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Hello, dearlings!

It’s that time again, where Happy Eternity Discussions takes place! In case you don’t know, Happy Eternity Discussions involve Jeann from Happy Indulgence and I discussing various topics (usually of the book to movie persuasion). Be prepared for fangirling, swooning, critique, and snark.

Today’s discussion is about the movie adaptation of Vampire Academy! If you want to see part one of the discussion, please click here.

Jeann: I guess it was a bit more subtle in the way they were giggling together and how Rose was her feeder and consistently stuck up for her. I really HATED those scenes where Rose got inside Lissa’s head and how her eyes glazed over and everything, they were done so badly.

What I liked about the original VA book was portrayed well here, and I understand how they kind of went the Mean Girls angle with Mia. There was slut shaming, bullying and being an outcast which was all portrayed and not glossed over, and it showed the characters who were being picked on staying strong and true to themselves throughout that torment.

HAHA Mason’s “break the case wide open and all I get is a kiss on the cheek” was done pretty well, but yeah that’s not going to get you in with the hot girl. What about Rose completely being judgemental when it came to Christian (MY FAVOURITE) and trying to discourage Lissa from going out with him, I wanted to slap her in the face! Christian was totally awesome, he was HOT and really well cast I think.

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Zoey is an 18 year old in real life and Danila is 29, and it showed in the movie. In the book, he’s only meant to be 7 years older than her but this one was so noticeable it was awkward. I know they tried to stay true to the book when it came to their age difference, but this one seemed a bit too much. I think Dimitri was the biggest disappointment for me because I ship him and Rose, I ship them so hard, and what we saw on screen was not what I expected as my dream couple at all. The casting in the movie was way off for the most part, I think.

Let’s get started on the terribad overdone cheesy parts like the scene where Mia and her lovers are painting the wall with blood giving weird bad porno flick vibes. And the part where Rose punches the girl at the prom and she just flattens out on the floor, oh god. I just don’t want to recall it. And let’s not even mention Natalie Dashkov at the end. *shudders*

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Chiara: I guess. I still would have liked some more show, and less tell. YES. Those scenes were so awkward and I just kept thinking: I swear this never happened in the books …

I was really disappointed with the Mean Girls angle of the movie, if I’m being honest. The book is serious. Sure, it has it’s laughable moments … but the entire movie felt like a parody, which is why a lot of fans were pissed about it, I guess.

I am just not a huge fan of “I’m the nice guy, you should like me” that seems to go down in every YA book/movie. >.> Haha, yes. Christian was very attractive, even if he seriously just felt like Edward Cullen version 2.0.

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Hmm, yeah, that is a pretty big age gap. Zoey definitely doesn’t look so young in the movie. Still, I was okay with it. I think it really showed the whole ‘inappropriate’ side of their attraction. Rose + Dimitri is definitely not my OTP of the book world, so maybe that’s why I am more okay with it? :P

But yes, I think practically every single character could have been cast a lot better than they were, which is sad.

Those three scenes were HORRIFICALLY BAD OHMYGOSH. I couldn’t even with Mia at all. She almost ruined the entire movie with her fakeness and terrible acting. The herpes lines were unbearable, I am not even kidding. “Do you have herpes?” “Are you pregnant?” “Maybe your baby has herpes.” WHAT THE ACTUAL BLEEP? I just couldn’t.

And yes. Natalie. Let the eternal shuddering begin. She was annoying, as well. In fact most characters in this movie were annoying. Like the principal. BAD ACTING ALERT. D:

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Jeann: I think for many of them it was a bad acting alert, which isn’t really a surprise that Frostbite isn’t really taking off. VA is my absolute favourite YA vampire series, and it’s tragic how Twilight did better than it in the cinemas. I’m kind of sad, VA had so much potential to be awesome, but it sadly felt like a horrible “so bad it’s good” parody of vampire movies. I don’t think the Mean Girls angle was convincing at all, and the slapstick humour was something that didn’t suit the source.

Dimitri and Rose are my OTP, which is probably why I’m a lot more protective over them.

Chiara: VA did have a lot of potential, and I must say I am disappointed with this particular book to movie adaptation.

Oh, Jeann, I can understand your rage much better now. If it was *my* OTP that they had not done justice … let’s not even go there.

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So, that’s it, folks! The latest Happy Eternity Discussion installment. I hope you enjoyed it. :D

Just before you leave us, let me know in the comments what you’d like to see us discuss next! We have The Book Thief, Beautiful Creatures, or some other book to movie adaptation – you name it!

