Vampire Academy Review

I saw Vampire Academy on February 10, 2014. I absolutely love Richelle Mead's characters and storyline. She actually researched the different legends of vampires in order to shape her books. I like her writing style a great deal. I thought that Daniel Waters and Mark Waters both did an excellent job of adapting the book to the screen. It was actually quite faithful to the book which was great to see. The descriptions for Dhampirs-guardians of the Moroi-half human/half vampire, Moroi-peaceful race of vampires-able to use magic whether its earth, fire, water, or air (however, there are occassions when one can channel spirit or specialize in all four), and Strigoi  (the undead vampires that we've all read about-bloodthirsty, killed by sunlight, etc)were handled very well. Key scenes and dialogue were included throughout the movie and the actors/actresses in the roles were really good, particularly Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, and Gabriel Byrne. The idea of friendship is presented over romance primarily in this series, and I was impressed at how well they were able to project it for the audience. I absolutely love Zoey Deutch. When I saw her in Beautiful Creatures, I immediately hoped to see her in more movies, and this is a perfect movie for her. She completely nailed the Rose Hathaway role. Rose is one of my favorite literary characters, and I think Deutch's personality really helped to bring it to life (amazing work by this great up and coming actress-more roles for her please!!). Not only did Deutch nail the personality and attitude of Rose, but she is absolutely gorgeous in my opinion. Where Deutch captured the looks and attitude of Rose completely entertaining me the entire time, Lucy Fry presented the regal look and physical presence of the Moroi princess, Lissa Dragomir. The chemistry between the two was well documented throughout the movie. Characters such as Christian Ozera and Dmitri Belikov were well represented by Dominic Sherwood and Danila Kozlovsky. In the case of Kozlovsky, it was great casting because the character is supposed to have Russian ancestry and he did a great job conveying that dark past. Gabriel Byrne was perfect for the role of Victor Dashkov. His character is important in many ways to the principle core of Rose's dedication to becoming a successful guardian for Lissa. The action sequences were well done, the look of St. Vladimir's Academy-uniforms, regal decorum, etc, as well as the genuine chemistry between the main characters presented a visual representation of what this series is about. I definitely give this movie a 5/5 as I genuinely was impressed with how well they presented the story, main characters, action, and comedic/dramatic elements.