Candice Dionysus
03-11-2008, 10:30 PM
My friend Kathy took me to see it on Monday, and while I had wanted to see it, I went in expecting to be disappointed (and wishing I had gone and read the book first, but I guess it doesn't matter, because I've heard the two are totally different). I certainly wasn't disappointed, and while I was never really a fan of Hayden Christiansen, I came out of the movie with a little more respect for him than I had previously. He did a good job, I almost forgot it was him in the role.
But I think the character that really sealed the deal for me, who oddly enough wasn't originally in the book, was Griffin. It was certainly a wonderful performance on the part of Jamie Bell, who I've all but fallen in love with by this point. (I like to read up on actors I like, if I've never seen them before. The more I read about this kid, the more I adore him. He's very lucky, considering he's only two years older than I am.)
As for the story itself, I enjoyed it immensely, though I think they would have done a much better job with it if they had broken it down into more of a miniseries, instead of a movie. They didn't have nearly enough time to give back story, and barely enough time to advance character development, not to mention I'd have loved to have seen the movie started more with something about his mother/when she left. Not so much why, but when. Of course, that's just my opinion. And while I am of that opinion, I still did like it as it was. And considering most book-to-movie adaption's annoy the hell out of me, it's some surprise to myself that I loved it.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
One of my favorite scenes was when Hayden's character David and Jamie's character Griffin were jumping from place to place with a bomb, not only fighting over it, but over David's girlfriends life, and how they end up in Chechnya, in the middle of gunfire. Griffin jumps through, looks around, and just exclaims "Chechnya!" as this jeep with gunners on it drives by. It was almost adorable in its own weird way, and it made me giggle.
I definitely love the interaction between David and Griffin, and Griffin's own admission that he doesn't "play well with others" when David wants to do a "limited Marvel team-up." David chasing him from place to place and pushing the subject until Griffin agrees just to shut him up was another very amusing point in the movie, especially when Griffin says that David can't keep following him like that, and David says he's "the only one who can."
So, unless you don't give a hoot about spoilers, I'm assuming you've seen the movie. What were your opinion's of it? I mean, I loved it, but that's just me.
But I think the character that really sealed the deal for me, who oddly enough wasn't originally in the book, was Griffin. It was certainly a wonderful performance on the part of Jamie Bell, who I've all but fallen in love with by this point. (I like to read up on actors I like, if I've never seen them before. The more I read about this kid, the more I adore him. He's very lucky, considering he's only two years older than I am.)
As for the story itself, I enjoyed it immensely, though I think they would have done a much better job with it if they had broken it down into more of a miniseries, instead of a movie. They didn't have nearly enough time to give back story, and barely enough time to advance character development, not to mention I'd have loved to have seen the movie started more with something about his mother/when she left. Not so much why, but when. Of course, that's just my opinion. And while I am of that opinion, I still did like it as it was. And considering most book-to-movie adaption's annoy the hell out of me, it's some surprise to myself that I loved it.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
One of my favorite scenes was when Hayden's character David and Jamie's character Griffin were jumping from place to place with a bomb, not only fighting over it, but over David's girlfriends life, and how they end up in Chechnya, in the middle of gunfire. Griffin jumps through, looks around, and just exclaims "Chechnya!" as this jeep with gunners on it drives by. It was almost adorable in its own weird way, and it made me giggle.
I definitely love the interaction between David and Griffin, and Griffin's own admission that he doesn't "play well with others" when David wants to do a "limited Marvel team-up." David chasing him from place to place and pushing the subject until Griffin agrees just to shut him up was another very amusing point in the movie, especially when Griffin says that David can't keep following him like that, and David says he's "the only one who can."
So, unless you don't give a hoot about spoilers, I'm assuming you've seen the movie. What were your opinion's of it? I mean, I loved it, but that's just me.