Inkheart: A Review

I watched the movie. I did.

Inkheart. It was a movie. A movie that I watched.

Oh, Brendan Fraser... ~shakes head~

I don't really know where to start.

Okay, there are SPOILERS! You have been warned...

Usually when I do these book to movie reviews I have a long list of things that were incorrect, misrepresented, poorly done, or were actually done right that needs to be recognized. I get a thrill out of pointing out the obviously incorrect stuff, pausing the movie and yelling at the TV screen (often) because they glossed over this point or that point.

I am not saying the Inkheart is guilt free. But I actually looked at it from a movie perspective first. And then I considered the gross inconsistencies. First, it had Brendan Fraser. I am not generally a Brendan Fraser fan. It wasn't that he acting was terrible, oddly enough he was entertaining. My biggest beef  is that he wasn't British sounding enough. His daughter, Meggie, Elinor, Fenoglio, even Capricorn was British (or at least British sounding). It was a bit distracting to have one person without some form of an accent. Was it enough to ruin the movie? Eh, probably not. But is was distracting.

Looking at it from the book perspective there were a number of things that were glossed over from the book, or not even touched. This is usually what makes me loathe or gently despise a movie made from a boo. When I looked at the story as a movie it was actually entertaining. I missed a lot of the subtle character work the Cornelia Funke included in her book with Dustfinger and Resa, as in the book he did not know she was Meggie mother and Mo's wife. There was also this attraction Dustfinger had for her and made Dustfinger a stronger character. They skipped a lot of those bit and a shame too.

Okay fine, I can believe the characters were real in the movie. Sort of...Resa got shafted, as she had less build up, less vested in her character, except that she was Meggie's lost mother.

There was the ending. It was not he same. Where do you want me to begin? Mo reads Dustfinger back into Inkheart, end of story. That definitely a cop out, happy ending bull crap. There's the Shadow, when he died and not quite in the same way did not produce the creatures that the Shadow had killed who survived in the book to live  with Elinor. And of course everyone else who was alive, the beast and Black Jackets whom had been read out of the books returned to their origins. More cop out it seems.

~Shrug~

Not a bad ending, but it felt like a typical Hollywood happy ending where they wrapped everything up in a pretty package with a bow on top.

As for content, it was inconsistent for my tastes. I wanted more of the bits with Basta, his back story and character. I also felt they rushed to name drop Resa and her story, as mentioned above. Paul Bettany was an amazing Dustfinger, though and Eliza Hope Bennett as Meggie was a really good choice. Although they made she a bit older in the movie than in the book, a small gripe if you please. Capricorn wasn't as much of a dick as he was in the book, but seeing as they made a family friendly kids fantasy movie, you can only make a villain so much of a dick. As for location and even cinematography , the whole movie was gorgeous.

The best I can say is it was a so-so family friendly fantasy movie (here Dear Readers, have some alliteration). To compare it to the book, you will find yourself disappointed. The book was over 500 pages, there's a lot to cover there. Yes, the movie is going to gloss over much of it. Will I watch it again, maybe? (if there's a Rifftrax available or booze. Maybe both) If you prefer a good story, read the book. If you  like a fun fantasy movie and can handle a non-British Brendan Fraser, then watch the movie. Did I expect anything less from Hollywood? Not really. I kinda was hoping it would have been terrible to watch, because then I could have laughed and mocked it. Oh well! It was still entertaining.

My recommendation is to read the books, all three of them. You will enjoy them if you like fantasy. I am currently working on a re-read Inkspell!

Have a fantastic day, Dear Readers!!!

Much Progress

Today is a mass of hysteria and confusion as I sort out everything I need to do. Bear with me, Dear Readers. I am trying to get caught up on stuff, so this is getting posted on the late side.

