From a book-lover's perspective

Rating: 9/10 (6 June 2014)

Having read and loved the book twice, naturally I was very excited to see this film. But my initial thoughts were quite different to how I feel about it now. Of course, it is a tear-jerker. It's a cancer story, what do you expect? I was still crying after I left the cinema, trying to process what I had just seen. I loved it, but now that I've had the chance to think more critically about it, there are things that I would have done better.
My first impressions are often wrong and no exception was made for Ansel Elgort. I honestly was not too keen on him playing Augustus but kudos to him, he did a wonderful job. Shailene did everything I thought she would and more, she was fantastic. In fact, all the cast were great, no fault in the stars!
There were just some issues with the plot and things that were left out that I felt were important. I was excited to see the mall scene, where Hazel is approached by a little girl who asks what is in Hazel's nose (her cannula) but we didn't get to see that. Half of the swing set scene was missing (Paedophilic swing set seeks the butts of young children) which for some reason I was disappointed about, and the 'snow' in Amsterdam would have been visually amazing but Josh Boone decided against it. While these are all little things, being a big fan of the book it is my job to be picky about them.
A visual technique that I didn't enjoy was the display of text messages in the book's font. It made me feel uncomfortable for some reason, but I can understand why it was done; Hazel and Gus' texts are important in telling the story and it was an easier way of showing them, rather than constantly cutting to shots of Hazel's phone.
Overall, I give this film a 9/10. It has the right amount of happiness, humour and heartache. I was going to rate it an 8, but Elgort's performance pushed it up that bit further. Book-lovers, you will all love it, okay? Okay.