A little introduction first.
I was first introduced to this book, “The Lovely Bones” by a literature teacher in Chinese High.
I love reading novels at that time (going through 4 books in less than a week, every week) and when my teacher mention that someone was getting raped in the book, I sought the book out at NLB and borrowed it. Getting past my juvenile interest in the “rape scene” however, I was really surprised and intrigued by the presentation of the story, using very unique narrative perspective. The “first person” in the book was dead and floating around in heaven, while describing the long process of healing that her family had to go through with regards to her lost.
When saw the emailer from Omy.sg, I know I had to go and catch this movie. I was particularly curious how they could translate a story with such a unique narration perspective into a movie. After all, the movie adaptation of my favourite novel, “The HitchHiker’s Guide to Galaxy” was a complete failure as the unique narrative voice that makes the book such an interesting read could not be translated into movie form successfully. Therefore, I was really curious how the movie adaptation of “The Lovely Bones” would turn out.
And thanks to Omy.sg, I got the chance to attend the exclusive preview screening that took place earlier today.
As readers, you need proofs right. Here goes:
The first few movie tickets in Singapore to have the words “The Lovely Bones” printed on them.
I also got to meet Alvin in person for the first time, after knowing him since the youth.sg days.
In the WeiKiat movie dictionary with Matrix Reloaded given a 10/10 and Changing Lanes given a 1/10, “The Lovely Bones” scored a comfortable 7.
What I like:
-I remembered the book as a very “emo” book, one what would make you feel so sad and depress that you would cry. The movie added various elements and quick humor that worked, and these added entertainment to an otherwise depressing plot. I could tell that all the audiences love it.
-HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Movie failed because it tried to stick too closely to the plot structure of the novel. “The Lovely Bones” movie had everything watered down into digestible form that everyone (including those who haven’t read the novel before) could enjoy.
-Very interesting use of visual effects to portray the space in between heaven and earth. You will be in for a visual treat if you watch this movie.
-In the scene where the protagonist’s sister broke into the antagonist’s house, the built up of tension was very well done. I could practically see other fellow audiences leaning off their seats and worring for the girl.
-Very unique movie, unlike all the junk movies nowadays with “tried and true” plot elements
What could be better:
-The rape and murder scene was censored/missing. While removing this makes the movie more “family friendly”, a huge part of the narrative was lost. In the book, there were vivid descriptions of the out-of-body experienced felt by the protagonist during the murder. With this whole chunk of key scene missing, I felt abit confused at the beginning, no idea what had happened to the girl.
-I felt that there was too much fanciful visual effects. My girlfriend who watched the movie with me agreed too.
-The sprinkling of humor throughout the movie, the fanciful effects, and the overall dark theme of the original story, made the movie felt abit rojak. Was it supposed to be a funny movie? Or something to make you waste tissue papers? I was not sure.
Overall:
I would say go for this movie if wish to see a movie that is different from the rest. The plot is unique and the visual effects are certainly a treat. The use of tiny humorous snippets to entertain movie-goers works. This movie is not going to fall strictly into just one movie genre, so you could go in without knowing what to expect. But rest assured that you will come out of the movie having more than what is expected. “The Lovely Bones” is a very different movie and this makes for a very refreshing entertainment.
