So, I saw Vampire Academy at Hoyts about a week ago. I'm really not sure how I feel about it.
Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie despite it's disappointing performance at the box office and the critics' opinions. The movie was predominately for the fans and I'm pretty sure we all loved it even though there were a few things we'd like to change.
I keep trying to remind myself that the actors aren't actually acting the characters from the book, but rather what's scripted. For timing and cinematic reasons the characters were changed a little, and that's something that as a fan of the books, it's hard for me to accept. Nonetheless, casting was spot on.
Lucy Fry's performance was phenomenal. She did a fantastic job as Lissa and I was really impressed with the way she handled Lissa's emotional roller coaster. I wish the movie had a slower pace so we got to appreciate Lissa's transformations and also her developing relationship with Christian.
Speaking of Christian, Dominic Sherwood is hot. You'd be blind to not realise that, and it kinda makes me a little biased in writing about him. The Christian we know from the books is transposed quite well onto the screen, but I feel like there are moments when you're just sitting there thinking huh? But he did a great job, he really did. Hotness aside.
When I first found out that Zoey Deutch would be playing Rose, I freaked out. She didn't seem like a good fit and I was pretty disappointed. Until I saw the movie, of course. She's the perfect Rose Hathaway, I loved almost everything about her performance. There were some cringy one-liners that I wish hadn't made it into the final cut (now that's some frickin' fire magic? really?), but I don't care. Zoey's awesome.
If the VA movie was going to be a direct copy of the book, then I'd want Danila Kozlovsky to jump ship. However, because there are quite a few differences between Blood Sisters and the book, I was able to really appreciate Danila's performance. Sometimes he was hard to understand, but he's all round perfect so it's fine. The way he says Roza made every girl in the theatre swoon.
Sarah Hyland. Hmm, she did a fantastic job as Natalie, I must admit. She got it so right that I can overlook the fact that she looks nothing like a Moroi. Sarah did a brilliant job and I want to hug her for it because at first I was really worried about who would play Natalie. Her final fight scene was really cool, too.
I'd like to point it out now that Sonya Karp's story was altered quite severely. Everything was changed, and although Claire Foy did a magnificent job, I wish we were able to see a Ms Karp that was truer to the original story. In the books she doesn't have anything to do with the attack on Saint Vlads in Shadow Kiss, and yet... Cameron Monaghan's character Mason was so true to the book that I wanted to cry. Perfection, A+. Unfortunately, Mia weirded me out. Sami Gayle is great and all, but the Mia we see in the movie isn't quite on the wavelength we'd like her to be. Ashley Charles' Jesse got a poor storyline, not gonna lie. His thing with Rose just wasn't what I thought it would be. But he's a magnificent actor!
I think the biggest thing about the movie that pissed me off is that they made Headmistress Kirova seem so much more evil than she actually is. It pissed me off and I kept whispering profanity at my friend next to me in the cinema, I mean come on. Having said that, Olga Kurylenko did an awesome job acting all evil. I just hope there's more VA movies so we can see how awesome Kirova actually is. Gabriel Byrne did a great job with Victor, and I don't have any complaints. Superb.
In general, the movie was superb and I'm absolutely thrilled that we got the chance to see such beloved characters come to life. On the other hand, I doubt we'll be seeing any sequels due to how the movie did in theatres. I'm desperate for Frostbite because I need Mason and Eddie. The feeeeels!
If anyone involved with the VA movie's sequels stumbles upon this post (no matter how unlikely), then listen up. In the first book, it's not that dark. So don't go bitching about it being all high school drama. The second book features a main character's death, so how's that for dark? The fans of the books adored Richelle's work and are thrilled with how the movie turned out. We need some sequels, we don't want this movie turning out like Beautiful Creatures. Please, please, please give us Frostbite. We don't care if it's a low budget movie, and we don't care what anyone else says. You want petitions? We'll do it. You want us to rally together and protest? A bit of a stretch, but sure, why not.
I'm sorry for not giving an in depth review, but I couldn't take notes during the film and I've kinda forgotten everything. I'll leave you with this; in the cinema, every single girl there was continuously saying things like I can't deal, oh my god the feels. And that makes me really happy. Well done to the VA Movie team, it was awesome. Even if the fans don't get to see some sequels, we really did enjoy it.
~Sweet, Sassy, Molassy~
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