This Week:
      *Reading: making slow work of Inkheart (Cornelia Funke). It a good novel and I need to soak it in. I have forgotten much of it since my last read of it.
      *Writing: wrote my OctPoWriMo poems daily (about 100 words each), Tuesday Writing Blitz (700+ words), Wednesday Writing Blitz (713 words), ROW80 post (863 words), and some NaNoWriMo prep work (its coming too fast).
      *Editing: Didn't get to editing Tuesday, but managed to get about an hour on some edits tonight. I wrote this so out of order that getting these edits and re-writes into the script is really going to take a while. But on the upside I feel I am getting a clearer story out of The Real Road Trip. Its becoming a stronger story. I have chapters now, but they feel more like sections while I sort this story out. We will see after I finish with this re-write draft.
      *Theatre Stuffs: scanned the my script (so I can print of a Lighting and Sound Technical Script tomorrow). Making sing-up sheets for make-up, and help for box office and parental guard duty. Typed up stage notes for Act 1. Much more to come....less than three weeks now!
      *House Tending: got plumber to fix leaky pipe in basement, getting a quote on a new furnace (joys of home ownership) as it appears that the furnace is shot, keeping up with laundry. Most of the dishes are now done.
      *Social Media: spending tine on Twitter, visiting 4 blogs daily from ROW80 and OctPoWriMo (at 4 for each since Sunday), and keeping up with my sponsor duties.

This (upcoming) Week:
       *Reading: continue reading Inkheart, read Murder Comes Ashore (Julie Anne Lindsey), and start Mrs. McGinty's Body (Agatha Christie). Update my Goodreads Reading Challenge.
       *Writing: write daily, at least 300 words. Hoping to make this happen in the latter part of the week this week. Spend a little time getting character sketches done and finish a mock outline for Modern Muses for NaNoWriMo, because that starts on Sunday.
       *Editing: Spend 1 day between now and Sunday editing The Real Road Trip for an hour.
       *Blogging: post Thursday.
       *Social Media:  4 blogs daily, sponsor duties, spend time on Twitter.
       *Theatre Stuffs: report.
       *House Tending: report.

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. Come and see what the other ROW80-ers are writing about at the Blog Hop.

HOw are your goals coming? Who is doing NaNoWriMo? Ready for November?

So much stuff and now time for a little WIPpet Wednesday!

The creation of K.L. Schwengel, where writers post a bit of their WIP on Wednesday to a Blog Hop (CLICK HERE) to visit the other WIPpeteers. By using today's date you share a snippet and give a little background on the piece. Today is 10/28 so lets do 2 + 8 = 10 paragraphs from the beginning of Modern Muses (working title). Here we meet Thalos and what was doing at the top of the novel and a little bit of Teri.

A man bounced a tennis ball against the ground as he heard shouts from the field. “That’s fifteen – love, mate.” The guy on the further end of the courts called to his partner. 

“Okay, my serve then,” and he reach up just in time to miss the ball and as he ran to catch it his laces which were now loose and sprawled out across the court. He did a tuck and roll, but still managed to bang his head on the fence.

“You okay mate?” his friend called.

“Yeah, just cracked my head that’s all.” Everyone else on the nearby courts eyes the event unfolding, some even chuckle a bit, but most turned back to what they were doing when the young man slowly stood up.

They were supposed to laugh, Thalos thought. Why didn’t they? He thought it was funny.

What people didn’t see was that the man, Thalos was laughing and moving his pointer finger as the young man had skidded into the concrete, dropping his racket as the ball went out of bounds and bumping his head. Thalos wiped tears of mirth from his eyes, “Oh that’s good…” as he mentally checked off points about the young man’s fall.

“I thought you were in charge of inspiring the lighter side of poetry, comedy, and mirth.”

“I am,” said Thalos who now stood, dropping the tennis ball into his draw string bag. “I am just sitting here minding my own business. Doing some research for one of my…um, charges.”

“Right….Thalos. You think I was born yesterday.” The voice belonged to a short and thin girl, who looked much younger than Thalos. She was certainly clean in appearance. “You’re a bum, Talo.”

He hated that nickname. It made him think of candle, “What’s it to you, Teri?” Thalos said ignoring Teri and walking past a girl who was wearing black yoga pants and a purple spaghetti strap top with some brand name store across her meager chest.