Films - CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT


Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant 12A

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"Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant," based on the popular series of books by Darren Shan, is a fantasy-adventure about a teenager who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfil his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares. Sixteen-year-old Darren was like most kids in his suburban neighbourhood. He hung out with his best friend Steve, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble. But, when he and his buddy stumble upon a travelling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren. That's the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley turns him into something, well, bloodthirsty. Newly undead, he joins the Cirque Du Freak, a touring sideshow filled with monstrous creatures from a snakeboy and a wolfman to a bearded lady and a gigantic barker. As Darren flexes his newfound powers in this dark world, he becomes a treasured pawn between the vampires and their deadlier counterparts. And, while trying to survive, one boy will struggle to keep their brewing war from devouring what's left of his humanity.

Staking a rather weak claim for placement alongside the venerable Twilight in the growing oeuvre of teen vampire flicks is Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, based on Darren Shan's popular series of young adult novels. Compared to Stephenie Meyer's celebrated books and their subsequent movie adaptations, Cirque is quirkier, more irreverent and more male-oriented. (The latter is best exemplified by the presence of Salma Hayek, whose ample assets are on conspicuous display throughout.) It's unfortunate that it doesn't make for a better film.

Relative newcomer Chris Massoglia stars as Darren (in a classy move, the book's author named the character after himself), a reasonably well-adjusted 16-year-old whose comfortable suburban existence contrasts sharply with that of his best friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson), an inveterate troublemaker with a deadbeat dad and an alcoholic mom. Uh-oh — methinks this combustible pairing could be recipe for future, possibly momentous squabbles, no?

For all their differences, Darren and Steve are united by a common interest in all manner of unusual and otherworldly phenomena, which leads them to the Cirque du Freak, a travelling sideshow with an eclectic roster of performers: Rhamus Twobellies (Frankie Faison) boasts twin stomachs, while Alexander Ribs (Orlando Jones) has no midsection at all; in addition to being freakishly endowed, Madame Truska (Hayek, duh) can grow a lengthy beard within seconds; Gertha Teeth (Kristen Schaal) can bite through anything; Corma Limbs (Jane Krakowski) can chop off and re-grow appendages; and so on. Headlining it all is Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly), a charismatic magician who also happens to be a closet vampire.

Unforeseen circumstances force Darren to become an indentured servant to Crepsley, the first step of a strange journey in which he becomes half-vampire, rooms with a sensitive snake boy (Patrick Fugit), romances a sassy monkey girl (Jessica Carlson), gets accosted by shrivelled Gollum clones, and is eventually drafted into a centuries-long war between the peaceful, human-friendly Vampires and their fiendish archrivals, the ravenous Vampanese.

All of this may sound genuinely exciting, but that excitement seems to have been lost somewhere during Cirque Du Freak's leap to the big screen. After trying for nearly two hours to make sense of the film's distractingly disjointed storyline, littered with aimless subplots, it came as no surprise to me to learn afterward that its screenplay shoehorned three of Shan's novels into one film. Needless to say, it did not succeed. And director Paul Weitz (About a Boy) doesn't help matters, infusing the action with jarring cuts and awkward transitions that only serve to amplify the holes in the narrative.

The one bright spot in Cirque Du Freak is a sublime performance from the ever-likable Reilly, whose pale, schlubby Atlas alone holds up the movie's fragile, lumbering frame for the bulk of its running time.

Maybe that's why he looked so tired by the end.

Hollywood.com rated this film 2 stars.

  • Cast:John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia, Ray Stevenson, Patrick Fugit, Orlando Jones, Willem Dafoe, Salma Hayek
  • Director:Paul Weitz
  • Producer:Lauren Shuler Donner, Paul Weitz, Ewan Leslie
  • Writer:Paul Weitz, Brian Helgeland, Darren Shan
  • Duration:108
  • Official Site:http://www.thevampiresassistant.net
  • Release:In Cinemas Now
  • Genre:SciFi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Horror
  • Distributor:Universal Pictures

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Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

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