August 15, 2012

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

It's not very often that people make movies surrounding the life of a kid. I can't recall that many children's movies that are not animated movies. Whenever people say children's movie, I think Pixar movies. Monsters, dragons, talking animals, and such. However there are live action movies tha revolve around a child's life. Probably not as entertaining as Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but still good nonetheless. As for me, I enjoy laughing, and I like doing it. Probably the reason why I enjoy a lot of comedy movies and children's movies as they contain the most joy.

It all started when my brother brought home a box set of the first four Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I remember laughing because they were children's books, and had no idea why he bought them. But sometimes, out of boredom or curiosity probably, we check things out. That's how I read the first of the four books. Was it boredom or curiosity? I don't know. The fact was I picked it up, borrowed it and read it. I was done quickly. Then a couple days later, I was done with the four books. I haven't decided yet which one I liked best as I thought it was all equally good. I thought the books were pretty awesome. Each and every one had an entertaining story.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the first of bow several books, was turned into a movie in 2010. It was directed by Thor Freudenthal and starred Zachary Gordon as the infamous Greg. Also part of the cast were Robert Capron, Devon Bostick, Rachel Harris, Steve Zahn, Chloe Grace Moretz, Karan Brar, Grayson Russell, and more. It's been categorized as a comedy movie, and for good reason. Although, personally, I consider it a children's movie. After all, it was about a kid in middle school. The movie did well in the box-office, taking in a modest 75.7 million dollars on a 15 million budget.

I think the movie retained the charm of the books because Jeff Kinney, author of the book series, stayed in-touch with the people behind the movie; at least that's what I think. Some of the scenes were even lifted straight from the book. This movie stuck with the story of the first book and remained true to it to the best of its abilities. Of course, since it was a movie, certain things were dropped, certain things were changed, to fit the running time. It's probably not possible to include every single detail found in the book in the movie. However, while watching it, I did recall reading a lot of it. My favorite was about the "cheese touch" cause reading the book, I remember thinking it was of the most absurd things that could be found in a children's book, or any book. However, no one could also deny the fact that it was a unique thing to include and probably one of the funniest metaphors to be used as well, given that it really was a metaphor. It's about perspective.

Zachary Gordon and Robert Capron did amazingly good in portraying Greg and Rowley. Right from the beginning, I was already amused by their performances. They were quirky and snappy, and I thought it was the perfect portrayal of the two kids; well at least Greg. But seriously, the two of them were the perfect front-runners of the movie. They made it that much enjoyable for me. Chloe Grace Moretz and Devon Bostick also did a great job in their roles. I am liking Chloe Grace Moretz more and more. The more I see her, the more impressed I get.

The movie was a very good one. It's light so you won't have to worry about it. It's funny and relaxing. It's a kid's story, and since we were all kids once, I'm sure you'll be able to relate to at least some parts of it. The problem of fitting in, the clubs to join, the friends to hang out with, the problems we thought we had. There are a lot of things to see in the movie. It's even possible to see part of yourself in it. It's personal, but at the same time it's also general. It's one fun movie, that's for sure.

You can follow me on twitter @sirfilmreviewer or email me at mrfilmreviewer@yahoo.com. You can also follow this blog by checking the right side of the page. 

No comments:

Post a Comment