Talkie Tuesday: Vampire Academy

ALERT: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN VAMPIRE ACADEMY YET, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

(Vampire Academy, TWC)

So a while back I finally decided to sit down and watch the movie adaptation of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy. For those of you who might not know, it's an adaptation of the first book of her YA series, which contains six of them, the others being subtitled Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice. The books are really cool (I enjoyed the new take on vampires), and I'd definitely recommend them to anyone who's into all the vampire stuff.

Being an avid book reader, you'll probably understand my hesitance about heading in to see this one. Frankly put, I was discouraged by recent book-to-movie adaptations and more than a little afraid of what they did to a book I consider one of my favourites. Especially in light of the trailers they released prior to the movie itself - they just made me cringe SO bad, it was ridiculous. I honestly thought it was going to be just another MeanGirls thing (which wouldn't have been surprising given the director was the same), so making myself watch it was a feat.

And then, surprise!

It honestly wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. Actually, I thought it was pretty good with the amount of time they had to work with (roughly an hour and a half), and with the cast they assembled. So before I go into any details, let me say that, overall, it was watchable, and enjoyable, though yes, I'm going to nitpick later on. 

Now that I've got that over with, it's time for some details. This is the part where all non-watchers or non-readers stop reading. And I'm going to start with the casting choices first.

Zoey Deutch as Rose Hathaway was actually a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sold on her when I saw the trailers, mostly because in the books, Rose is really tan and curvy and the like, but I understand the need to try and keep actors' ages as close to the character ones, and she IS only 17 in the books. The way Zoey portrays her definitely leaves room for improvement - just like Mead left it when she wrote the character in the first place. And her with Danila? Bow chica wow wow is all I'm going to say.

Lucy Fry as Vasilisa Dragomir was a bit of a disappointment. For one thing, she looks completely off - no offense to miss Fry, I've seen her in interviews and the like and she's a wonderful person, someone I'd love to be best friends with. But Lissa is described as being pretty much angelic, in personality as well, and that sums her up throughout the books. I know that's nightmarish to cast, but Lucy just didn't cut it for me, look-wise or acting-wise, but what I did like a whole lot was the way they did her eyes. It's what stood out to me because they looked a little weird, but then reading the books you see Lissa having jade-green, pale eyes, and so they got that right there.

Danila Kozlovsky as Dimitri Belikov was ... well, it took me a while to warm up to him, actually. The first scene in which he appears (in the signature cowboy duster, no less!), his speech threw me off and distracted me from everything else. Probably because with my own Slavic origins, I inflect his surname differently (as in, Belikov, not Kozlovsky). But. Then things started happening. He looks the part. He's Russian, so kudos for the studios to getting that one right. They practically carbon-copied Dimitri from the books. His scenes with Zoey started progressing (the almost-sex scene definitely helps, natch). And then came the jail scene with 'Roza, my Roza', and I swear I was a puddle on the floor. Then I went back and rewatched all his scenes, and anyone giving negative comments will now be my enemy. He is Dimitri Belikov.

Dominic Sherwood as Christian Ozera was a disappointment, just as Lucy Fry. For some reason, he just didn't strike enough of a brooding, dark figure. Might have something to do with the actor's age, or maybe it's just me. But I didn't like him, though I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt if they make any sequels.

Cameron Monaghan as Mason Ashford was so-so. Again, it's probably his age that's throwing me off, he looked like a baby in some scenes ... a cute one, but still. Benefit of the doubt, as with Dominic.

Sarah Hyland as Natalie Dashkov was SO good. She surprised me because her character really isn't one I'd think would catch me as she did. Yet she did, and it was refreshing and perfect. She captured Natalie just the way she was in the book, and it's honestly sad that we only got to see her in this one movie.

Sami Gayle as Mia Rinaldi makes me think of the Princess Diaries for some reason ... but I didn't like her, which was probably the point. But as an actress ... no, not really.

Gabriel Byrne as Victor Dashkov was one of the pillars of the movie as a whole. I've loved him in every single piece of his I've seen, and hearing he was cast as the Dashkov sociopath? Made my day. As did he in the movie. Perfection.

(Victor Dashkov, Vampire Academy)

Joely Richardson as Queen Tatiana Ivashkov was perfect. Perfection. She and Gabriel gave the finishing touches to the movie and when I heard she was cast for the role I rejoiced. 

Olga Kurylenko as Headmistress Kirova was a ridiculous disappointment. For one, I thought Kirova was older. Two, the portrayal of the character ... was completely out-of-this-world negative. Kirova was a teacher, and as such she would never demean herself the way she does in the movie around Rose, for one. Towards the end of the movie she redeems herself a little, but still. Nope.

On to other things. Some other situations I didn't quite like were some of the slow-motion moments which I thought drew further into ridiculous and away from it being a serious movie. A little too much Mean Girls influence, I suppose. Some of the taglines for the movie were also just meh ('They suck at school', seriously? Lissa was a straight-A student, for one). It did sometimes feel rushed through certain events. They didn't quite explain how Rose ends up with Dimitri as a teacher, which is an important left-out (or maybe Kirova actually said it and I was too busy scowling in her direction to notice, I'll admit it could be my bad). Also, the luke-warm reaction of the teacher to Mia's bullying note was downright insulting, and if that's the proper portrayal of how teachers deal with it today it's no wonder there's so much of it. That Mia got away without any punishment was ludicrous as well, since she's basically a non-royal to boot. The wardrobe they gave Lissa was hilarious since, as last heir to the Dragomir royal line, she should dress the part, but it's only a pet peeve I guess. The CGI psi-hounds were a little bit whacky, but okay, budget cuts I suppose. And Lissa's finishing speech at the very end ... be serious for two seconds. 'No more bad blood'? That wouldn't be possible in an all-human school, much less a vampire one. Also, the way she treated the Queen? Ummm, yeah, that's the only thing I'm saying on that. 

I'm unsure how I feel about Rose's eyes glazing over as they did when she was 'in' Lissa's head, but I'm giving it the benefit of a doubt. I'm also unsure about Sonya Karp and the Strigoi army at the end. I'm thinking I would remember from the books if she was the one behind it, so this may be one of those big changes I'm not going to like. Also ... Lissa joking about Rose and Dimitri? That one's not something I liked either seeing as Lissa had no idea about the pair until the end of Blood Promise.

(Dimitri and Rose, Vampire Academy)

In general, however, there was more good than bad. They stuck pretty much to the whole story, at least to the major points, and the minor changes they did make were understandable for limited time and budget cuts, so throwing out some other side characters who aren't necessarily important isn't something I'm going to cry over. They got Dimitri and Rose right, which is a massive plus and bonus over what they messed up. Zoey's lines were hilarious and totally Rose-esque. Also, Twilight references anybody? I think I couldn't stop giggling over those. And the other ones (*cough* Gladiator *cough*). It was a neat trick to add in the Rose/Dimitri surprise attacks all over. For one thing, they were hilarious. For another ... more Zoey and Danila is definitely good. Except for the part where Dimitri just says no and watches the psi-hounds attack. Book-Dimitri would have taken out at least one of them, but oh well, you can't have it all I guess. I'm surprised it did so bad in cinemas, all things considered. 

Do I think it merits a sequel? Definitely more than the adaptation of The Mortal Instruments, which was just downright horrible. Let's hope they can pull through and make it so it won't flunk as Eragon did back in the day.

What did you think of the movie, or any other adaptation?

Have a good one x