The Fault in Our Stars Movie Review

If you have not read or seen The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, please read with caution. 

CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

After John Green's famous The Fault in Our Stars novel was said to be produced into a movie, fans of the book practically screamed in joy and could barely stand to wait until June 6, 2014. Well, today was June 6, 2014, and I was one of the anxious fan girls of this amazing book, but one question lurked everyone's minds as we waited for the movie to begin, "Will the movie really be as good as the book?" I'm sure there are many different opinions of how the movie turned out, but from the 200+ teary-eyed teenagers I saw walking out of the theater, it proves that this movie was the movie of the summer. 

Now before I begin my full movie review, let me say a few things. First of all, of course I am bias to the fact that John Green is an amazing writer and that this movie most definitely hit my soft spot (I was bawling), but I truly believe this movie was one of the better done book-into-movie adaptions. True the book is always better, because there's only so much a director can put into a 2 hour movie, but the casting, script, music, and even the simple effects made this movie a favorite among many. Secondly, this movie review has very little criticism because quite frankly as I was watching the movie, I didn't find much. Again, the casting was excellent, the acting even better, the script incorporated the book very well, and the music and effects tied the whole thing together into a way that it would be hard for a fan of The Fault in Our Stars not to like it. Okay (okay?) now that my little disclaimer is over I can get into it:

Casting: Honestly I was pretty skeptical about Ansel Elgort because at first, like with any movie adaption, he wasn't what I pictured. When I was reading the book, I had seen a fan made picture of Joshua Anthony Brand dressed as Augustus Waters, so that's how I pictured Augustus throughout the entire novel. When the casting had been selected and I saw that some other random dude had been selected, you could say I was disappointed. But Ansel Elgort definitely grew on me. After watching the trailer about 12 million times, seeing how adorable and talented Ansel is, and of course watching the movie, I knew that he was the perfect fit for the character. 

Acting: I found it funny at first that Ansel and Shailene played siblings on the recently released Divergent movie, but the chemistry between the two made everyone in theater squeal with joy when something especially romantic occurred between the two. The chemistry also was beautiful when the plot began to turn tragic and Augustus Waters begins to suffer from terminal cancer. The "gas station scene" (when Augustus is falling apart realizing he can't do anything by himself anymore) worried me because I thought that there was no way any actor could portray the fear, anger, and pain that John Green wrote about. But of course I was impressed by the impressive acting and I think the rest of the sobbing teenagers of the theater can agree on that one.

Music: Some of the songs during the movie shaped the moment (ex. "All of My Stars" by Ed Sheeran), but I believe that some of the songs weren't necessary. Charli XCX's song "Boom Clap" was played during the movie, and I felt like it was to rough for the movie. 

Effects: In the book, there are many places where emails and texts are exchanged between Augustus and Hazel Grace, and I thought the way these messages were exchanged was pretty awesome. Adorable little graphics popped up whenever a text was exchanged, and these little effects made the movie even better.

Favorite Scene:

Definitely this one...

Ansel is adorable. 

That's all.

Plot: The plot stuck exactly to the book, and there weren't many important scenes cut out. There was no mention of Augustus Water's ex girlfriend or the selling of the "Lonely, Vaguely Pedophilic Swing Set Seeking the Butts of Children", but these weren't important to the movie overall. However, I did find a small detail very interesting. During the book, a good reader may be able to tell of Augustus' terminal diagnosis before it's told due to the hints dropped by John Green, however in the movie everything seems normal until the tear jerking bomb shell is dropped. I actually enjoyed this version because those who haven't read the book (tisk tisk) don't know what's happening until it's announced. 

Overall I truly enjoyed this movie and would rate it an 8/10, it was fantastic with minor flaws and I would definitely see it again. 

Okay?

Okay.

(I had to)

Love,

Natalie