That's just kids these days.
Mar. 16th, 2009 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ad_exiaSo totally random, but I wanted to write down my impressions of Let the Right One In, basically to outline how I liked the movie and the book compared to each other because it's one of the best books I've read in a long time. I could not put that thing down; it only took me a couple of days to read it, and it only took me that long because I was completely gone for two of those days. XD
Okay, so by the time I got to the end I could understand why they took Tommy out. He really didn't have much to do with the main story, especially once they took out the whole bit where Håkan was running around undead and all. (What... was with that, BTW? I'm still curious. I mean, clearly he didn't really turn, because Eli squashed his heart and Tommy beat him to a literal pulp and it didn't kill him. FIRE, people - FIRE! Obviously I wouldn't have thought to do so in Tommy's place either, but as an outsider I was like, "Dude! Take that lighter and set the gorram thing on fire!) Oh God, I don't know if poor Tommy is ever going to be right again. ;_; I don't think I would be, after that.
I didn't get why they changed the thing at the beginning - I don't think it was that important to illustrate the fact that Oskar could figure out how you know if someone found in a fire was dead before the fire started or not, especially since that part didn't actually happen in the movie, either. But I suppose it must have been important to the author or something. There were a few little things like that that got changed, though, and I guess it didn't matter too much in the end. Oh, but the whole Oskar's dad being a drunkard thing came through much clearer in the book. I didn't think his dad's friend was going to rape him in the book, thank God. XD
I actually think they should have left the thing about Jonny and Jimmy's photo album in - I mean, I realize they were jerks either way (especially Jimmy... I still don't know how I feel about Eli killing Jonny, I mean, he could have changed, but then, I suppose you just don't mess with Oskar when his vampire-that-loves-him is around...) but it made so much more sense that Jimmy was willing to pretty much kill him when he'd set fire to the photo album from their dad. And also because of the ear thing - sure, I don't know how Oskar did so much damage with just a stupid stick, but if Jonny possibly lost his hearing in that ear for good becase of it, it makes so much more sense to go that far for retaliation. Because we didn't get that character development in the movie, I think we really missed something. I liked how there was some depth there, though I admit that scene had a lot more weight in the movie than it did in the book. In the book all we got was a sentence after the fact about "... blah blah two kids had their heads ripped off at the pool blah blah..." whereas I think the visual in the movie was really quite stunning. I totally remember sitting there going, "Oh shit she just ripped off his freaking head and threw it in the pool and oh God I bet that hand that's holding Oskar down isn't attached anymore ahaha oh look it's not." That visual was just... yeah. It worked so much better as a visual.
I think the only thing I was disappointed in with the book was that there still wasn't enough development of Eli and, in turn, Eli and Oskar. I think the glimpses we got in the movie were actually really good for a movie, and I'd been hoping the book could only expound upon that. It did a little, but not enough. We got a little bit more about Eli and sure, I get how he ended up... uh, the way he is gender-wise, but I still have no real solid clue how he became a vampire. I can guess, and maybe that's the point, but I wanted to know. XD I also lovelovelove Oskar and Eli, and wanted more of them - especially that last scene, but I guess it was not to be. The character development of Oskar was really good, though, with his comics and his wallpaper and the progression of the knives and how he thought at first that he'd killed those people. The only thing I was confused about was how his incontinence seemed to clear itself up? I get why they left that out of the movie, because eventually it just lost its importance in the book, which was actually kind of sad. I remember reading that first scene and going, "Oh, Oskar!" and feeling really bad for him, but then it magically cleared up halfway through the book and I think the point was that because he'd gained confidence because of Eli, but it just seemed... under-treated? Maybe. Hm. :x
I did like, however, that the narrative changed to calling Eli "him" and "he" the instant Oskar realized for good and done that Eli had been a boy. Like, right there in the middle of the page. That was pretty neat.
... Wow, okay. That was so not organized. XD I'd try to put it in some kind of order but... ah well. Lazy. :D;
Okay, so by the time I got to the end I could understand why they took Tommy out. He really didn't have much to do with the main story, especially once they took out the whole bit where Håkan was running around undead and all. (What... was with that, BTW? I'm still curious. I mean, clearly he didn't really turn, because Eli squashed his heart and Tommy beat him to a literal pulp and it didn't kill him. FIRE, people - FIRE! Obviously I wouldn't have thought to do so in Tommy's place either, but as an outsider I was like, "Dude! Take that lighter and set the gorram thing on fire!) Oh God, I don't know if poor Tommy is ever going to be right again. ;_; I don't think I would be, after that.
I didn't get why they changed the thing at the beginning - I don't think it was that important to illustrate the fact that Oskar could figure out how you know if someone found in a fire was dead before the fire started or not, especially since that part didn't actually happen in the movie, either. But I suppose it must have been important to the author or something. There were a few little things like that that got changed, though, and I guess it didn't matter too much in the end. Oh, but the whole Oskar's dad being a drunkard thing came through much clearer in the book. I didn't think his dad's friend was going to rape him in the book, thank God. XD
I actually think they should have left the thing about Jonny and Jimmy's photo album in - I mean, I realize they were jerks either way (especially Jimmy... I still don't know how I feel about Eli killing Jonny, I mean, he could have changed, but then, I suppose you just don't mess with Oskar when his vampire-that-loves-him is around...) but it made so much more sense that Jimmy was willing to pretty much kill him when he'd set fire to the photo album from their dad. And also because of the ear thing - sure, I don't know how Oskar did so much damage with just a stupid stick, but if Jonny possibly lost his hearing in that ear for good becase of it, it makes so much more sense to go that far for retaliation. Because we didn't get that character development in the movie, I think we really missed something. I liked how there was some depth there, though I admit that scene had a lot more weight in the movie than it did in the book. In the book all we got was a sentence after the fact about "... blah blah two kids had their heads ripped off at the pool blah blah..." whereas I think the visual in the movie was really quite stunning. I totally remember sitting there going, "Oh shit she just ripped off his freaking head and threw it in the pool and oh God I bet that hand that's holding Oskar down isn't attached anymore ahaha oh look it's not." That visual was just... yeah. It worked so much better as a visual.
I think the only thing I was disappointed in with the book was that there still wasn't enough development of Eli and, in turn, Eli and Oskar. I think the glimpses we got in the movie were actually really good for a movie, and I'd been hoping the book could only expound upon that. It did a little, but not enough. We got a little bit more about Eli and sure, I get how he ended up... uh, the way he is gender-wise, but I still have no real solid clue how he became a vampire. I can guess, and maybe that's the point, but I wanted to know. XD I also lovelovelove Oskar and Eli, and wanted more of them - especially that last scene, but I guess it was not to be. The character development of Oskar was really good, though, with his comics and his wallpaper and the progression of the knives and how he thought at first that he'd killed those people. The only thing I was confused about was how his incontinence seemed to clear itself up? I get why they left that out of the movie, because eventually it just lost its importance in the book, which was actually kind of sad. I remember reading that first scene and going, "Oh, Oskar!" and feeling really bad for him, but then it magically cleared up halfway through the book and I think the point was that because he'd gained confidence because of Eli, but it just seemed... under-treated? Maybe. Hm. :x
I did like, however, that the narrative changed to calling Eli "him" and "he" the instant Oskar realized for good and done that Eli had been a boy. Like, right there in the middle of the page. That was pretty neat.
... Wow, okay. That was so not organized. XD I'd try to put it in some kind of order but... ah well. Lazy. :D;