Until next time,

sig-chiara

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Posted on: August 15, 2014 • By: Chiara

16 Responses to Happy Eternity Discussions: Vampire Academy Part 2

  1. Ugh, I cannot stand bad acting. I LOVED Mean Girls, but VA has so many fans that I think it does it a disservice by emulating that, because they’re such different stories. The friendship in the actual book is lovely. Although I’m shocked by how many names are unfamiliar to me from reading this…clearly I read the book too fast, lol.

    • Chiara says:

      Mean Girls is good because it’s the only movie that did cheesiness correctly. And taking a serious vampire YA novel and trying to do the same thing was NEVER going to work out.

      The friendship in the books IS lovely, and I hate that that wasn’t evident at all in the movie. Sigh.

  2. OMG YES THAT IS THE PERFECT WAY TO DESCRIBE THE MOVIE!!! Parody! oh god so many things seemed cheesy but I did love Christian and Rose! That was done really well. Lissa, was okay but I can’t wait to see how she develops in the later films.And Dimitri….yeah I think the casting was off too, he just didn’t seem to connect to any of the other characters at all. Not even the older cast members.
    I think they did need to respect the book and it’s original themes more than try and make everything a comedy and try and get more viewers because them trying that hard actually got them less viewers because people thought it was too fake.
    Great post! Thanks for discussing!

    • Chiara says:

      I definitely think there is room for growth, but I also think they might need to done down the cheesiness that was so present in this movie if they intend to make the other ones.

  3. You know, that’s actually the biggest gripe a lot of people seem to have: that it was almost a parody because it focused so much on comedy :/
    Very strange approach to take, considering you’ve said the books (I haven’t read them) are actually pretty serious. I wonder why they chose to tell the movie story that way? Weird!

    • Chiara says:

      I really don’t understand why they went the funny route with this adaptation. There are snarky moments in the book, but nothing so cheesy as what was in this movie!

  4. I loved these books which is why I cannot see this movie. I have read nothing but bad reviews of it, and If I watch it and it is as bad as everyone says it is, I’ll be so mad. The books are so good and it’s a shame that the movie is so horrible. There have been some pretty good adaptations of YA books and this deserved a good adaptation. I am very disappointed.

  5. I’m probably the only one in the bookish world who hasn’t read any Richelle Mead books – despite the glowing reviews they’ve gotten; and I think it’s partly because of the movie. The majority of people who saw it seemed to have similar thoughts to both of you – that the casting and acting were bad, and that it didn’t really follow the book. It’s a shame because this could really impact the amount of YA books that are going to be turned into movies, you know? Thanks for sharing your thoughts though Chiara and Jeann, and BRILLIANT discussion! <3

    • Chiara says:

      Oh, no! You shouldn’t let the movie influence you that much, Zoe! Mead’s novels are definitely worth the read :D

      I hope that this adaptation doesn’t make movie producers hesitant of transforming YA books into movies, because there are a lot of good ones that have been released.

      Thank you, dear!

  6. Kelly says:

    Edward Cullan 2.0! So incredibly funny and true. It seems you and Jeann liked this a whole lot more than I was able to enjoy it. I read book one a few weeks before seeing it and really enjoyed it, but the movie felt so incredibly foreign and awkward. I had pictured Dimitri as this strapping Russian with smouldering good looks, but he just seemed far too old and believable as Rose’s love interest for me. It’s put me off reading the rest of the series sadly. I’m a big supporter of book to film adaptations, especially YA, but I really think this one should have been left alone :(

    Wonderful discussion though girls, absolutely loved it! <3

    • Chiara says:

      I think I was able to enjoy it because it had been many years since I’d read the book, and from the trailer I knew that they weren’t going to be sticking to the book that much.

      I don’t think you should let it put you off the books, though, Kelly! You have to meet Adrian.

      I think this one should have been more by the book, because so many fans weren’t happy with the angle that the movie producers took.

      Thanks, dear <3

  7. I really loved VA as a book ( although I still have yet to finish the series) and even though I haven’t watched the movie just the trailer seemed unbelievably cheesy and I get what you mean about the mean girls angle- I don’t think it suits the story either. Nonetheless I’ll probably give the film a go eventually, the books are definitely higher on my list though! Great post!

    • Chiara says:

      The movie WAS really cheesy, and I definitely wasn’t a fan of the Mean Girls/parody angle.

      You should definitely finish the series, Safah! The ending is great :D

  8. Gah looking at Mason’s face in that gif makes me so annoyed lol, I want to punch him! And that Mia gif omgg it was so cheesy and terrible. BAD ACTING ALERT INDEED.

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