Vampire Academy Review + Giveaway
Title: Vampire Academy
Genre: Fantasy, Adaptation, Teen Romance, Action
Release Date: February 7, 2014
Rating: PG-13 (contains Sexual Content, Language, Bloody Images and Violence)
Run Time: 1 hr 44 mins
Distributors: The Weinstein Company
Directed by: Mark Waters
Screenplay by: Daniel Waters
Based on the novel by: Richelle Mead
Zoey Deutch, Danila Kozlovsky, Lucy Fry, Dominic Sherwood, Sarah Hyland, Cameron Monaghan, Sami Gayle, Olga Kurylenko, Gabriel Byrne
Synopsis:
Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir: half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.
Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir: half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.
(source)
Review:
I was absolutely astonished at how much the movie captured the heart and essence of the book. After watching several successful and failed novel to film adaptations, I was a bit apprehensive walking into the theater. However, after the start of the movie, I was completely won over. Although the story is about vampires, the characters themselves are teenagers...yes, teenagers! And, when there are teenagers, there will be teen angst, pranks and bullying....just like in any high school, but this time, this takes place in a vampire high school...hahaha! As for the cast, I found the casting to be spot on! They all portrayed their characters well. Their chemistry on screen as they interacted with each other in character worked. They were able to develop their characters' personalities, quirks and mannerisms. With a balance of teen romance, action, adventure and some humor, it took the edge off the dark and ominous danger that lurks about them.
I was absolutely astonished at how much the movie captured the heart and essence of the book. After watching several successful and failed novel to film adaptations, I was a bit apprehensive walking into the theater. However, after the start of the movie, I was completely won over. Although the story is about vampires, the characters themselves are teenagers...yes, teenagers! And, when there are teenagers, there will be teen angst, pranks and bullying....just like in any high school, but this time, this takes place in a vampire high school...hahaha! As for the cast, I found the casting to be spot on! They all portrayed their characters well. Their chemistry on screen as they interacted with each other in character worked. They were able to develop their characters' personalities, quirks and mannerisms. With a balance of teen romance, action, adventure and some humor, it took the edge off the dark and ominous danger that lurks about them.
Film adaptations/interpretations of YA novels will not satisfy all the fans of these beloved books, since too often fans expect page to page accuracy. But, on film it doesn't always work. Screenwriters are tasked with a difficult job, especially when there's a huge following for the book(s) and the author of these beloved book(s). All I can say is that book fans need to go in with an "open mind" and realize that screenwriters have that difficult task of deciding what will work on screen and what won't work; hence, there will be slight changes on film. As for me, as long as the hear and essence of the story is captured on screen, then I'd say that they were successful in bringing these characters and story to life.
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Although I was not able to watch the movie at the premiere, I was able to snag some autographs from a few of the main cast...Yay! I guess it's giveaway time!
View photos from the premiere, here!
Giveaway
Giveaway
1 Vampire Academy poster signed by Danila Kozlovsky, Dominic Sherwood,
Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry and Sarah Hyland
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