Ah, another movie adaptation of a YA series. While the successes of the 'Harry Potter,'
'Twilight' and 'Hunger Games' franchises cannot be denied, other attempts to
mine box-office gold were far less lucrative.
In fact, would-be franchise starters 'The Host,' 'Beautiful Creatures,'
'Percy Jackson' and 'The Mortal Instruments' were all abject failures. Not to be cowed, however, Hollywood continues
to try with the upcoming 'Divergent' and this Twilight-meets-Buffy rip-off
called 'Vampire Academy.'
Based on a series of YA novels by Richelle Mead,
which I have not read, 'Vampire Academy' is about a bunch of prep-school
vampires called the Moroi and their half-human, half-vampire servant/protectors
called the Dhampir. The Moroi are
peaceful 'good' vampires, unlike the archetypal Hollywood evil vampires, called
the Strigoi in the movie and books.
Directed and written by the Waters brothers, Mark and Daniel, of 'Mean
Girls' and 'Heathers' fame, respectively, 'Vampire Academy' promises to be
another juicy and nasty portrayal of High School bitchiness.
So did the movie deliver? Well, yes and no. The rapid-fire, wise-cracking dialogue does
possess echoes of Joss Whedon and Diablo Cody.
Rose Hathaway, the Buffy-esque Dhampir protector of her highness the princess Lissa
Dragomir, is smart and sassy, full of sarcastic wit and well stocked with
barbed quips and clever retorts. Played
by newcomer Zoey Deutch, the daughter of 80's brat-packer Lea Thompson, she is truly
one to watch. Unfortunately, the Moroi
she watches over and has a psychic (or soul) connection with, Lissa Dragomir
(played by Lucy Fry), is boring as hell, as were most of the other characters
in the movie except for the chipper Natalie Dashkov, played by Modern Family's
Sarah Hyland.
The movie is easy enough to follow without too
much narrative exposition, and that is a good thing. The long-haired and brooding 'designer vampires' popularized by
'Twilight' and The CW Network were predictable and a bit been there, done that,
as were the googly-eyed romances between some of the characters. All in all though, the movie isn't nearly as
bad as the critics say.
Grade: B
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