Yes, yes, yes, if you’re a fan of the “Twilight” series from Stephenie Meyer or the Harry Potter books from Rowling, you might be die-hard enough to spit at any of the films based off the books. Because they’re not entirely true to the books. The same goes for the most recent movie based off the first Percy Jackson book written by Rick Riordan, which was literally nothing like the novel. Is that necessarily a bad thing?
Listen for a moment. Don’t go into a rage. Even if you adore J.R.R. Tolkien and wear all the Middle Earth clothes, watching the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy done by famous director and writer Peter Jackson might’ve been like pulling teeth for one reason: the trilogy wasn’t in fact a “trilogy.” Let’s be blindingly accurate here: the Lord of the Rings stories written by Tolkien were actually split into six different ‘books,’ then put together to make the whole of the story, a grand story of immense proportions. Think about the ramifications of following every letter of the law when it comes to adapting it to screenplay….
It simply can’t be done! You can’t take one whole book and turn it into a screenplay. The result would literally be a 5-hour film. And logistically, that’s not possible. By the middle of the whole movie, the audience would fall asleep.
Not one writer or director on this Earth can successfully convert one book into a movie format without losing even one plot element. The trick is in keeping with the original flair, style, meaning, and voice of the book: hence, that’s why it’s called an ‘adaptation,’ not a ‘reproduction.’
For this reason, when you watch any movie adaptation, simply base any review you might have on the merits of the film, how it was done, the way the story was told, how the actors did. Make no relation to the book from which it was adapted, because you will be disappointed. Now…. audience members, take your seat, start munching on the popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the film. No smoking, by the way.