Maximum Ride: Projeto Angel

I don't really want to trash this movie. When I saw the synopsis, I thought this was right up my alley: a sci-fi fantasy superhero action adventure with lots of girl power. It was a ride that I wanted to go on.

Now I'm on the ride, and it is giving me everything that the synopsis said it would give me, but it's not grabbing me like I would hope it would.

Another young adult book being adapted like Hunger games of Maze Runner, the movie is a about a group of kids that have been genetically altered with a series of test and now they have retractable wings (They barely used in the film). They escaped from their lab and now are in hiding, until one of them was found and kidnapped and now the rest have to save this child from the captives.

The movie does suffer from not having the same budget as the Divergent series, to name one, although I can't knock what they did with what they had. Not the most impressive production design, but it was effective.

I just felt that it did not gel or flow naturally at all. Maximum Ride force feeds the viewers a great story that's filled with cheesy dialog and corny acting. It was to the point that I almost felt I was watching a parody of a young adult book adaption, when I know that was not the intent of the production.

I don't want to be harsh on such a cool concept that was pretty well made from what looks like a shoe string budget in comparison, to others in its genre, but a lot of times it made me feel like I was trying my best to get through the book and finish, when sometime into it I became disinterested in doing so

The movie had very poor effects and the dialog was terrible. Many things were repeated with a few words switched around and the actors sounded very forced. But, that's not even the worst of it. The movie followed the book very poorly and the plot was not explicit. If I had not read the book prior to watching the film, I would have been completely lost. The plot moved too quickly and gave no details to what was happening. I had very high expectations set for this film because of the book. The book is an amazing action packed adventure with a great story that would make a perfect science fiction/action film. But that didn't happen. There were not nearly enough action scenes compared to the book, and the ones that were present were very, well, bad. The CGI was awful and the dramatic slow motion, cringe-worthy. I was disappointed and appalled, to say the least. The movie was made as if it was thrown together without any thought. One of my favorite aspects from the books, and what I was hoping to get a lot of in the film, was the character development. Max and her five "siblings" are very unique with different personality traits who battle many personal problems throughout the story. They all develop beautifully as characters, learning about themselves and their abilities, but sadly that was not present in the movie. The characters did not seem to learn anything important about sticking together, which was one of the biggest themes of the book. I will admit that the makers and the cast of this movie were not famous and may not have been experienced enough to make a hit film. The director was not someone that I recognized. Maybe Maximum Ride was a low budget film and they didn't have a lot to work with. There's a number of thing that could have been happening behind the scenes that may have caused this movie to be below what I had hoped for. The actors weren't even that bad. The portrayed their characters the way I would have seen them, but the lines and dialog that was fed to them was repetitive and somewhat cheesy. It was probably difficult to work with. Again, the idea for this movie was in the right place, and maybe if they would have had a bigger budget and put more thought into the script, this could have been a blockbuster film. I would have loved to see one of my favorite books become an astounding movie adaptation. But, sadly, we'll have to make do with what it is, and what it is is a poorly made movie, and frankly a waste of anyone's time, that doesn't even come close to the literature that it was based off of.

I loved the book series so when I found out there was going to be a film I couldn't wait. Them I watched the film and felt as though someone had just thrown the book on the floor and jumped on it before brutally bashing it with a sledgehammer. In the book the main six characters had a great chemistry that was just non-existent in the film, they didn't even say Fang's name. Not once!!! How are people who haven't read the books supposed to know!!!! Also Max is one of the most Bad-A$$ in YA literature. In the film the characters lacked everything that made her Max, like the witty remarks that she is so well know for. Also the effects were terrible it would have looked better if they didn't even bother to put them in and just had the characters run around with cardboard wings taped to their backs. A book this great should be given a film that reflects it.

My quick rating - 4,4/10. Pretty bland story that really never got going. Six children genetically cross-bred with avian DNA, complete with wings, take flight around the country to discover their origins. The plot line sums it up. Problem with this movie is some subpar FX, the lack of depth (flashbacks via MTV style don't cut it) and lack of any reason to care what happens to the kids. The action, so to speak, is pointless and they don't even try to find their origins, they more or less allude to it. Visually, the sweeping camera work looks very nice over the landscapes as they fly (don't focus on them, the vfx are horrid as I said) but that cannot save a lackluster effort such as this. I read that this is a series of books that supposedly are pretty good so I assume a sequel is on the way. I won't be bothering with it if they do. Aside from the main character, Max, the bit players are just there. The kid who blows stuff up at least ended the movie with a funny line. Not really a spoiler nor does it make it worth it to watch just for that. If you know the books, you will be disappointed, and if you don't know them, you most likely still will be. I know I was.

As one of the many people who have read the books, I was looking forward to this. I could hardly believe it when I heard that they were making one of my favorite books into a movie, suffice to say I don't read a lot. So when I finished watching I found myself baffled. Not because of the terrible VFX. But because of the production value, it astonishes me, How Hollywood can justify giving hundreds of millions to a remake that nobody wants but when a novel like Maximum Ride is made, the studios are reluctant to back it up so the author has to pitch in? In what world does this make sense? If you are unfamiliar with the story, it's about six kids who have two percent bird DNA and are kept in a prison called School. They brake out and try to survive on there own. If you like the idea as I did, read the books, they are well worth your time, I wish the same could be said for the movie. The only redeeming quality of the movie was Max, She looks the part and if she had actual screenwriters she might have sounded the part as well. I never thought I would ask for a remake for a movie, But this really deserves it and who knows? Maybe it will happen one day.