyn Kusama deftly juggles the film’s many tones. Though it runs out of steam in the end, this Body is worth examining. Girl power never looked so sexy or genuine.
Contact Chuck Koplinski at ckoplinski@usd116.org.
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2009.
