That's what I felt after seeing this film, Freddy Vs. Jason. Right when they introduced the characters I knew them so well, their personalities, emotions, motives and all, that not one human character could have (or would have tried to) surprise me with ingenuity in their performances. So, that's the downside to Freddy Vs. Jason, a downside that will either poke the viewer harshly in the ribs, or will just remain as the typical, expectedly lame backdrop for the match-up. I felt a little of both, though I tried to be confident that the main show would be worth the Hollywood-ish mish-mash.
The main show, however, is the only reason to see the movie: Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund), the old gent from Elm Street, is down in hell wanting another grab at 'his' children, so he implements a sort of decoy in the form of lake-boy Jason Voorhees, who begins slaying far more than Freddy could want to see for someone other than himself. So, he decides that it's time to kick some a**, and that's when the fun begins.
To die-hards of both series (I like a few from each series, and personally, I'm more for Freddy than Jason in the genre because at least Freddy can give some funny dialog in terrifying moments while Jason stares blankly, except for when his mother calls him) this is like seeing two legends standing up in the ring for a prizefight. Each one has their weaknesses, but they each know who to throw their punches with style, and (we hope) that they can stay invincible until the last round. I won't reveal who wins (they're enough skeeves on the message boards doing that), but what I can say is that if it only wasn't for the people in the movie (I'll exclude the Jay rip-off since he garnered the most laughs) acting so blandly, strategically like how they're told to do in such a piece, this would've been a near excellent horror movie. Never-the-less, that could be considered moot, since that's what's to ALWAYS be expected for these gobledy-gook slasher pieces. The point is, I didn't leave the theater feeling swindled by the hype of the matching (unlike how I would if they ever, EVER decide to make a Superman vs. Batman piece of drek). C+
