Review of Vampire Academy (2014) by Geneva L — 15 Feb 2014

I've been a fan of the book series since it was first published. Let me tell you one thing: I absolutely HATE vampire books or TV series. I never touched Vampire Diaries, Twilight or even True Blood, not the books or the movies/series. Critics aren't too impressed with the movie version but I think its time they heard what the fans have to say.

It was good. It was beyond good; it was FANTASTIC. Book readers are often the harshest critics amongst fans; worries about whether scenes will be cut or whether the actors fit the characters they're supposed to play. But I'm glad to say, going to watch the movie with an open mind and faith in Richelle Mead and the crew, I was impressed. Is it ever going to win an Oscar? No. But then, what teenage-centric movie has? Harry Potter was one of my favourite movies and as epic as it was it wasn't even considered for the Oscars. So it isn't fair to put VA down just because it will never make it into the Oscars.

I actually liked the changes made in the movie. The script writer and director made excellent choices that clearly conveyed what was going on that would have been difficult to be shown in the movie. Considering that the crew of VA were dealing with adapting hundreds of pages into a movie that ran under 2 hours, they did an excellent job. I particularly liked the fight scene that occurred just as soon the guardians took Rose and Lissa back to the academy. Now that never happened in the book but I loved it. It was fast and unexpected and set the pace for the rest of the movie that while it may have elements of a chick flick, it's also an action movie and people die. Brutally.

The fight scenes were real and fast and hard and were choreographed and performed to perfection.

Let's face it. Us fans have been waiting with bated breath not only for the movie to finally be a reality, but also for the lust scene. And let me tell you: every girl and even guy in the cinema squealed and swooned when the scene came on. It was admittedly shorter than in the book but it was effective and got the point across. In fact, every scene between Rose and Dimitri, such as the one where he pins her down on the gym floor or the one where he tells her to keep her hair up, crackles with so much electricity and sexual tension I was surprised the air around them didn't just combust. The Lissa/Christian relationship, while somewhat more subdued than the Rose/Dimitri one, still sparked with chemistry and I definitely look forward to seeing it grow.

The script was witty and sharp and so darn funny! The audience definitely enjoyed Rose's dry-wit and sarcasm which found a partner in Christian's own snark. The entire cast worked well to bring some levity into the movie, even Headmistress Kirova participated. Well, somewhat. Her "I could have been a model" rant after Rose stuck the tranquilliser into her resulted in peals of laughter. So yeah, one of the highlights was definitely the quality of the script which not only manages to bring out the comedic undertones of the movie, but also produce stirring speeches like the one Lissa delivers at the end.

The cast was stellar and I was glad no one extremely famous was cast as the main characters, with the exception of the older cast who brought suitable dignity to their characters. Russian Danila Kozlovsky as Dimitri was swoon worthy, his Dimitri extremely believable as the god he's constantly described as. The bare hint of his Russian accent was perfect and believable, exactly what the producers and director wanted, and what we fans looked for. And whoever said that Zoey Deutch was too scrawny to play Rose better eat their words; that girl may be slim and smaller in stature than what people may have imagined, but she kicks major ass. Lucy Fry was elegant and poised as Lissa, even giving her that extra fire and spice that no one thought she was capable of. Dominic Sherwood lent more vulnerability to Christian Ozera while Sami Gayle was the conniving bitch everyone had imagined Mia to be. Cameron Monaghan was great as Mason, but I hope that if, WHEN VA gets picked up for "Frostbite", his role gets fleshed out a little more. Olga Kurylenko and Joely Richardson were believable as the two matriarchs who clearly disliked Rose and Lissa. Perhaps a standout performance was that of Sarah Hyland who played meek, geeky and clumsy Natalie Dashkov to perfection. Her innocence fooled everyone and even I, who knew the entire story, had a difficult time believing that she had been harbouring such a dark side, coaxed by her fear of social isolation and egged on by her desperate father, Viktor Dashkov (Gabriel Byrne) who once again fooled everyone with his weak, fatherly appearance.

Perhaps one of the best compliments that could be given to Vampire Academy, is that you don't feel like you're watching a vampire movie, like Twilight. The vampire element, while clearly the core and soul of the movie, isn't overplayed and sometimes you think you're just watching teenagers try to survive high school and all its problems that I'm sure we could all relate to. Except for the fact that sometimes it's life and death, and that they're vampires. While I respect what the critics have to say, I think they're far too harsh. Saying this movie is a lazy blend of Harry Potter and Twilight is unfair; Vampire Academy is extremely different from those two movies. The characters, what they fight for, the usage of the Romanian legends of Moroi and Strigoi are what make this movie what it is. The students of St. Vlad's may suck at school, but they definitely don't suck at all.