Some of the most popular books have been made into movies–and it’s caused a lot of controversy. Inevitably, a movie adaptation of nearly anything is going to be criticized by hardcore fans. Sometimes the adaptations work, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes they work as standalones, but not adaptations. So let’s take a look at a few book to movie adaptations and see how they stack up.
The Princess Bride
As an adaptation: Excellent. This is one of the rare cases where, in my opinion, the movie is actually better than the book. William Golding’s novel is good too, but has a very different ending. The film version is definitely more optimistic, but remains relatively faithful. I may be a little biased; the movie holds a lot of nostalgia for me from my childhood. But part of its appeal is that it’s a great standalone film as well.
Objectively: So much fun. Set within a familiar frame narrative, The Princess Bride is full of magic and adventure, with a fairytale vibe and lots of laughs. Some of the humor is easier to understand and therefore even more appreciated when I’m watching as an adult. It’s very dramatic, and the special effects are bad, and really it’s one of those movies that’s so ridiculous, that it works. One of my absolute favorites for sure!
The Lightning Thief
As an adaptation: Yikes. This is, I can confidently say, one of the worst book-to-movie adaptations in recent years. Now, in all fairness, I am a HUGE fan of the Percy Jackson books. So yes, I was never going to love any movie adaptation because I loved the books so much. But oh, boy. This one was rough. Lots and lots of plot changes, they aged the characters up quite a bit, and there were a lot of weird new developments that were definitely not in the book. Author Rick Riordan was deeply disappointed with the adaptation, too. He tweets about it all the time.
Objectively: Not great. It’s definitely better as an independent film compared to the book, but it’s still not great. It has an okay plot, but everything doesn’t quite click. It’s lacking character depth and development, but has a lot of action. In all, it’s just not very memorable. Read the book instead on this one.
Holes
As an adaptation: Great. Okay, it’s been a little while since I’ve read Holes, but I do remember the film stayed very true to the book’s plot and story. It had to lose some details, as any movie adaptation of a book does, but it kept both halves of the plot and did a really good job of weaving them together.
Objectively: Also great. This movie has an excellent cast, an original plot, and really just works. It doesn’t sound like something that would work–a bunch of juvenile delinquents digging holes in the desert? What is there to watch? As it turns out, a lot. Shady, memorable villains, a decades-old love story, and a mystery all get wrapped up in this film. Quirky, but fun!
A Wrinkle in Time
As an adaptation: Good-ish.. The new adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time cuts a lot of corners when it comes to the book’s plot. But it keeps the main message, and I actually think the changes made were smart. The book had a lot of traveling and smaller plot points that would’ve been difficult to convey and might have even been kind of boring on screen. Not everything in the movie worked; Calvin, for example, lost pretty much all vestiges of his usefulness in the transition from book to movie. But overall, I thought it did pretty well.
Objectively: Very good. This is such a good family movie. It’s got a very classics ‘love is the answer’ moral, and really focuses on relationships within a family. Also, it was beautiful visually. And had a diversified cast! Though it wasn’t super-popular with the critics, I thought it had a really nice storyline, something you’d watch as a family on a Saturday night.
The Hunger Games
As an adaptation: Rough. To some extent, making a movie out of The Hunger Games completely defeated the point of The Hunger Games. The books were all about how a televised tradition of watching kids kill each other was really messed up, and then we made a movie of watching kids kill each other. See the problem? Also, in the marketing and publicity campaigns, a lot of the book’s important messages about government control, rebellion and society as a whole were lost.
Objectively: Good-ish. The Hunger Games is a really fascinating, if not disturbing concept. So seeing that brought to life on screen was kind of cool. In terms of plot, acting, and design, the movie was good. It was pretty popular as well, as were its sequels. Objectively not a bad movie, though it wasn’t winning any Oscars or anything.