Vampire Academy Movie

Vampire Academy: The movie

Well. This was a highly anticipated movie. There was a mammoth amount of pressure placed on all those related. That's the directors, producers, the screen writers, the costume designers, the marketing committee, etc etc etc and ofcourse the actors.

So of course, even when all is said and done, its pretty damtastically hard to satiate us; members of the VA Fandom, that is.

I mean, its hard enough to make a decent enough movie that the general unassuming public will like, but with those who have read and loved the VA series its much more complicated. You can't just have a good-looking character say some lines and clock some moves. We will scrutinise everything. Hair colour, Accent, Height, Smile is too bright, Frown is n't sulky enough, too old, too young, too nice... you get the idea. Its a tough business.
 But let me tell you something,If I have invested a good portion of my life, reading these books, amercing myself into their world, Missing assignments, and staying up all night, activating zombie mode the following day, cruising, clicking, surfing the net for all things related, having imaginary conversations with the characters in my head, enacting scenes out and putting them up even, and ofcourse taking into account all the tears and laughs, frustration and ecstasy and everything in between, then I deserve a satisfactory-if not exemplary- result. 
We Grew up with these guys. Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Suze Simon, Meghan Chase, Fatty Trotteville, The Baggins and all the other misfits. Rose Hathaway was one of them. Its a honour really.
So, if I'm going to spend another hour of my life and sacrifice a frozen yogurt & pizza for a ticket,It better be good.
Verdict: Under Deliberation
Lets observe the posters:
But before I get into that, Heres my Fan-made Poster:

These are some other pretty awesome one's made by fans:

Love these tagline's:    "Don't Hesitate"
                 "Love & Loyalty run deeper than blood"

And now for the "Official" ones: 
#1:

"THEY SUCK AT SCHOOL" SERIOUSLY?

They should totally let the fans be the marketing committee in the least. I mean,that one statement has multiple disturbing innuendoes, none of which are especially funny.

And its so out off character, because Rose would be offended, its definitely not upto her standards, and lissa would just be a little horrified. 

And what is with the pink vandalised lockers? 

So basically, Fire the bloody marketing group

This one is relatively better, but not really...

I mean, they're brand of Vamps that are n't Immortal, So really, whats the point of that statement? "Friendship is forever"

Now, see that little quotation, "From the director of Mean Girls" ? Well, it was evident. 

A Lot of people have been complaining about this, But hello! The first book is supposed to be relatively lighter and less complex. That's what makes the whole experience that much more epic. You look back and see how much they've grown, and laugh at how comparatively small and amateur they're problems seem. While still acknowledging that it was essentially the start of a journey to remember, and all that jazz

Besides, I thought Mean Girls is one of The Chick-flicks?

I accept some parts did have a parody like hilarity to it, for instance,

When Christian {♥ love Him BTW} threatens Mia,

For the most part I thought the dialogue was n't bad, and there were quotes from the book, so yay! But then. Times like the above. I mean, he says it with so much of conviction, but that line ... *_* like,did a 9 year old write that? How about,

" I will burn you to ash" or " I will char the flesh off your bones" ... But oh well. I loved Christian's performance. It was him I saw. 

Then theres the whole Death Threat on the wall in blood, I mean, They're essentially vampires, Blood is a daily occurrence for them, You'd think they'd use something anti-vamp.The whole point is Morbidity right? Also, 

"If you stay 

you're dead" 

-____-

Pretty lame huh?

But then you realise which dumbasses were responsible for it, 

and then you're more like,

"Eeh makes sense. Impressed its grammatically correct!"

Well,ignoring the missing comma :D

Then there's the scene:

 When Mia is antagonising Lissa with typical Mia comments:

"Why were you in the hospital?Pregnant?Herpes?Maybe your baby has herpes?"

And Rose interjects & punches Mia in the face :

But Point being, I still laughed my head off, and the fact that Rose acknowledges the hilarity in the circumstances and in a flippant manner, cuts it out from the "Lame" Category and into the "Hehe" one. 

I loved Zoey Deutch as Rose. Fans had suggested the cheerleader girl form One Tree Hill, Sophia Bush. But personally I think Zoey is much better than she could have been. Zoey has that youthful naiveté and yet that cynical sarcasm and easy raptor. 

She played Rose perfectly. Now if she can continue to do so, is the challenge.

 Would be interesting to see if she can portray the darker, more maniacal side to Rose which emerges later on, as well as the despair and cold fury.I'm excited about that. 

Hopefully, they continue the series, Because the film grossed just $8 Million after its first month at the box office.

Which is n't all that dandy. 

Now I really do think the movie would have done so much much better had they done more editing.

The devil's in the details.

Because I thought the cast were very well chosen, and they acted well. I connected with them on some level.

First off: The Screen writer, It was n't all bad, But that whole speech Lissa gives, about, "Blood is family, blood is pain" etc etc, I liked it. It has potential. But it needed to be refined. More regal and less High school prom speech :/

Also, Queen Tatiana, she did not have the authoritative and condescending presence she's supposed to. When lissa takes centre "stage", Tatiana just simply fades out and just about disappears completely. She just simply resides.

