Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

source: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is everything but its title would suggest. While the film certainly benefits from Zac Efron's chilling yet charismatic rendition of the most notorious serial killer to have ever lived, the story as a whole is rather stale, generic & underwhelming that fails to truly engage, unnerve & alarm us.

It's not an awful movie, but it never really takes off. The mistake was not showing anything of the murders. We're only shown Bundy's public persona, so it's impossibile to watch the movie with feelings like horror or disgust for his double personality and his crimes. We just see a charming character that "probably" has something to hide. The contrast between his crimes and his happy family life would have been a punch in the gut, but is nowhere to be found. Other flaws include some bad dialogues and horribly staged dramatic scenes.

My wife and I found this film very boring theres no flow to the movie what so ever. Zac Efron in fairness looked a lot like Ted Bundy but that's the only positive regarding the movie. Avoid

Given the horrendous rapes/murders/defilements Ted Bundy committed, characterized by the judge as "extremely wicked, shockingly evil, and vile" this was a tame almost boring portrayal of this story, more suitable as a Lifetime Movie than a feature film. I had a stronger feelings reading about his crimes in Wikipedia than watching this. In fact for the dozens if not hundred plus rapes/murders he committed, this presentation barely showed a couple of them, it seemed more focused on the conman side of the story, how he constantly duped those who trusted him, again more of a Lifetime Movie Network angle than what should've been a real shocker of a film.

Ted would have loved this movie. Once again, he is the star and center of attention. Not only is Ted played by heartthrob Zac Efron, but he also gets almost two hours of screen time to manipulate us so we feel sorry for him. What more could a sociopath ask for? Meanwhile, the women that he murdered are treated as a simple plot device. We learn nothing about who they were, and what they might have become. Their names are on screen for 30 seconds at the end of the movie. A token gesture, after their deaths have been exploited and their killer humanized. Ted was extremely wicked, but you would never know it by the sympathetic, charming, and tragic portrayal he receives in this movie. Go read the actual details about his crimes, and you will agree he was pure evil and better off forgotten.

Sauce

You are better off watching other documentaries about Bundy or the several other Bundy movies prior to this one. This movie sucks bigtime. Zac Efron looks alot like Bundy, that's about it. I have no clue why this movie is getting high ratings, it very very boring.

First the good. Solid work from the actors, particularly Efron, Parsons and Milkovich. The costuming and set design was spot on, especially the Miami court room. Now the not so good, there is just too much to unpack with Ted Bundy to cover in 110 minutes. The movie has to gloss over so much material to fit time constraints. We only mildly see Bundy's manipulative skills. We never see the psychopathy. Without more detail and more insight into the crimes, the movie is really just flabby and flaccid. To me, this movie would have been better served as a mini series so we could see the beginnings and evolution of Bundy and his relationships.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is kind of a terrible name, but it offers an interesting perspective on the story of Ted Bundy. However, I feel like this fictionalized account is a companion piece to Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, also directed by Joe Berlinger, as they kind of balance each other out. In the documentary, you hear and see many of the horrible things Bundy did, whereas in this film, you see how he deceived those around him. It's a bit unsettling how charismatic Zac Efron is as Ted Bundy, but I guess that's kind of the point.