Z/Web

Author: Neil Gaiman (novel)

This started off annoying me. This is such a wonderful book, short and simple and elegant, and written with such a visual style that I figured it would make a terrific film. You’d hardly have to change a thing. But right off the bat the screenwriters changed one of my favorite items. In the novel a certain character is enchanted by a witch and cannot be freed until “Two Mondays come together in a week” — and of course that impossibility happens at the end in a brilliantly clever way. But in the film, the enchanted woman instead reveals that she can’t be freed until the witch is dead. Huh? Why ruin such a wonderful part of the original story? I can see no reason. And the movie continued in that vein, changing little things here and there, for no discernible reason. In many ways that’s worse than changing major plot points because it’s just annoying for no reason. My rating of the film dropped to a 9, then an 8 as the little things became bigger. Toward the end the film got ridiculous, introducing a flamboyantly gay character that just felt wrong in tone for the film, and then the film had a utterly different ending. In the new ending things end up about the same, to an extent, but the tone is different, and it ends with a lot more dramatic action, and while I can understand why the producers wanted a more exciting finish, it just didn’t fit with the tone of the story. A few of the elements just felt wrong, like the witch manipulating a dorky Gumby-like doll to control a dead man.

But all these issues aside, the film, for the most part, contains the heart of the novel. The shortcuts and arbitrary changes will annoy the faithful, but those who have not read the book should enjoy the film. Judging the film alone is difficult for me since I read the book and can’t help making comparisons, but I bet most would give it 8 or more out of ten. My rating is closer to 7, but that’s mostly because I was disappointed it wasn’t a more faithful adaptation (like the Harry Potter movies). I’d encourage people to enjoy both the movie and the book. It’s a wonderful story about a young man who promises the most beautiful girl in the village he’ll fetch a fallen star to prove his love, but when he crosses into magical land to retrieve it, he’s shocked to learn the star is not a rock but a girl. Witches are out to kill the star to eat her heart to regain their youth, and the boy and the girl set off on a series of adventures where the boy, of course, falls in love with the star. It’s magical and brilliant and charming and marvelous. If you aren’t going to read the book, at least see the film.