She's supposed to be astounded, and when Lissa begins, You're supposed to feel the anger simmering. But nope, we got a BotoxBarbie all decked up in fur. I always imagined her to have a presence like The Lady Catherine DeBurgh from the Keira Knightly adaption of Pride & Prejudice. 

Heres a clip from P&P to give you a Idea about how Queen Tatiana ought to be, And if you think about it, Elizabeth Bennet is like a more subtle & confident Rose, in her manner of sarcasm. Besides, I just love this scene :D

                                               

 I kinda wanted Dimitri to be a younger Mathew Macfadyen. 

I mean people where suggesting that Prince Caspian from Narnia aka Ben Barnes and the guy from Nicks Victorious and he acts in Twisted too, Avan Jogia. But I never thought they were intimidating or man enough. No offence intended, I love them in their respected shows, but not for Dimi. Just cause they have the customary long black hair, does n't make them applicable.

So anyway, when they chose this guy Danila Kozlovsky, I was intrigued. And he was a great Dimi. He's already Russian and he has the Dimi presence, also he's about the same age. .Though, In the film, he totally needs facial hair. 

In his case,Lack of it ages him,instead of the contrary >.<

Whoever was his makeup artist, Off with their heads !_!

Observe, 

Without Facial Hair ( How he appears in the movie)

 

I mean can't you just see it! Also, his hair needs fluffing up a bit,more volume.The whole oiler look does n't work.

NOW with Facial hair:

The transformation is miraculous! :D What did I say, Details.

Nonetheless, this particular detail was comparatively a non-issue. Cause Dan manages to capture the essence of Dimitri so well. Gruff and a adorable :D

Then there's the whole mystical legendary aspect of the story. The rich history of St.Valdimirs. They did not portray it in the most graphical light. It was more like a highschool drama with a seasoning of the creatures of the dark and magic. When its supposed to be more of a 50-50. The reason why they should have had more green screen, is because not everyone knows that the series will develop into a whole another world. So the key is to give them a taste of badass magic and heart racing action scenes, wherever possible. I don't think there was enough of it. I know theres more to come, but do the general civilians? 

Now the scene where Christian torches the Psi hounds?

Brilliant. I was so proud ;) 

Rose was Badass too. Well, as much as shes supposed to be in the beginning. MAN, I really want to see her in later instalments, where she   *spoiler*   fights Dimitri-at the academy exam and in Siberia-speaking of,Can't you just see Dimi as a Evil but seductive Russian millionaire living on dirty money? SO many dynamics to explore! And the whole jail-break scene and that time Rose goes cuckoo-clock...

And I really want to meet Adrian and Tasha and Sydney and even that annoying jail-bait. I mean, how will we see the miracle of Mia's transformation? And Tatiana murdered, Lissa in the arena, Rose arrested, and even Casper Mason....

and and and ....ARGHHHH.   

*Spoiler complete*  

Moving on, The ambience was good, St.Valdimirs looked how I imagined it to be.  But once again, they managed to mess it up. 

St.Valdimirs is a huge institution. 

 And yet the insides seemed so meagre.

The assembly room where Queen T gives her speech etc is smaller than I imagined :/

The corridors I loved, 

But the gym was n't big enough. And about that, They should have showcased beginning scenes of their training, wherein Rose basically just runs and runs and runs.(In the open.) Like a time-lapse.

 The wind in her hair, the rhythm of her feet beating onto the ground,to that of the thumping of her heart, trees whipping by and a scattering of classmates hanging around, with the occasional catcall. Instead, she was sprinting back and forth in the tiny-tots gym -_-

You see, all these little details, give the movie flourish and a more lived in feel. So that Dimi & Rose's relationship has a durational developing progression. Because, Dimi takes a while to crack his stern coach facade.

Also, there was a monumental lesson in there. Dimitri's first rule to Rose. Remember?

Its all these little moments done differently, that would have given the movie a more polished look. 

Also the Dimi & Rose bedroom scene, the introductionary lines, "Sassy-Molassy"-DEAR LORD -_- and the flow of sequences, could have been smoother. I mean, its a good scene ^.^ but I just think they should have emphasised a bit more on the trance/spell part. Like you should have felt the doozy. Also it was too rushed. There was n't enough of simmer in the duration of their relationship thus far. 

But I did think Danila and Zoey had a great presence together, very "comrade" :D I love them together.

So I have a considerate amount of qualms with the film, and yet, overall I enjoyed it. 

Seeing all these guys come to life, It was amazing. The actors themselves were great, and near perfect. They all worked well together. Had that mutual chemistry and familiarity among them. So Kudos to you guys! <3

I blame the marketing team, the screen writers some, and definitely the editing guys. 

I see potential. If only the producers/directors would have had me on set, I'd be a priceless attribute :P 

Jokes aside though, how could n't have someone pointed out these glitches? SO annoyed about that. 

I do want them to continue the series though.

And improve on the above.

It had a great deal of good points too. I enjoyed it. 

But due to low box office, there might not be a Frostbite. So fans can petition here. Please do take a moment to sign this.  

VA has hellofva lot of potential. We need a sequel( WELL MADE) to redeem this movie, and show the public- how awesome the series really is. 

Verdict: 6 on 10