Fallen

Loved the books! But the movie was not very well produced... Even the Mortal Instruments, that also had a lot of very bad reviews... was better than this book adaptation. The cast is good, they are perfect for the roles. The whole movie leaves a very incomplete feeling, it leaves you with the feeling that you were supposed to see something happening that actually did not happen. It did not felt like a movie, it felt like a long trailer.

Fallen is a movie based on a book by Lauren Kate. It should be the first movie in the series but since there were a lot of distribution problems, I doubt this will become a franchise. The book could have been better, but it was decent. Flawed, but decent. This is just kinda lame.

I like how it tried to keep the moody and Gothic atmosphere, but it all just felt amateurish and low budget, I couldn't take it very seriously. The first two thirds are a bit slow paced and then the last third feels so rushed, you don't really get to know anything. You just get a lot of exposition, things just happen but nothing interesting, so the climax just comes off as forced. The one plus of the movie is Lola Kirke as the geeky best friend Penn. She seems to be the only one who actually got into this and tried to make something good. She stole every scene she was in. She's the most memorable character of the movie and she's not even one of the leads. The lead actress is pretty much Kristen Stewart in Twilight. There's really not much difference. The rest of the characters, they are just there. Even that is hard to believe because you just don't notice them.

This was the opportunity to improve the story, but it just made the whole thing worse. I'm not even sure if fans will like this.

I read these books in anticipation for the movie. I've been waiting forever for the movie to release. I finally watched it and as with Vampire Academy they tried WAY too hard to make this something it wasn't. They changed many things and brought in things from the other books. They barely showed the other characters. It was just a big mess to me. I mean maybe if I hadn't have read the books I may have enjoyed it a little more but I would have had SOOOOOOOO many more questions if I didn't know what was going on already. I doubt it will get any sequels due to the fans of the books not enjoying the movie. I would like to see if they could get better as the Twilight movies did but I don't think they will take that chance.

The teenager Lucinda "Luce" Price (Addison Timlin) is brought to the Sword and Cross reformatory by her parents to comply with a court order since she was accused for the death of her boyfriend Trevor (Leo Suter) in a fire. However Luce blames shadows for the incident and is considered lunatic. On the arrival, Luce is instructed about the rules and regulations in the school and has contact with the rebel student Cameron "Cam" Briel (Harrison Gilbertson) and then with Arriane Alter (Daisy Head). She visits the library and is welcomed by Miss Sophia (Joely Richardson) that gives books for her and is confronted by the weird Molly Zane (Sianoa Smit-McPhee). Then she befriends the student Pennyweather "Penn" (Lola Kirke) and she feels attracted by Daniel Grigori (Jeremy Irvine), who saves her from a falling statue of an angel. On the next days she is courted by Cam and Daniel and has flashbacks from Trevor's accident and an apparently her past life. She also has a class with Miss Sophia about the war of the angels and the falling angels. When Penny and Luce research with their friend Todd Hammond (Chris Ashby) about Daniel, they find a XIX century picture of Luce and Daniel. However there is a fire in the library caused by shadows and Todd dies. What is the secret of the Sword and Cross?

"Fallen" is another silly romance indicated for young teenagers and fans of "Twilight" only. Adults will probably find it desipient since after so many centuries angels should be more mature. The screenplay is not good and there is no explanation why the fallen angels live at Sword and Cross. The concept of angels with lightened wings is original and the soundtrack is very beautiful. And that is all. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Fallen - O Filme" ("Fallen - The Movie")

Note: On 18 March 2023, I saw this film again on Blu-Ray.

Is there an algorithm that writes these kind of movies and books? Just like all the identical Hallmark Christmas movies, this movie could just have been called City of Bones/The Mortal Instruments/Shadow Hunters, Twilight, Divergent, True Blood. Take your pick.