Vampire Academy, a novel written by Richelle Mead - Film directed by Mark Waters, Screenplay by Daniel Waters. The Vampire Academy series have always had a special place in my heart as well as on my top ten favourite series of all time. So needless to say, I was bouncing off the walls at the thought of it being made into a movie. It was THE movie I had anticipated since I first picked up Richelle Meads VA and absolutely fell in love with the humorous and beautiful novel that had elements of both light and dark. I could sit and read VA in one sitting without even thinking about it. I love it, and so I had high hopes for this film. My first concern was that the water brothers had taken on this film to adapt for the big screen. Dont get me wrong, I think they are a great element in the film making world, having brought us Heathers and Mean Girls. However, the thought of this adaptation turning out like one of these stand along films felt... wrong. Yes, it's a movie that starts off being set in a high school... but it needs to be said that it is far from a cheesy high school drama. There are certainly elements of this, specifically in the first book, but there is this beautiful darkness about the book that is thrilling and makes it such a good read.
Soooo.... when went to see VA: Blood Sisters, I was sorely disappointed. Bluntly, the film was over the top loaded with humor, it had this weird crazy atmosphere that was even unrealistic (yes im aware its a vampire film... but if youve read the book, you know what I mean -- what the eff was with the headmistress?!?). It was a short film by this decades standards, and therefore the film came off as rushed and the story had no depth behind it. The relationships were not built up whatsoever, so Lissa and Christian came off as very unromantic, and I dont even want to say it.... but Rose and Dimitri? There was no building of their relationship/sexual tension, so much so that during the famous necklace scene I even felt a bit creeped out that they were geting freaky. The wonderful relationship they share in the book breaks their age barrier in a beautiful and equal way, whereas the film was... shudder inducing. In a bad way.
There was also a fairly tacky voice over by Rose during the whole movie, which I would consider as 'info-dumping'. I understand it is a tad complicated trying to explain the moroi, strigoi, damphir thing, but it was like 'hey theres this, this and this in my world...BOOM now you know all'. Umm okay, thanks Rose. Not to mention the fact that the info-dumping didn't even stop with the voice overs -- it was obvious that they needed to throw characteristics into the dialogue because they hadn't written the characters to actually PORTRAY those qualities. An example I will give is that, readers of the book know that Rose is the impulsive, fierce, fiery and protective guardian, whereas her other half, Lissa, is regal, quiet, humble and all things pure and good. Sure, in the film, Roses humor and impulsivity shone through like a wild-fire (a bit OTT as previously stated), however Lissa did not come off as the aforementioned characteristics. And the info dumping? I cant remember the exact line, but there was a piece of dialogue from rose - "Im the impulsive one and you're the cautious one" ... almost as though the writers were all like... Oh, maybe we havent reaaaally shown that, so Rose, you explain this to our audience. Gee thanks Water brothers.
This scenes flew by, and were fast and choppy and was actually quite difficult to follow, even for someone who has read the book over 5 times over. And there were so many differences that I didnt think was necessary. The beginning scenes, arriving at the academy for one thing, where a strigoi fight was thrown in there randomly. It was cinematic, for sure, but it felt a but premature. And I specifically remember turning to my partner in awe, within 5 minutes of the movie starting and saying "This never happened.... the differences have started already. So it begins..."
So there were moments I enjoyed, moments were I laughed, and TBH, I loved Mason, I think he was swell and that relationship came off just fine. But mostly, everything happened to quickly, when VA was a movie I wanted to savour and lap up (like the film 'catching fire'), so I couldnt help the disappointment that radiated off of me. I dont even want to begin to describe Headmistress Kirova, who acted like a psychopath with her long fake nails and creepy dialogue. Basically, it made the movie seem like a joke the way they portayed the atmosphere of the academy. It wasnt great. it wasnt even good.
\I give this movie a 2/5,
my lowest ever rating, because I was not a hampy camper when watching this film, and it was the one book to film adaptation I begged to the gods for them to get right. Hopefully there are sequels, and hopefully they get those right. Because dear gods, I want to see Adrian brought to life! SO SO BAD!
Any comments? Any opinions? Don't agree with me? Let me know! :)
x Chloe
No comments:
Post a Comment