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One thing that can ruin an adaptation for me is the way that the film bridges the gap from the book. How can you introduce the audience to the universe of the book who haven't read it? I can't speak of how well the movie explained the world because I read the books recently, so I was able to fill in the gaps where I needed to. What I hated? The voice overs by Rose with the Powerpoint style slides and words floating over the screen. I felt like I was in high school again with a corny slideshow from my science teacher. It was so distracting. I usually find myself saying this to authors, but the script writers really should learn to show instead of tell.
Vampire Academy had too much of an immature vibe to it. Everything was turned into a joke. The books were rather poignant about friendship, growing up, and falling in love. The movie deviated from that feel greatly. In the books, a critical part of the story is that Rose can sometimes see through Lissa's eyes and experience what she is because of the shadow kissed bond. I always took it that Rose completely went into Lissa's mind. In the movies, she can simultaneously be in Lissa's mind while cracking lame jokes and giving unneeded commentary. Spare me.
Another thing with the immaturity is the jokes about Twilight. I'll be the first to admit that I don't like Twilight (the books). But I think that the writers forgot that Vampire Academy is a vampire movie with vampire in it's title. There are several jokes cracked about vampires and Twilight. Come on. This is a vampire movie. Own it. Don't make yourself a joke.
Mia's response? "I'll just water magic myself." Sigh. |
This tells you everything you need to know. |
All in all, this adaptation was a huge failure for me. I think the young adult vampire adaptations have long hit their high point. With the success of The Fault in Our Stars, I hope Hollywood will pay attention and go the contemporary route for awhile. I just know that I cannot sit through another disaster like Vampire Academy again.
This was supposed to come out in the UK on February 14th, then it moved to April and then June and now it is going straight to DVD.
ReplyDeleteI have not watched it but based on the trailer, I agree with you. This film really looks like a joke. They have ridiculed some of the deeper concepts of the film and the whole licking the wall thing? Did that even happen in the books?
It well and truly flopped at the box office and supposedly the director has been quoted saying that he regretted making this film! I don't think we will ever see a sequel!
Thanks for sharing! :) xx
Alex @ The Shelf Diaries
I can see why it went straight to DVD! It was terribad.
DeleteI don't even remember if the wall licking happened in the book. But if it did, it was so trivial that it wasn't worth remembering. In the film, it becomes a rather awkward joke. Plus, having Sarah Hyland's character do it was even worse. She really was such a terrible choice for the film.
I truly hope there's no sequel. Maybe in ten years, someone will do a remake and do it proper justice!