Jason KingCirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (6/10)
March 12th 2010 20:38
:
Darren Shan Rocks!!
Category: No Category
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (6/10)
Based on one of my favourite "Young Adult" book series The Vampire's Assistant is a film I have been waiting for for a very long time. When I first read book one of the nearly 12 book (I think) series titled "Darren Shan: Cirque du Freak" I got very excited as I knew these would make sensational films. In the US they went with a more generic title, "The Vampire's Assistant". The books are written by Darren Shan, which also happens to be the main character's name. They are written very minutely from a journalistic approach of Darren telling his tale of becoming a Vampire's Assistant. Brilliant read that can't be put down and a cross between Harry Potter and the TV show, Carnivale.
The Vampire's Assistant tells the frightening tale of a boy who unknowingly breaks a 200yr old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn of nightmares. 14yr old Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) was like most little kids in his suburban niegborhood. He hung out with his best mate, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble, but when he and his buddy stumble upon a travelling freak show, things go crazy. Due to circumstance a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C Reilly) turns him into something bloodthirsty.
While I found this a much better adaption from book to film than Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief I would very much like to see the casting agent and director shot for their shocking choices in certain cast members, namely two of the leads, John C Reilly as Larten Crepsley and Willem Defoe as another appalling vampire. They were passable but only if this was a black and white episode of The Munsters from the 60's. Seriously, I have no idea what they were thinking of with John C Reilly as a dark vampire with ultimate power and strength - watching him is liking watching the parody of what this film could have been and Willem Defoe needs to give up acting altogether, he is shocking.
But the film is saved by the acting of its main lead, Darren Shan, played by 18yr old Chris Massoglia, and Josh Hutcherson (Zathura, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Bridge to Terabithia) as pissed off best friend Steve. These guys are best friends who end up becoming arch enemies and they both play their parts well. I bought them totally as their characters from the book. I also thoroughly enjoyed Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) as Evra the Snake Boy - a boy with genes of both human and snake, Salma Hayek as the fortune telling bearded lady and Ken Watanabe as Mr Tall. Michael Cerveris plays the evil meddling Mr Tiny but I aslso found him too comical and not as threatening as he should be, this role would have been ideal for Marlon Brando, if that were possible
As a young adult book series, with many books, I think this would have done much better if pitched as a TV show in the vein of Carnivale - it is still one of my all time favourite shows. There is so much to this story, and the second and third books develop the story on a massive scale - it is a shame we probably won't see them as I doubt this film will make enough money to warrant a sequal. This film is a good tale for the kids who like Harry Potter, but it never matches the Potters in depth or scale. The makeup and special effects are very good, with Ken Watanabe made to look close to 8ft tall, and Salma Hayek growing a beard quite regularly. I thought we would get more out of the fight scenes but it appears they went for more cabled fighting as opposed to CGI, still plenty of CGI in the film, I just thought they needed to up the ante of the final battle. Do not get me wrong, this film is not terrible but it is lacklustre and appears to have had less effort put into it than it deserved.
It is directed by Paul Weitz, for the first time going solo and without his brother Chris. They are best known for "American Pie", "About a Boy" and "American Dreamz". Paul did Executive Produce "The Golden Compass" so it is in his blood to screw up a film on a massive scale But then About a Boy was brilliant and I still watch it on one of its many TV re-runs. I will having trouble forgiving him for Martin C Reilly and will never forgive him for The Golden Compass.
The film has released this week (Thurs 11th March) in Australia but is only on a limited release across the country. Check it out if you're interested - there is much worse out at the moment. Very different take on vampires than the Twilight series but lacking in love and lust. Watch it if you liked the TV show Carnivale or a bit of teenage vampirism and some freaky characters. Worth (6/10).
Based on one of my favourite "Young Adult" book series The Vampire's Assistant is a film I have been waiting for for a very long time. When I first read book one of the nearly 12 book (I think) series titled "Darren Shan: Cirque du Freak" I got very excited as I knew these would make sensational films. In the US they went with a more generic title, "The Vampire's Assistant". The books are written by Darren Shan, which also happens to be the main character's name. They are written very minutely from a journalistic approach of Darren telling his tale of becoming a Vampire's Assistant. Brilliant read that can't be put down and a cross between Harry Potter and the TV show, Carnivale.
The Vampire's Assistant tells the frightening tale of a boy who unknowingly breaks a 200yr old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn of nightmares. 14yr old Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) was like most little kids in his suburban niegborhood. He hung out with his best mate, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble, but when he and his buddy stumble upon a travelling freak show, things go crazy. Due to circumstance a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C Reilly) turns him into something bloodthirsty.
While I found this a much better adaption from book to film than Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief I would very much like to see the casting agent and director shot for their shocking choices in certain cast members, namely two of the leads, John C Reilly as Larten Crepsley and Willem Defoe as another appalling vampire. They were passable but only if this was a black and white episode of The Munsters from the 60's. Seriously, I have no idea what they were thinking of with John C Reilly as a dark vampire with ultimate power and strength - watching him is liking watching the parody of what this film could have been and Willem Defoe needs to give up acting altogether, he is shocking.
But the film is saved by the acting of its main lead, Darren Shan, played by 18yr old Chris Massoglia, and Josh Hutcherson (Zathura, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Bridge to Terabithia) as pissed off best friend Steve. These guys are best friends who end up becoming arch enemies and they both play their parts well. I bought them totally as their characters from the book. I also thoroughly enjoyed Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) as Evra the Snake Boy - a boy with genes of both human and snake, Salma Hayek as the fortune telling bearded lady and Ken Watanabe as Mr Tall. Michael Cerveris plays the evil meddling Mr Tiny but I aslso found him too comical and not as threatening as he should be, this role would have been ideal for Marlon Brando, if that were possible
As a young adult book series, with many books, I think this would have done much better if pitched as a TV show in the vein of Carnivale - it is still one of my all time favourite shows. There is so much to this story, and the second and third books develop the story on a massive scale - it is a shame we probably won't see them as I doubt this film will make enough money to warrant a sequal. This film is a good tale for the kids who like Harry Potter, but it never matches the Potters in depth or scale. The makeup and special effects are very good, with Ken Watanabe made to look close to 8ft tall, and Salma Hayek growing a beard quite regularly. I thought we would get more out of the fight scenes but it appears they went for more cabled fighting as opposed to CGI, still plenty of CGI in the film, I just thought they needed to up the ante of the final battle. Do not get me wrong, this film is not terrible but it is lacklustre and appears to have had less effort put into it than it deserved.
It is directed by Paul Weitz, for the first time going solo and without his brother Chris. They are best known for "American Pie", "About a Boy" and "American Dreamz". Paul did Executive Produce "The Golden Compass" so it is in his blood to screw up a film on a massive scale
But then About a Boy was brilliant and I still watch it on one of its many TV re-runs. I will having trouble forgiving him for Martin C Reilly and will never forgive him for The Golden Compass.
The film has released this week (Thurs 11th March) in Australia but is only on a limited release across the country. Check it out if you're interested - there is much worse out at the moment. Very different take on vampires than the Twilight series but lacking in love and lust. Watch it if you liked the TV show Carnivale or a bit of teenage vampirism and some freaky characters. Worth (6/10).
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