I don't know where the re-boot of "Friday the 13th" ranks amongst the ten films that came before (eleven if you count "Freddy vs. Jason").  I've only seen the 1980 original and on that level, "Friday the 13th" is a remake that far exceeds its predecessor.

That's not to devalue the importance of the original film.  But a film can be important and still be bad.  The original is horribly paced and Jason (or Jason's mom, rather) picks off the kids without the others knowing until only one is left so there's no group scares.  It is oddly innocent since it's not aware of the conventions it helped to create like "Don't go in a spooky empty cabin in the woods".  And while Tom Savini's effects are good, it's a slasher-film without a lot of suspense and only minor scares.

Fans can argue about the rankings of the other films in the series (Part IV seems to be the most beloved entry) but I don't have the time to see that much Jason Voorhees.  I don't feel like I'm abdicating a responsibility; I would just prefer to watch other, better movies.

With that all said, fans of the slasher genre should have nothing to complain about.  You showed up for some jump scares, some blood, and some titties and you get copious amounts of all three.  Fans of the "Friday the 13th" series showed up for Jason and he's the star of the film and the moment he puts on the hockey mask (he doesn't get it until about forty minutes into the movie), you want to cheer.  The film manages to serve both masters because it's not so insular that today's teens will get shut out from the film nor is it too broad that fans of the original series will feel shortchanged (at least judging from the responses of those who have seen all the "Friday the 13th" films).

There's a brief prologue over the opening credits where we see Ms. Voorhees about to exact her bloody revenge on a survivor girl in 1980 for letting Jason drown, but Mama Voorhees is treated to a bit of decapitation.  It turns out that Jason was less than dead, witnessed the murder, and now his warped, retarded little mind is all about taking out motherfuckers. 

Cut to the present day and we get a little mini-slasher movie where Jason dispatches five teenagers.  It would be a great a little twist to see what we thought was the main cast all killed in the opening twenty minutes but unfortunately, the trailers already spoiled it since we know that there are a lot more characters in the movie.  Nevertheless, after these teens get the business, the title "Friday the 13th" appears and I have to hand it to a film that has the balls to do a twenty-five minute opening.

Sadly, this also leads to a bit of a reset as we're pulled back to another group of teens who will get to survive a little bit longer than the first group but it's basically a way to up the final kill count.  You also know the lead male/"hero" will be Jared Padalecki since he's not a member of the fun-loving teenager group but a guy looking for his sister who was a member of the group that met Jason in the intro.  What's surprising is that none of the teens are irritating.  Yeah, there's a glorious douchebag in the bunch played by Travis van Winkle, but you don't tune out when the kids are on the screen.  You just take a breather.

The film does have its odd moments.  For a dude that's supposed to be "special", Jason is basically like Rambo, setting up traps and alerts all over Camp Crystal Lake.  Furthermore, director Marcus Nispel gives a lot of attention to a sex scene featuring Julianna Gill and her incredible breasts.  It's borderline softcore porn but it's even more bizarre because there's a guy outside the window wearing a hockey mask and wielding a machete.  It's one of the rare moments where Jason isn't threatening but awkward.

Where "Friday the 13th" really thrives are the jump scares and I'm disappointed that some of them are spoiled in the trailer.  But since there are so many of those jump scares and tense moments, "Friday the 13th" largely succeeds at what it's trying to do.  It's not torture porn. It's not a psychological thriller.  It's Jason Voorhees gruesomely taking out teens in a variety of ways.  You know what you're getting going into the film and the most you can ask is that it's done well.  Director Marcus Nispel brings the same skill and talent he brought to the remake of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre".  Jason needed a reboot and this film accomplished that mission.    "Friday the 13th" has returned and it is bloody well done.