How to Ruin a Movie That Is Based on a Book

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, The Giver, Eragon, Twilight, those and much more have done a remarkable job at becoming the worst movies to be based on the best books of all time. It is so impressive that the directors of these horrible movies deserve a round of applause for the amount of crap they can produce and put a familiar name on just to get money. For a Hollywood creation to become the worst movie of all time is a really tough standard to live up to, especially in this day and age with all this technology and talent budding everywhere. I once had the thought that it would be impossible for Hollywood to make any more terrible movies that were to be based on books, but I thought wrong. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children had utterly destroyed my expectations, and made me think again. In order to make a movie as hell-bound as that one, these three steps must be followed: make sure that the actors do not portray the characters correctly, change most of the main ideas of the story, and do not forget that the finished product should not make any sense whatsoever.

To elaborate, the actors are like the main dish to a meal. There can be vegetables, mashed potatoes, rice, and beans, but if the turkey is not up to par, the whole meal is ruined. That is exactly what happened, in this case. In Miss Peregrine's novel, the main character, Jacob was quite lively but bored, and he was curious but thoughtful. In the movie, those characteristics were rarely displayed. He showed only one emotion from time to time, and that was fear. In the novel, each and every friend he had and made were essential to the story. They shaped him, and made him the type of person he was. In the movie, half of those characters were not even a part of the story, so it was very disappointing to watch, because of how lifeless it was. In the novel, everyone else who was neither the main character or a side character was either important or gave the story more life. In the movie, however, when those characters were portrayed, they were not as convincing, and it only seemed as if they were trying too hard. That is what people need to go for when making a terrible movie, but if their actors decide to go against their wishes and take their parts seriously, they need not fear, for there are many more opportunities to ruin the movie that thousands of people have high expectations for.

As a matter of fact, no one can make an amazing movie if the idea behind it is terrible, but that is where things get a little tricky. Most of the people who have read the book went to the movies, expecting it to have at least some of the same qualities, but were disappointed to find out that it was nothing but garbage with the name of the wonderful novel plastered onto it. The setting, for example, was dark and almost morbid. Because the pictures were in black and white, in the minds of those that read the book, everything was in black and white. The setting of the film, on the other hand, was colorful, and did not give off the sense of despair or misery, as so many people would have thought to be the right emotions to feel in a situation like Jacob's. The plot of the story in the novel was very straightforward and well put-together, so everything made sense. In the movie, however, though the plot was straightforward as well, it was not well put-together. For example, the antagonists in the novel wanted things that they could only achieve by capturing Miss Peregrine and her kind, and by feasting on peculiars. The director of the movie most likely thought that those main ideas were too much for the young audience to handle, so it was changed to where the antagonists did not feast on the children, but on their eyeballs instead, as if that was less revolting. In the novel, every action made sense, meaning there was a good reason behind everything that happened. In the movie, though, there were somethings that happened that were unnecessary, and somethings that were necessary did not take place. That is what made this film a remarkably horrible movie, but it does not end there.

As soon as the shooting is all done, and the actors are home, one last step is required to maintain the ruination of the film and that is to take the finished product, give it to the editor, and tell him to mess it up completely and have fun doing it. In the novel, all the events and every setting flowed together in unity. It could be easily understood what was happening, and why it was happening at each and every main event. On the other hand, during the whole entire movie, every few minutes, it would cut to a completely new and different scene. Things like that leave the audience confused as to what was happening and why. The whole meaning and purpose were too great for just one book, so it became a series instead, and the true goal is reached at the end. The movie, unlike the novel, was rushed through and shortened in length, so to basically "end it" with just that one movie. When an amateur author had just put out his first book, the standards and expectations are really low, but with this book and the ones that followed after, those expectations only grew. At the same time, when a movie based on a novel comes out, the standards and expectations are quite high only to be knocked down and crushed just an hour and a half later. Ruining a movie can be a long and arduous process, because it forces people to be really lazy, and that is a very hard thing to do in a society that judges people by the fruit of their efforts.

All things considered, after the directors have made sure that the actors did not portray their character correctly, changed most of the main ideas of the story, and made sure that the finished product did not make any sense, they have completed their task. The fruit of their efforts will be repaid when half of their audience walks out of the movie theatre and demands a refund. In all seriousness, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was an amazing book that deserved to be made into an amazing movie. With upcoming filmmakers with new talent, maybe it will, one day, get just that. To wrap things up, if directors are going to change everything about a movie that is based on a novel, they should do us all a favor and change the name, too.