I guess killer vines aren't easy to translate onto the big screen. I have read the book over and over since it came out when I was in high school. I love it so much that I own two copies - a hardcover and a small portable copy. Many others who I have recommended it to really enjoyed it.
That's why it is so frustrating to see what a failure this movie was, which is a shame since the author helped write most of the script. He swapped the characters around in the film and removed most, if not all, of their backstory. I understand a movie cannot fully embody the essence of a book, but while reading, you become familiar and somewhat attached to the characters, which allows you to relate with them in a chilling way that leaves you a bit unsettled when they're being tortured and killed off by this sentient plant. In the movie, I could not bring myself to care about what happens to these people as I have zero emotional investment to them, nor do I even gain any interest in them as they are the most bland characters I've ever seen in a film besides Twilight. They could have discussed the hardships of no food/drink, missing their families, or spoke more about their hopes and dreams for when they get back home; literally anything besides the wasted screen time of just staring at each other while showing limited emotional or realistic reactions to the events around them.
What's worse, they not only stripped the characters of their personalities (and, honestly, the vine of it's personality in the book) but then shuffled them around for no discernible reason. It was done in a very forced way that didn't feel natural, especially when their fates and form of death were also mis-matched. In the book, the Greek is the one who breaks his back. This creates a haunting experience since we don't know what's wrong with him right away, because he can't speak English to tell the others how severely he is hurt. Extra unsettling is the fact that he cannot communicate with any of them to consent to having his legs amputated, creating a very squeamish and gut-wrenching chapter in the book. The film adaptation removes this horrific factor by making Matias the one to fall, they immediately figure out he broke his back, and then Matias begs the others to cut off his legs. That's only one example of many things that went wrong and caused this movie to fall completely flat. I won't even waste my time on explaining how disappointed I was that the vines were laughable at best, rather than the terrifying entity described in the book.
Lastly, the fact that Amy survives is an absolute joke. In the book, there are no survivors- a very chilling ending to a depressing story. The whole "we need a happy ending for the audience" was the final unrealistic bow slapped on top of this flop of a film. If they were going to choose to allow someone to survive, then they should have included the unreleased ending which was MUCH more haunting and realistic, showing how deadly and intrusive these vines are.
Overall, I'm disappointed in Ben Stiller and Scott Smith for failing to create a movie that even suggests a proper attempt of doing the book any justice. Translating a far-fetched idea onto the big screen is something that cannot be skimped on. You had the money to do it and do it right, but this was not it.
That's why it is so frustrating to see what a failure this movie was, which is a shame since the author helped write most of the script. He swapped the characters around in the film and removed most, if not all, of their backstory. I understand a movie cannot fully embody the essence of a book, but while reading, you become familiar and somewhat attached to the characters, which allows you to relate with them in a chilling way that leaves you a bit unsettled when they're being tortured and killed off by this sentient plant. In the movie, I could not bring myself to care about what happens to these people as I have zero emotional investment to them, nor do I even gain any interest in them as they are the most bland characters I've ever seen in a film besides Twilight. They could have discussed the hardships of no food/drink, missing their families, or spoke more about their hopes and dreams for when they get back home; literally anything besides the wasted screen time of just staring at each other while showing limited emotional or realistic reactions to the events around them.
What's worse, they not only stripped the characters of their personalities (and, honestly, the vine of it's personality in the book) but then shuffled them around for no discernible reason. It was done in a very forced way that didn't feel natural, especially when their fates and form of death were also mis-matched. In the book, the Greek is the one who breaks his back. This creates a haunting experience since we don't know what's wrong with him right away, because he can't speak English to tell the others how severely he is hurt. Extra unsettling is the fact that he cannot communicate with any of them to consent to having his legs amputated, creating a very squeamish and gut-wrenching chapter in the book. The film adaptation removes this horrific factor by making Matias the one to fall, they immediately figure out he broke his back, and then Matias begs the others to cut off his legs. That's only one example of many things that went wrong and caused this movie to fall completely flat. I won't even waste my time on explaining how disappointed I was that the vines were laughable at best, rather than the terrifying entity described in the book.
Lastly, the fact that Amy survives is an absolute joke. In the book, there are no survivors- a very chilling ending to a depressing story. The whole "we need a happy ending for the audience" was the final unrealistic bow slapped on top of this flop of a film. If they were going to choose to allow someone to survive, then they should have included the unreleased ending which was MUCH more haunting and realistic, showing how deadly and intrusive these vines are.
Overall, I'm disappointed in Ben Stiller and Scott Smith for failing to create a movie that even suggests a proper attempt of doing the book any justice. Translating a far-fetched idea onto the big screen is something that cannot be skimped on. You had the money to do it and do it right, but this was not it.