There are several people out there who think that Abigail Breslin hasn't lived up to her LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE fame, or talent, but I disagree. Both MAGGIE and FINAL GIRL show a different side of Breslin and her talents. While MAGGIE is a quiet zombie flick, that few enjoyed because of the slow space and the talent, or lack of talent, that Arnold Schwarzenegger had in the film. While MAGGIE was a slow burn FINAL GIRL was a slow, but steady burn. The audience knew what was going on from almost the beginning of the movie.
This was an interesting movie, about four young men who liked to hunt and murder young women. This was interesting because the pack mentality was fascinating among the boys, as was the character development. The four young men each have different features, and one even has a long-term girlfriend. The other fun thing for me was the actors were all young men who I recognized from other features when they were younger, so it was interesting.
The idea behind this could have been developed a little more. I would have like there to be a little more direction in the beginning, what facility did Breslin and Wes Bentley (her trainer) work for? How did Bentley get her to go with him as a young child? Where were her parents? Also why did her memory matter as much as it seemed to in the beginning, but not so much later in the film? These were some of the things that bothered me about the movie.
I like the originality of the film, even if it was somewhat unbelievable. Serial killers are one thing, but the fact that these young men have such a small pool to choose from, and no one has found out who they are, was a little unbelievable. Of course I did like the idea, I wish it had been executed better. However, that being said I wanted to give Miss Breslin props for continuing to develop as an actress. I would like to see her try different things not in the horror genre, but better than the horrible movie that was the DIRTY DANCING remake.
If you have a chance, and one and a half hours to kill, watch FINAL GIRL, it isn't bad.