October 30, 2014

Vampire Academy Gala: A Movie Rant


We've been focused on talking about the six books of the Vampire Academy series for the past few days, so Rachel & I thought it was high time we move to a different medium for the series today. We're chatting - well, more like ranting about the Vampire Academy movie that came out last year. Honestly, I've tried really hard to be objective about the film but... it wasn't a favorite book-to-movie adaptation at all.

First, here are some main points about the movie that I liked/disliked:

+ Zoey Deutch as Rose Hathaway

I seriously think Zoey was the one who most fit my idea of the character in the book. Rose Hathaway is a complex, interesting character, equal parts strong and vulnerable. Zoey managed to do justice to Rose as a character, which is definitely a bit of a relief if you ask me.

+ Comedy
Okay, I like being entertained when watching movies. I like laughing when I watch movies. And while Vampire Academy isn’t necessarily supposed to be funny (though there are funny moments), the movie was just hilarious a lot of the time – and that was actually one reason to like it.

+ Adapting the Book

While certain changes were made to make the screenplay more effective, it actually appears that the film mirrors most of the important events in the book. I can always appreciate that in an adaptation, so I’ll give Vampire Academy bonus points.

- Overall Tone

I know, I know, I said I enjoyed the hilarity. And I did! But the thing is Vampire Academy has a lot more substance than the movie made it seem. It makes me sad that the way these characters + their story is portrayed is a lot less serious than the way it is in the novel.

- Sarah Hyland as Natalie Dashkov, Danila Koslovsky as Dimitri Belikov

I’m not overly fond of most of the casting done in the film. While I can tolerate the actor and actress cast as Christian and Lissa, I just felt like the casting for Natalie and Dimitri were not quite what I pictured when I read Vampire Academy. I’m particularly not happy about Dimitri’s casting.

- The Locket Scene

If you want to know which scene made me laugh the most in the Vampire Academy movie, it would be this one. In the book, it has a different feel. In the movie, it’s just plain ridiculous, which makes it so freaking funny. I could not stop laughing.

Overall Opinion: Honestly, if the main purpose of the Vampire Academy is to entertain viewers, it succeeded there. I laughed a ton while I watched the film, which is always a welcome surprise. But really, because I had enjoyed Vampire Academy (the novel), I expected more from the film. I wanted to fall in love with all of these characters, and to feel the tremendous stakes in their story - and I didn't get that at all. Instead, what was produced was pretty average, and I am, sadly, not much of a fan of the film at all.

Here are the posts you might have missed in the past few days:
Welcome + Giveaway || Hello, Chelly
Mini-Reviews of Books 1-3 || Alexa Loves Books
Mini-Reviews of Books 1-3 || Hello, Chelly
Mini-Reviews of Books 4-6 || Alexa Loves Books
Mini-Reviews of Books 4-6 || Hello, Chelly

5 Comments:

  1. I was kind of disappointed with this one too. It was funny and all but by the end I didn't feel much satisfaction. I feel like some parts were done well, but the movie as a whole wasn't for me.


    -Mari

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  2. I totally agree with you RE: casting of Dmitri (I didn't mind Natalie, but I kinda like Sarah Hyland anyway) and the locket scene. Ridiculous, but I did like it a lot more than I expected to.

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  3. Ugh, sad face. Yeah this movie had it's funny moments but just NOT what the book was all about to me. Le sigh.

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  4. Of course I haven't seen this movie because I'm so OCD about not seeing movies before books but I haven't heard much positive reaction from book lovers. That makes me sort of sad. I probably won't watch it unless it's just on somewhere because I don't spend much time watching TV or movies anyway. Thanks for sharing about this one!

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  5. Sounds like you liked the film overall - I did too! I loved that it was funny and Zoe was an amazing Rose. I think Lissa's casting could be improved as well. I've read so manny reviews saying they hated it because VA is not a comedy and that it wasn't true to the books. I think a lot of people forget though that all of that petty high school drama is VERY present in book 1 and it isn't until the following books that things get very dark and more serious.

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