"There Are Things You Don’t Know That Will Shock You Beyond Your Worst Nightmares..."
When it comes to searching Hollywood for A-List stars who adequately fit the bill for portraying an infamous mass murderer, the annoyingly charming Zac Efron (Baywatch) isn't exactly the first person that comes to mind. Following in the footsteps of Charlize Theron who famously won the Academy Award for her transformative performance in Patty Jenkins' 2003 crime drama, Monsters, Efron puts aside the nice-guy image for a cinematic re-imagining of the life of Ted Bundy, the cold hearted serial killer, kidnapper, necrophile and self-proclaimed sociopath who ran riot throughout America during the mid 1970's. Based on The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy by Bundy's former girlfriend, Elizabeth Kendall, and directed by American filmmaker Joe Berlinger, Extremely Wicked sees Berlinger return to the topic of Ted Bundy after his work earlier in the year with the Netflix distributed, Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, and whilst dramatic works always seem to entice a larger audience rather than their documentary counterparts, there is no doubting that the inclusion of Efron opens the door for many more people to have a basic understanding of the single-handed crime spree that was Mr. Bundy.
Whilst Berlinger undoubtedly finds the figure of Bundy remarkably interesting as a contemporary case of just how bad human nature can turn inside just one person, Extremely Wicked annoyingly fails to bring such dedication and obsessive levels of detail to the big screen, with the screenplay at the centre of the drama failing to delve anywhere near past the initial surface of Efron's character as we skip through the beginning of his relationship with Kendall, as played by the marvelous Lily Collins (Tolkien), and the various court proceedings which take place as he finally comes face to face with the justice he truly deserves. Whilst the central relationship between Kendall and Bundy is only minimally developed, it is the performances which really set in stone the crazed bond between the two, with Collins once again outshining her male counterpart after doing so previously in Tolkien, as we observe the faithfulness and guilt-filled resentment of her character as she watches her beloved be accused of crimes beyond the realm of human plausibility. With an electric pacing which zaps the drama rather sharpish towards the finish line, such luxuries ultimately take away any chance of meaningful depth, particularly when it comes to a deeper understanding of Bundy's actions and the many cases brought to court, and for someone with only a brief awareness of the name, the character and the killings, Extremely Wicked is suitably fine for a cliff notes version of one of America's most infamous twentieth century characters, but for real substance and clarity, the documentary will undoubtedly be much better served. Your choice.
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