Today I saw Paper Towns and after just reading the book I have a few thoughts about it...
If you JUST read the book... the movie is going to be hugely disappointing. I liked it, but the book is so much funnier and so much better and most of the characters I thought were great and well cast... but they weren't amazing actors and as much as I love Cara Devingne I don't think she was Margo. Idk I just had pretty high hopes for this movie and it didn't quite meet my expectations.
There were a few too many changes from the book that were weird choices for the movie and it didn't work out quite as well. If you've read the book, you know the end is exciting because... Somewhat vague spoiler... they have to be at a certain place at a certain time and they have to leave doing something important in a rush to be at this place at this time... and the movie didn't include that... so there weren't any real stakes. It also kind of made his Q's friends seem more selfish than Q because in the book they left doing something important to go help Q on this mission. In the movie the friends have to do something important and don't help Q on his mission... so thats small but it ABSOLUTELY changes everything else in the film as a consequence.
The beginning scene is slightly less exciting. The flirting between Margo and Q wasn't really there... which I was okay with... Spoilers... cause I didn't want Margo and Q to get together and I thought yeah they were flirting and they probably like each other to an extent but no they shouldn't get together.
I'm happy that I read the book before seeing the movie. Basically now I've realized if you think a movie looks good and its based off a book, read the book first cause the book is usually better anyway. Horns left a ton of stuff out, this totally changed the end for me... and it just wasn't as good.
Ohhh another main issue I had with it was that Lacey seemed really really nice and Margo just seemed like she was a jerk to her. I kind of liked that the book showed that neither Lacey or Margo were perfect and that was okay. We still liked them both. We didn't really feel bad for either and that was that. My mom thought she was really mean to Lacey and I was like "well Lacey's a little more bitchy in the book." And I explained it to my mom.
Also... Could they have gotten someone skinnier to play Margo???? Can curvy women not get roles as the romantic lead? It was mentioned that Margo was curvy, and maybe not chubby... but I didn't think she was skinny in the book and not that there is anything wrong with Cara's weight or her appearance at all... I'm just saying that they cast a lot of incredibly thin women to play roles that aren't necessarily for thin women. (another issue I had with Glenna in Horns.)
Even though it seems like I'm giving this movie a totally hard time... its still 100% an enjoyable movie. It isn't the best movie, but probably one of the best playing right now. If you read the book, of corse you'll want to see them movie and it is still totally watchable and good. Its a fun teen high school movie that is different from Mean Girls or Clueless, which I always think is cool. I read the movie a lot differently than I read the book. And I actually found a really deep meaning in the movie that I didn't see in the book... that I don't really want to share because I want everyone to interpret it their own way. I'm going to be obviously vague here. I felt like the movie signified that there was a very specific reason that Margo was not attracted to Quentin, and the casting choice of Cara was really interesting to me for that reason. I didn't pick up on that in the book at all, but there I felt there was a lot of chemistry in the book between the two that I didn't see in the movie and also there were references to her being attracted to Quentin. I think there was also a reference in the book that Margo knew how small Jase's penis was and in the movie it seemed like it was a guess... which also makes me think my theory works. I may eventually re-read the book and see if I get the same thing... I don't really know. I feel like they could totally tell this story told from Margo's POV and it'd be equally interesting.
So yeah. The acting wasn't the best, the changes from the book didn't all work, but ultimately it was still a great film and the changes they made were interesting enough for me to find a completely new meaning in the story, which is just as deep and meaningful as the book. I just think the book was a little funnier, the characters were really great and I felt like the end had a bigger element of suspense and stakes. And the friendship dynamics are different in both stories, which I think is the glue that holds it together.
So I think that is about it. I would give it like a B-, I was thinking C+ because of the acting in it, but I went home still thinking "wow I really enjoyed that" so Its definitely worth watching and I'd see it again... but Book is better. Lol.
Byeee!
-Shannon
If you JUST read the book... the movie is going to be hugely disappointing. I liked it, but the book is so much funnier and so much better and most of the characters I thought were great and well cast... but they weren't amazing actors and as much as I love Cara Devingne I don't think she was Margo. Idk I just had pretty high hopes for this movie and it didn't quite meet my expectations.
There were a few too many changes from the book that were weird choices for the movie and it didn't work out quite as well. If you've read the book, you know the end is exciting because... Somewhat vague spoiler... they have to be at a certain place at a certain time and they have to leave doing something important in a rush to be at this place at this time... and the movie didn't include that... so there weren't any real stakes. It also kind of made his Q's friends seem more selfish than Q because in the book they left doing something important to go help Q on this mission. In the movie the friends have to do something important and don't help Q on his mission... so thats small but it ABSOLUTELY changes everything else in the film as a consequence.
The beginning scene is slightly less exciting. The flirting between Margo and Q wasn't really there... which I was okay with... Spoilers... cause I didn't want Margo and Q to get together and I thought yeah they were flirting and they probably like each other to an extent but no they shouldn't get together.
I'm happy that I read the book before seeing the movie. Basically now I've realized if you think a movie looks good and its based off a book, read the book first cause the book is usually better anyway. Horns left a ton of stuff out, this totally changed the end for me... and it just wasn't as good.
Ohhh another main issue I had with it was that Lacey seemed really really nice and Margo just seemed like she was a jerk to her. I kind of liked that the book showed that neither Lacey or Margo were perfect and that was okay. We still liked them both. We didn't really feel bad for either and that was that. My mom thought she was really mean to Lacey and I was like "well Lacey's a little more bitchy in the book." And I explained it to my mom.
Also... Could they have gotten someone skinnier to play Margo???? Can curvy women not get roles as the romantic lead? It was mentioned that Margo was curvy, and maybe not chubby... but I didn't think she was skinny in the book and not that there is anything wrong with Cara's weight or her appearance at all... I'm just saying that they cast a lot of incredibly thin women to play roles that aren't necessarily for thin women. (another issue I had with Glenna in Horns.)
Even though it seems like I'm giving this movie a totally hard time... its still 100% an enjoyable movie. It isn't the best movie, but probably one of the best playing right now. If you read the book, of corse you'll want to see them movie and it is still totally watchable and good. Its a fun teen high school movie that is different from Mean Girls or Clueless, which I always think is cool. I read the movie a lot differently than I read the book. And I actually found a really deep meaning in the movie that I didn't see in the book... that I don't really want to share because I want everyone to interpret it their own way. I'm going to be obviously vague here. I felt like the movie signified that there was a very specific reason that Margo was not attracted to Quentin, and the casting choice of Cara was really interesting to me for that reason. I didn't pick up on that in the book at all, but there I felt there was a lot of chemistry in the book between the two that I didn't see in the movie and also there were references to her being attracted to Quentin. I think there was also a reference in the book that Margo knew how small Jase's penis was and in the movie it seemed like it was a guess... which also makes me think my theory works. I may eventually re-read the book and see if I get the same thing... I don't really know. I feel like they could totally tell this story told from Margo's POV and it'd be equally interesting.
So yeah. The acting wasn't the best, the changes from the book didn't all work, but ultimately it was still a great film and the changes they made were interesting enough for me to find a completely new meaning in the story, which is just as deep and meaningful as the book. I just think the book was a little funnier, the characters were really great and I felt like the end had a bigger element of suspense and stakes. And the friendship dynamics are different in both stories, which I think is the glue that holds it together.
So I think that is about it. I would give it like a B-, I was thinking C+ because of the acting in it, but I went home still thinking "wow I really enjoyed that" so Its definitely worth watching and I'd see it again... but Book is better. Lol.
Byeee!
-Shannon
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