Top 5 worst movie adaptations

These days if there is a young adult novel series, there is a good chance that it will be turned into a movie franchise with more movies than books. Maybe you’ve been waiting months for the movie’s release, to see your favorite novel on the big screen. Don’t let your expectations get too high, though. The inarguable truth is that not all movie adaptations can be successful. While movies naturally need to cut or adapt scenes, some movies decided to change the plot entirely. Out of these five movie failures, which have you seen?

The Mortal Instruments: Lily Collins didn’t bring anything special to her role as main character Clary Fray, but actor Jamie Campbell Bower truly bombed his part. The character of Jace was supposed to be smug, sarcastic and just a little cocky while remaining charming and loveable. In the movie, Jace was portrayed as an emo with a sociopathic attitude. No smiling, no charm, just kinda creepy. In addition to this, the movie refused to accurately follow the book’s plot, which was centered around a girl discovering she is meant to be a demon hunter. This lead to massive fan disappointment, and the internet, including sites such as Rotten Tomatoes, were littered with negative commentary. I would give the movie a 3  out of 10 while Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 3.9 out of 10.

Percy Jackson (Specifically the Lightning Thief):This childhood favorite came to screens in 2010, but longtime readers found themselves wishing that production never happened. Not only did the movie cut essential characters, such as Ares the God of War and his daughter Clarisse, but it also made a villain out of a character who in the books was (relatively) innocent. It is also important to point out that the actors, including heartthrob Logan Lerman, are supposed to be playing twelve-year-olds, but instead look around eighteen. Not even Lerman could save this disaster. For this one Rotten Tomatoes gave a 5.3 out of 10, I would only go so far as to give it a 4 out of 10.

The Hobbit: While the adaptation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was a success, Peter Jackson’s prequel movie did not live up to all of the hype that we heard before it was released. The characters were not as endearing as they were in the original movies, and it was harder to feel sad when they died. On top of that it was simply too long. In fact, the movie ended up being so long-winded that a wave of relief washed over me as I saw the ending credits. There’s a lesson here for all filmmakers: a small book should not be stretched into three movies. I give this one a 4 out of 10 while Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 6.6.

Divergent: Yes, there was action and romance, but the movie failed to capture the same mood as the book. This might be why it earned a surprisingly poor score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie fell flat, despite bearing similarities to the successful Hunger Games trilogy. While the book was full of suspense and dark concepts, the movie seemed too focused on the romance rather than the main character’s journey to self-discovery. It seemed like it was trying to fit into a mold of “successful teen movies” by upping the sappy-factor and making the movie seem like a cheesy flick about “being unique and strong” and stressing the theme more than necessary. This one I rated a little higher with a 5 out of 10. Rotten Tomatoes on the other hand liked it, giving it a 7.6.

The Giver: The Giver used the book to borrow a couple of ideas, take some characters names, and then changed everything else. A villain was created that never existed in the books, as was a romance completely fabricated by filmmakers. The suspense was weak. The intent was to reach a wider audience, and once again they tried to follow the movie code of mixing romance with action to appeal to teens. This didn’t have the desired effect, even for those such as my younger sister, who had never read the book. In relation to the original book by Lois Lowry, the movie is weak in storytelling and can only be said to “resemble” the novel rather than be a proper adaption. While Rotten Tomatoes gave this one a 6.8, I would only give it a 4.5 out of 10.