Bringing this story to the "modern" era isn't a bad idea. But there are some big missed opportunities here.

For starters, the movie has the bullies post a video of the "plug it up" incident online. Which could have brought the story to a whole new generation by diving into the modern style of bullying. Instead, uploading the video is just plot lip service and completely inconsequential to the story.

And therein lies Carrie (2013)'s biggest problem. It retells the story relatively closely. It follows the beats we all know and ends with the big, shocking blood bath and destruction we all expect from the story. But there's little to no heart or emotion in the story.

Sure, Carrie is a tragic character who lives under the thumb of her religious zealot mother who despises her daughter simply for existing. But the movie doesn't venture to go much deeper than that broad, paperback synopsis. Characters feel like they're going through the motions without any subtext or depth behind their actions.

Even though the visual effects in the climax of the movie are solid and the scale of the destruction is thrilling, everything else in the movie is just dull and boring. Lifeless.