I'm glad I didn't bet anyone money that I'd pan Jennifer's Body because I ended up thinking it was pretty damn cool. Juno was a movie that I had no love for and I thought I was done with Diablo Cody's brand of dialogue but now I think it's just Ellen Page and Michael Cera I must've hated because found myself in the groove of Jennifer's Body right from the start. It doesn't reinvent the genre but it's distinctly different from its competition and that alone is commendable.The advertising campaign is totally misleading, though. The online ads bear the tagline "Revenge Is Sweet" and that has nothing to do with the movie. It implies that once Jennifer becomes demonic that she sets out to avenge herself against whatever tormentors or high school nemeses she might have. But what I liked about the movie is that demonic Jennifer isn't so different from pre-demonic Jennifer. Once she becomes demonic, it's not as though there's any scores to be settled - after all, this is a girl who already ruled her high school. After the change, she's just a slightly more heightened version of what she already was. The film is really about her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) waking up to what a shit Jennifer is - but I guess that's a more difficult sell for a studio than "revenge is sweet."
Deceptive marketing aside, I hope this movie finds its audience. It isn't sneering down its nose at anyone who actually came looking to enjoy a fun horror movie and it's smart to boot. Check out my full review at Shock Till You Drop.
