I saw the trailer months ago and actually felt faintly intrigued, even though I'm plainly not in the targeted demographic (over two decades too old and probably the wrong gender as well). But I am quite willing to enjoy a movie I'm not expected to take really seriously. I haven't read the book and only consider the movie as such.
I won't bother to explain the premise; read other reviews! Let it be said that it is unfair to dismiss this as just a crude Twilight paraphrase.
Some say the young protagonists can't act, but hey, do you demand Oscar quality from a flick like this? I noticed nothing grotesquely sub par. As for the dialog ... well, you didn't really expect Shakespeare either, did you? Just go with the flow. I never cringed, which is more than I can say about certain sequences in Star Wars.
The romance isn't terribly well-developed, but I guess I prefer a minimal romance to the endless pining and 'emotional' blatter of the Twilight movies. Here we are (mostly) spared any boring triangle. Instead the kiddies will be going to the library and checking out Vonnegut! Wow, a whole new generation of readers, all thanks to this movie! ;)
Some apparently feel this is beneath the dignity of veteran actors Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson, but presumably they didn't sign on at gunpoint. Thompson certainly seems to be enjoying herself.
The character that pretty much steals the show is however Emmy Rossum as Ridley, the caster-gone-dark. As soon as this deliciously evil character entered, I found myself eagerly awaiting more scenes with HER. All right, so I guess some love crap with Lena and Ethan is unavoidable, but MOVE IT ON! Let's have more Ridley, already! Can we have a spin-off movie with Ridley as protagonist, please?
The flash-back scene of Ridley being 'claimed for darkness' was also wonderfully intense, relying on psychology rather than massive FX. (But no, dear movie makers, it's not enough to have Lena in voice-over declaring: 'I was there! I saw it!' SHOW us that Lena was there, and let's have her actual reaction when the until-recently-nice Ridley amuses herself by having an innocent youth run over by a train.)
Most of the special effects are really well handled (they made the classical mistake of showcasing nearly all of them in the trailer, but hey, maybe I wouldn't have seen the movie if they hadn't!) I greatly enjoyed the stormy dinner party where Lena and Ridley enter into a Caster's Duel (you don't see an indoor cyclone every day!) The dark tentacles reaching out of Sarafine when she exposed her evil nature were nicely crafted, and connected well with the 'trailing ivy' motif that is used throughout the movie. The storm near the end was so exquisitely well done that it left me wishing that Lena had gone all the way down into darkness and flattened the entire state in her rage! It almost felt like an irritating coitus interruptus when circumstances made her (and the storm) stop.
Yet it must be said that the end did avoid the obvious cliché. Of course we were expecting the oh-so-happy outcome that Lena would be 'claimed for Light' and everything would be saccharine nice, but it was more complex than that. There is actually something empowering about the notion of 'claiming oneself' as opposed to 'being claimed', and so ending up as a REAL PERSON with both good and evil inside. Hence only one of her eyes has obtained the Evil Gleam at the end: She is neither a saint nor a devil.
Ethan however fades into irrelevance before the end, which is a very weird twist. Turns out he wasn't really present at the climax at all (you'll understand when you see it). He is neutered with magically imposed amnesia and effectively removed from the story, except for some brief scenes at the very end that suggest he is falling in love with Lena once more. Please don't tell me that in any sequel we must go through the whole 'Lena tells him about the Caster reality' routine all over again?!
In summary: There are obvious faults, but the movie doesn't stink. It has to be either six or seven stars; I'll be nice and give it seven.
In a weak moment I just might buy the DVD ... mainly to savor Ridley!
I won't bother to explain the premise; read other reviews! Let it be said that it is unfair to dismiss this as just a crude Twilight paraphrase.
Some say the young protagonists can't act, but hey, do you demand Oscar quality from a flick like this? I noticed nothing grotesquely sub par. As for the dialog ... well, you didn't really expect Shakespeare either, did you? Just go with the flow. I never cringed, which is more than I can say about certain sequences in Star Wars.
The romance isn't terribly well-developed, but I guess I prefer a minimal romance to the endless pining and 'emotional' blatter of the Twilight movies. Here we are (mostly) spared any boring triangle. Instead the kiddies will be going to the library and checking out Vonnegut! Wow, a whole new generation of readers, all thanks to this movie! ;)
Some apparently feel this is beneath the dignity of veteran actors Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson, but presumably they didn't sign on at gunpoint. Thompson certainly seems to be enjoying herself.
The character that pretty much steals the show is however Emmy Rossum as Ridley, the caster-gone-dark. As soon as this deliciously evil character entered, I found myself eagerly awaiting more scenes with HER. All right, so I guess some love crap with Lena and Ethan is unavoidable, but MOVE IT ON! Let's have more Ridley, already! Can we have a spin-off movie with Ridley as protagonist, please?
The flash-back scene of Ridley being 'claimed for darkness' was also wonderfully intense, relying on psychology rather than massive FX. (But no, dear movie makers, it's not enough to have Lena in voice-over declaring: 'I was there! I saw it!' SHOW us that Lena was there, and let's have her actual reaction when the until-recently-nice Ridley amuses herself by having an innocent youth run over by a train.)
Most of the special effects are really well handled (they made the classical mistake of showcasing nearly all of them in the trailer, but hey, maybe I wouldn't have seen the movie if they hadn't!) I greatly enjoyed the stormy dinner party where Lena and Ridley enter into a Caster's Duel (you don't see an indoor cyclone every day!) The dark tentacles reaching out of Sarafine when she exposed her evil nature were nicely crafted, and connected well with the 'trailing ivy' motif that is used throughout the movie. The storm near the end was so exquisitely well done that it left me wishing that Lena had gone all the way down into darkness and flattened the entire state in her rage! It almost felt like an irritating coitus interruptus when circumstances made her (and the storm) stop.
Yet it must be said that the end did avoid the obvious cliché. Of course we were expecting the oh-so-happy outcome that Lena would be 'claimed for Light' and everything would be saccharine nice, but it was more complex than that. There is actually something empowering about the notion of 'claiming oneself' as opposed to 'being claimed', and so ending up as a REAL PERSON with both good and evil inside. Hence only one of her eyes has obtained the Evil Gleam at the end: She is neither a saint nor a devil.
Ethan however fades into irrelevance before the end, which is a very weird twist. Turns out he wasn't really present at the climax at all (you'll understand when you see it). He is neutered with magically imposed amnesia and effectively removed from the story, except for some brief scenes at the very end that suggest he is falling in love with Lena once more. Please don't tell me that in any sequel we must go through the whole 'Lena tells him about the Caster reality' routine all over again?!
In summary: There are obvious faults, but the movie doesn't stink. It has to be either six or seven stars; I'll be nice and give it seven.
In a weak moment I just might buy the DVD ... mainly to savor Ridley!