The answer: A resounding, blood-curdling YES!
Our story starts off in Hell. Seems that Freddy Kreuger has been stuck there for some time, unable to strike at the children of Elm Street any more. Why does this sad state exist? Because they no longer fear him. In a move which retroactively explains the part of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 which didn't make sense, we learn that Freddy is not as all-powerful as he seemed in his own films. Kreuger then hatches a plan -- scouring the depths of Hell, he finds the perfect tool to put the fear back into the children of Elm Street -- the unkillable being Jason Vorhees! Impersonating his mother, Freddy goads Jason back to the land of the living, and immediately dispatches him to Elm Street -- knowing that once he kills, everyone will blame Freddy Kreuger, thus generating the fear he needs to have the power to kill!
This conceit, that Kreuger needs fear in order to have any power, is very neatly done. Not only does it create a pretty creative method of drawing together the two dissimiliar icons, but it also addresses the issue that Freddy (as well as Jason) have become so familiar to us as fans and moviegoers that they really do lack the ability to truly scare us anymore. Kreuger, who started out as an all-too-real source of nightmare fuel, would devolve by the later films in his series (save New Nightmare, which really isn't part of the series anyway) into more of a clown more than a maniac, his antics and puns the main draw for audiences. Jason, too, was no longer the bogeyman he once was. As his films became more mechanical and his kills more creative, the Friday the 13th films became more and more "fan-only" affiars, designed pretty much to showcase effects and Jason's badass-edness. Even the superlative Jason X was pretty much designed for fans and little else.
Which is not to say that Freddy Vs. Jason is not designed for the fans, because it clearly is. But I think that the script, credited to several writers, as well as director Ronnie Yu were more interested in making the two characters palatable again while still dishing out heaping helpings of fan service. I think that really is the best way to handle a project of this type -- too much catering to the fanboys inevitably produces crap, while a complete re-imagining of the characters alienates your core audience. So a mix of these two takes is what they aimed for, and they hit the nail on the head.
I think one of the biggest concerns I had going into Freddy Vs. Jason is the handling of Jason himself. As you can see here, I am a fan of Jason being portrayed as a force of nature, and not sympathetic at all. After Ken Kirzinger was cast over Kane Hodder due to having "sympathetic eyes," I really became worried. Thankfully, my fears were assuged quickly -- while there is some of Jason's origin which can be veiwed in that light, for the most part he is his old self. And I do mean that quite literally, as Jason comes across more as the killer from Friday the 13th Part III and Friday the 13th Part IV than his later films. We feel for him when we see his origin, but in the present we feel nothing of the sort for him. Jason is, if anything, more like himself than usual -- his kills are not the effects setpieces they would be in the later F13 films, for good or bad. Personally, I like this choice, because it helps to point out the difference in the two star's main methods of disposing teens. Hodder's screen presence is of course missed, but Kirzinger acquits himself nicely and plays old-school Jason very well. He looks more like a provincial hick retard than an undead ghoul, and I think that's a good thing.
This brings me to another point I want to make about not only Freddy Vs. Jason but about both series as well. Hey, critics? Stop saying that slasher films need to be self-reflexive to survive in this market, alright? Not only is that patently false, but the bottom fell out on that concept about 4 years ago. Secondly, please stop pointing out the formulas of these films as if you are some sort of Nobel-calibur scientist for figuring it out. We KNOW there is a formula, and we enjoy it for the most part. And finally, do a LITTLE research before you write your tripe, hmmm? Because I hate to break it to you, Robert K. Elder of The Chicago Tribune, but New Nightmare is about as far away from being a "stalled attempt to reinvent the character" as is humanly possible, and Jason X is not "a self-referential meta-movie." Thank you, drive through please.
Essentially, Freddy Vs. Jason is a NOES film. That's pretty much the only way you can make a film with Freddy Kreuger in it. So for the most part the film is about Kreuger, and the teens, being Elm Street kids, are focused a lot more on him than on Jason. Having said that, though, for this viewer, any time that Vorhees is on the screen he owns it pretty much outright. He has such a huge presence that he just dominates any scene he is in. He's so dominating, in fact, that even Freddy realizes it! I don't want to spoil anyone, so swip below to see what I am talking about.
At the beginning of the finale at Camp Crystal Lake, the heroine Lori drags Kreuger back from the Dream World. Once he figures out that he is back in the real world, Kreuger suddenly realizes that Jason is RIGHT BEHIND HIM. The look on Kreuger's face as he turns around in disbelief is simply classic, and a very good indicator of just how good Rober Englund is at being this character!
The killings are all very well done. Jason is, as I said, more old school here, so a lot of his best work is handled with the machete and other similar impliments of death. Freddy, as usual, gets all creative, but they are for the most part well realized and very appropriate. The effects hold up very well, and the makeup on both Jason and Freddy is well done. Jason's design is a little different this time around, and the fact that he has two eyes is a bit strange at first, but it works in the end.
Now I know what you are all asking about: WHO WINS?! Well I'm not telling, nyah! But I will say that the fights that these guys have are downright sick. The battles rage both in the Dream World and the real world, and both combatants get their moments to shine. There is blood and gore galore, and I don't think anyone will be disappointed in the epicness of how everything is realized. This is one film which truly lives up to its hype.
I could go on -- about the level of gore, about the teens, about the storyline, about the kills, or any number of other things. But I will not do that because, frankly, I think the film speaks for itself. Its a completely entertaining, satisfying romp which hits all the right buttons to push it to the next level. It's not self-reflexive at all, which is possibly the single greatest trait the film posseses. Sure, there is some humor here (like any NOES or F13 film), but that never detracts from the fact that this is a serious entry in both series, able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the best either has to offer. The verdict is in: Freddy Vs. Jason ROCKS. You KNOW you want to see it, so go see it. NOW! Unless you think you can survive the horror that is... missing out?!
