page_title: Friday the 13th (2009 film)
section_title: Critical response
hierarchical_section_title: Friday the 13th (2009 film) / Reception / Critical response
caption_attribution_description: Aaron Yoo at TIFF 2008 (cropped to removed autograph signing)
context_page_description: Friday the 13th is a 2009 American slasher film directed by Marcus Nispel and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift from a screen story by Shannon, Swift and Mark Wheaton. It is a reboot of the Friday the 13th film series, which began in 1980, and is the twelfth installment. Nispel also directed the 2003 remake of Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, while Shannon and Swift wrote the screenplay for the 2003 crossover Freddy vs. Jason. The film was produced by Platinum Dunes and Crystal Lake Entertainment and distributed by New Line Cinema and Paramount Pictures. It stars Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Aaron Yoo, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle, and Derek Mears and follows Clay Miller as he searches for his missing sister, Whitney, who is captured by Jason Voorhees while camping in woodland at Crystal Lake.
  The film was originally conceived as an origin story, but the project evolved into a re-imagining of the first four Friday the 13th films. The character Jason Voorhees was redesigned as a lean, quick killer with a backstory that allows the viewer to feel sympathy for him, but not enough that he would lose his menace.
context_section_description: Based on 172 reviews collected by review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Friday the 13th has a 26% approval rating from critics with an average score of 4.18/10. The consensus reads: "Though technically well-constructed, Friday the 13th is a series rehash that features little to distinguish it from its predecessors." Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 34 based on 29 reviews. CinemaScore polls reported that average grade cinemagoers gave the film a "B-" on a scale of A+ to F. Exit polls showed that 51% of the audience was male and 59% were at least 25 years old.
  Alonso Duralde wrote that the film should please slasher fans, but that it added nothing new to the genre or the franchise and would not appeal to people who did not like slasher films. Duralde criticized the film for adding a black and an Asian character in an attempt to "update the movie for the new millennium". He also said the prospect of another Friday the 13th—crafted by the film's "sequel-friendly" ending—did not leave him with a feeling of dread. Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic said the film accepts the "ridiculousness" of what it is trying to accomplish—mainly the "death and dismemberment" of "party-hungry kids", and that audiences would enjoy it if they also recognized that. Although Goodykoontz acknowledges the unique touches the film brings to certain characters' deaths, he was unimpressed with the acting and said Padalecki's presence gave the film a "less-good episode of Supernatural" vibe.
  The Washington Post's Dan Zak wrote that the film fails to provide laughs, scares, suspense, or gore. Zak also said it fails to provide the exhibition of nudity expected of horror films that cannot deliver on the previously listed criteria. Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times said Nispel captured the despair he created with his Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. Olsen also said the film failed to provide the "giddiness", "teenage lust", and "rambunctiousness" that made the previous Friday the 13th films work. Wesley Morris said Friday the 13th did have humor; he said the characters continually act the clichéd role of would-be-victim, making it hard to fear for their safety. In his opinion, the 2009 film lacked the "psycho-social" aspect—a mother killing out of revenge for her son's death—crafted by its 1980 predecessor, and ultimately the film is "more hilarious than terrifying".
  The New York Post's Kyle Smith said Nispel made no attempt to create a movie beyond blood and guts, and even those attempts were "forgettable". Smith said that apart from Clay and Trent, the rest of the cast were merely "faces in the crowd" with no attempt to give them any sort of backstory. USA Today's Claudia Puig said that the film keeps to the same formula as its predecessors, with a story that adds little to nothing to the franchise. She also said Padalecki and Panabaker filled their lead roles well, and that Aaron Yoo's comic relief made him one of the most likable characters on screen. Rob Nelson of Variety also praised Panabaker and Yoo's performances.
  In contrast to the film's detractors, The New York Times's Nathan Lee said Friday the 13th managed to "reboot the concept" of the original films with style. Lee said the film takes pleasure in killing off each of its characters, that there is a desire among cinemagoers for this type of material, and that Friday the 13th satisfies that desire. Adam Graham from The Detroit News said that it is the most effective and scary film in the Friday the 13th franchise; he praised its choice of allowing Jason to run after his victims—as opposed to slowly walking behind them, as became prominent in later sequels—because it made him more menacing. Graham also said the film does not "soften" Jason's scariness by providing a sympathetic backstory. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times explained his review of the film, he stated: "It will come as little surprise that Jason still lives in the woods around Crystal Lake and is still sore about the death of 
caption: The comic relief of Aaron Yoo's performance as the marijuana-smoking Chewie was praised by some critics.[59][60]
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