Has enough time passed for this one to be considered “classic”? It came out in 2003. Hard to believe that it’s been almost 20 years. There’s such a thing as an “instant classic”, so I figure it’s alright to use the term here. The film is certainly iconic enough.
My memory of this one was spot-on. That is to say, I recalled with accuracy both its strengths and its weaknesses. There are a lot of the former. The story is good, cinematography gorgeous, and the fight scenes are simply terrific. The weaknesses? The script could have used some polishing. The dialogue is clunky in places. The main problem, though, is with the acting. Some of the performances are strong enough, others lackluster at best. I mean, they cast Kelly Rowland for some reason, and her attempts at emoting are at times painful to watch. And what a waste of Katherine Isabelle! They put her in a throwaway role when she could have done so much more.
I’ve said before, and I stand by it, that this movie was about as good as it could have been—but it could have been a bit better, had they addressed the deficiencies. A better script and better actors would have better supported the Jason and Freddy throwdown, which was suitably titanic. In that area, thankfully, FREDDY VS. JASON does not disappoint.