Engaging Story

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2012)

I was unaware that this movie was based off a book until I came on IMDb to review. As a movie first viewer, I have to say the film was quite entertaining. I watched the late late show when I should have been sleeping and the movie kept me up and engaged the entire time. I was expecting from the trailers for a bit of cheese due to the lead character looking like the girl from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I was pleasantly surprised that the characters and acting were not half bad, and that the story was in fact quite fresh. I have read that this is the first book of 3, and I noticed the characters were built and left with some hanging conflict. I have to agree with another reviewer about the camera work. The use of hand-held cameras was appropriate some of the time, but there was just too much of it. It was jarring to the eye and distracted me from time to time. I got a bit confused in the fight scenes, because I could never tell who was hitting who. Some shots could have definitely benefited from a locked off tripod, or a steady cam. My goal in every movie is to get lost in it, not confused by it. Overall, this was an awesome film and I look forward to the sequel.