BA_Harrison I've watched a lot of movies with my kids without having read the books first; it's prevented me becoming one of those interminably boring geeks who complain about every little change that has been made during the transition from page to screen. However, I have read the first few books in The Saga of Darren Shan, and it now appears that I too am in danger of becoming one of those people: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is completely unfaithful to the source material, and I think it's all the worse for it.I cannot whether Shan's books explicitly state where they are set, but I always assumed half-vampire Darren to be English; in the film he is your typical American high schooler (played by Chris Massoglia, who has all the screen presence of a wet rag). The whole transformation from school-kid to half-vampire is incredibly rushed and not nearly as heart-rending as in the book. Murlaugh the murderous vampaneze (Ray Stevenson) is introduced way to early. Vampire Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) has a girlfriend (played by the lovely Salma Hayek, who is given a beard, ferchristsakes). Little person Harkat Mulds doesn't wear a mask as he should. And Darren fancies a monkey-girl called Rebecca (Jessica Carlson), who doesn't even appear in the books. There's more, but I can feel myself becoming increasingly more geeky with every word I type.To summarise: I still think that Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and Percy Jackson fans can be obsessive nitpicking nerds but I am willing to cut them a little more slack having seen what Hollywood has done to Darren Shan.
Python Hyena Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009): Dir: Paul Weitz / Cast: John C. Reilly, Chris Massoglia, Josh Hutcherson, Jessica Carlson, Salma Hayek: Horror comedy about acceptance as two teenage friends enter a circus freak show where it's inhabitants are deformed or distorted. One of them is bitten by a poisonous spider thus leaving the other to accept being partial vampire to save him and carry on demands. Intriguing but predictable and contains the standard action climax. Director Paul Weitz is backed by clever visuals. This is a far cry in subject matter compared to his previous films such as American Dreamz and American Pie. John C. Reilly is terrific as vampire Larten who is first seen as a performer until his gig is caught and revealed. He will mentor one of the boys and ultimately engage in battles beyond the stage. Chris Massoglia plays his new assistant caught in the unfortunate position of having to abandon his family. Josh Hutcherson plays his best friend gone bad. This will obviously lead to a clash between the two. Jessica Carlson is also featured among the deformed performers but these roles, although great sight visuals, are disappointing personalities. Salma Hayek also signed on for this and it greatly reminds viewers that she was once an A-lister. While the film is entertaining it is also a pointless and misguided freak show at best. Score: 5 ½ / 10
TheMovieDoctorful "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" is an...Interesting film. On it's own, it's actually pretty damn good. The acting, script, characters, musical score and atmosphere are all quite decent, unexpectedly so. If I hadn't read the books, this would easily get an 8 out of 10. At the same time, as an adaptation, it's an awful, AWFUL betrayal of the source material. Still, even if it IS a failed adaptation, it's still a good movie all things considered. I'd gladly take a decent movie that doesn't work as an adaptation over Young Adult Adaptation Garbage like "The Hunger Games" (Crap), "Eragon" (Even worse), "Alex Rider" (Insulting garbage) or "Percy Jackson" (One of the worst movies of all time) So, why do I have such mixed feelings on the film? Let's take a look.The character development is something of a mixed bag. Don't get me wrong, Darren Shan develops, changes and becomes a lot more mature and likable from the beginning of the movie to the end, his characters was relatable and likable and his arc was fairly interesting. The problem is that the film shoves so much development of Darren's character in such a short amount of time than you can't help but feel like it's an arc that should have spanned multiple movies. The same goes for Steve Leonard. He's a well developed and surprisingly intimidating villain, but the screenwriter squeezes that arc into such a small period of time that his story is not as compelling or emotionally investing as it should be. Hell, even Darren's Vampire Master Larten Crepsley has this same bittersweet development; where his arc is handled well and he changes in a realistic way over the course of the movie, but it feels like something that should have spanned multiple films instead of one.The story shares this problem too. There are a TON of plot and story elements contained in this movie, some handled well (Darren turning into a vampire and sacrificing his human life to save his best friend Steve from Crepsley's wrath) and others not so well (An INCREDIBLY forced romance between Darren and a Cirque member called "The Monkey Girl" because of her tail, made worse due to the fact Darren's romance with a character named Debbie in the books, who has nothing in common with The Monkey Girl, was 10x better and had WAY more chemistry) Again, the film makes the error of cramming too much stuff into a mere 109 minutes. It seems like the screenwriter was so afraid of the film never receiving any sequels that he tried to combine the plot elements of multiple books in the series together in the desperate hope of the audience getting the full Darren Shan experience.That said, there is plenty to like. All of the actors do a great job in their respective roles. Chris Massoglia did a fantastic job as Darren Shan. His naivety, awkwardness and innocence fit the character of Darren Shan perfectly, Massoglia oozes likability and dorky charm in this role. He can even be surprisingly emotional in a few scenes, like when he realizes the danger he poses to his own family once he's become a vampire. It's actually a very tragic scene, it's done so well it makes you wish the whole movie was this good. John C. Reilly as Larten Crepsley originally seemed a VERY odd casting choice, but he does a surprisingly convincing job in the role of Darren's master and mentor. He manages to make Crepsley tough, cold and often overly critical, but he's still well intentioned and does care about other people's well being.With that being said, the best performance of the bunch has got to be, no question about it, Josh Hutcherson as Steve Leonard. Hutcherson's Leonard is ruthless, merciless and intimidating as all Hell. You can just feel the hate and anger radiate off the screen from his character. While the film is merely good, and a failure of an adaptation, I really do think Hutcherson as Leonard is one of the best castings for an adaptation I have ever seen. He completely steals the show.While there are plenty of insulting things to be found in the movie to fans of the book, like the vampaneze coming off as more laughable than frightening or that GOD AWFUL CHEMISTRY DEVOID ROMANCE between The Monkey Girl (Seriously, how do you confuse a personality devoid white girl with a monkey tail working at a circus with a strong, intelligent black girl coming from a rich family?) and Darren, the film does manage to at least capture the atmosphere of the books perfectly. The sets, the costumes, the lighting, the musical score, they all do a fantastic job of capturing the Gothic, macabre feeling of the books and sucking you into the world of the movie. If anything, this LOOKS just like a "Cirque du Freak" film SHOULD look.Also, unlike adaptations like "Percy Jackson", the film's humor is actually really, really effective. It's dark, it's clever, it's unexpected, and best of all, it never feels out of place. There are some genuinely funny scenes and characters in this movie, and the film manages to make them work without sacrificing it's macabre tone.My advice would be to read the books and skip the movie entirely. But if you really, really hate reading, and just wanna see a creative, atmosphere filled, well acted vampire movie, then I guess check the film out at least on a rent. It's far better than most Young Adult Adaptations and kicks the crap out of "Percy Jackson" any day of the shark week.
