Inkheart - The Movie!!
The months leading up to the Inkheart movie have been an emotional rollercoaster for me. ‘Look at this trailer! It looks so good!’ ‘Now there’s another trailer and it stinks…’ ‘they’ve got screenshots!’ ‘Whoa, their Resa is uber ugly…’ Etc. I went to see it with some friends yesterday, so I'm gonna review it. First a three word review, then a longer pontification.
Three word review: It. Was. AWESOME.
Spoilers behind the cut! (I don’t spoil anything new from the movie - so if you’ve read the book go right ahead.)
I was so worried for so long, and now it’s out, and totally insane. I have to go and see that again now!!! I may have to see it again entirely to watch Dustfinger. And then hide under a seat so I can watch it again to watch Capricorn. And maybe a third to watch Mo… And then a fourth and fifth to watch Dustfinger. Because Dustfinger is AWESOME.
They did have to change several things plot wise, of course, but that was mainly for time reasons. In the book there’s this whole dance of town to Capricorn, running, hiding, camping, and back to Capricorn. If they did all that the movie would be hours long. The best part for me was how true they stayed to all the characters. Often you have to ditch a few important developments to shorten a movie like that… but these are the characters I loved the first time I read the book, without a doubt!
First and formost in that is Dustfinger. Dustfinger love!!!!! He was played so wonderfully... Paul Bettany ROCKS!!! He really got into the character, and didn’t try to make him heroic or anything. He played him the way he’s portrayed in the book, a very sympathetic character, but only once you get to know him. His desire to get back to his family in the book made him so believable… And, I mean, he was just hot. Which is bonus points that he didn’t need, but he gets anyway. Overall, one of the best performances I’ve seen in a while!
Oh Farid, lololol. He was very cute. It bothers me I’ll have to hate him in two books, when he becomes an idiot!!! But for now he’s just cute. Does… does anyone think that if he lost the accent and the eye makeup he could be a Gen? just maybe? I don’t know why this came to me - but it had something to do with him crawling all over the roof. Opinions?
Actor-wise, it was very star-heavy - which in this case was a great thing!!! Andy Serkis was a huge name - Gollum!!!! Then, of course, there was Brendan Fraser, who was apparently the basis for the character of Mo - which naturally makes him a good pick, lol. Sienna Guillory was a few steps back. I have a huge grudge against her after Eragon, ‘nuf said. I thought it was a little odd that they made such a huge deal about the actress who’s going to be Lavender Brown being in it… she was on for oh, maybe three seconds.
Cameras. I was certain they would just to a bunch of smoke and mirrors camera work for this movie (lotsa fog and glitter), but I was obviously wrong. It was so COOL!! They kept using neat effects to make colors really stark, or really faded… and for a few scenes, they stuttered between black and white and color… my favorite was how the book always looked older, more faded, than the ‘real world’ Since they had used similar faded colors for Dustfinger’s costume, it really looked like he belonged there when he went back.
Oh yeah, that. Almost forgot to mention that. Dustfinger goes back at the end, which was a little odd… I guess they just didn’t want to give a children’s movie a sad ending? I mean, the book wasn’t sad, it was just… sad for Dustfinger. Dustfinger being the Inkworld (without Farid) will give the sequel, if they make it, a problem. How will they get Orpheus into it? I suppose they’ll just have him come with Mortola and Basta, after Meggie and Farid have gotten in? Who knows. It’s their own dang fault they’ll have to deal with that.
Overall, OHMYGODGOSEEITNOW.
It ROCKED.
I CANNOT MAKE IT CLEAR HOW AWESOME THIS MOVIE WAS.
AND DUSTFINGER ROCKS!!!!!