A Fun Ride

Rating: 9/10 (1 April 2018)

If you are expecting this movie to be exactly like the book, then you haven't been paying attention to the trailers. The very existence of the car racing scene should have been enough to prepare you for major changes. In order to follow the novel completely, they would have needed a trilogy or maybe even a mini-series. In addition, much of the novel takes place inside Wade's own thoughts, which was never going to translate into a good movie.
So if you go into it knowing to expect a whole new adventure, then it is hard to not enjoy this movie. It is full of fun references, both obvious and fleeting that will require many re-watches to catch (and the ability to pause once it is released for home viewing!). The same summary can be used for the novel and this movie, but we are given a whole new adventure to enjoy. I found this refreshing, as it gave us a whole new set of challenges for the High Five to overcome.
Sure, the movie does not have as much depth as the novel, but what adaptation does? The important thing is that they did not lose the fun nor the heart of the novel. So many adaptations don't feel anything like the source material, but this movie certainly does.