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Excellent, Without a doubt!!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I really enjoyed this movie, they don't make enough movies like this. I love all the characters and actors, I loved the story line and wish there was another movie to watch. It's interesting and thrilling without being scary which is nice for a change. All the different ways this movie could go opens it up for a world of awesome. Lol I vote for another!

I just finished watching another movie somewhat similar to this with William Dafoe (Odd Thomas) and found both to be similar in how the movies made me feel. Overall, this movie was fun, though not perfect. Having said that, the fact that I still liked it despite somewhat mediocre acting from many (some were good) says a lot about the movie I think. Like Odd Thomas, it would make a good TV series and I am surprised this movie/book series doesn't seem to have gone anywhere.I think the best aspect is that it is targeted at a younger audience but is not so overboard in its portrayal of the typical TV/movie teenager (over the top love stories, sexual and emotional angst, rebelliousness, etc.), which is surprisingly refreshing.

"Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" is an...Interesting film. On it's own, it's actually pretty damn good. The acting, script, characters, musical score and atmosphere are all quite decent, unexpectedly so. If I hadn't read the books, this would easily get an 8 out of 10. At the same time, as an adaptation, it's an awful, AWFUL betrayal of the source material. Still, even if it IS a failed adaptation, it's still a good movie all things considered. I'd gladly take a decent movie that doesn't work as an adaptation over Young Adult Adaptation Garbage like "The Hunger Games" (Crap), "Eragon" (Even worse), "Alex Rider" (Insulting garbage) or "Percy Jackson" (One of the worst movies of all time) So, why do I have such mixed feelings on the film? Let's take a look.The character development is something of a mixed bag. Don't get me wrong, Darren Shan develops, changes and becomes a lot more mature and likable from the beginning of the movie to the end, his characters was relatable and likable and his arc was fairly interesting. The problem is that the film shoves so much development of Darren's character in such a short amount of time than you can't help but feel like it's an arc that should have spanned multiple movies. The same goes for Steve Leonard. He's a well developed and surprisingly intimidating villain, but the screenwriter squeezes that arc into such a small period of time that his story is not as compelling or emotionally investing as it should be. Hell, even Darren's Vampire Master Larten Crepsley has this same bittersweet development; where his arc is handled well and he changes in a realistic way over the course of the movie, but it feels like something that should have spanned multiple films instead of one.The story shares this problem too. There are a TON of plot and story elements contained in this movie, some handled well (Darren turning into a vampire and sacrificing his human life to save his best friend Steve from Crepsley's wrath) and others not so well (An INCREDIBLY forced romance between Darren and a Cirque member called "The Monkey Girl" because of her tail, made worse due to the fact Darren's romance with a character named Debbie in the books, who has nothing in common with The Monkey Girl, was 10x better and had WAY more chemistry) Again, the film makes the error of cramming too much stuff into a mere 109 minutes. It seems like the screenwriter was so afraid of the film never receiving any sequels that he tried to combine the plot elements of multiple books in the series together in the desperate hope of the audience getting the full Darren Shan experience.That said, there is plenty to like. All of the actors do a great job in their respective roles. Chris Massoglia did a fantastic job as Darren Shan. His naivety, awkwardness and innocence fit the character of Darren Shan perfectly, Massoglia oozes likability and dorky charm in this role. He can even be surprisingly emotional in a few scenes, like when he realizes the danger he poses to his own family once he's become a vampire. It's actually a very tragic scene, it's done so well it makes you wish the whole movie was this good. John C. Reilly as Larten Crepsley originally seemed a VERY odd casting choice, but he does a surprisingly convincing job in the role of Darren's master and mentor. He manages to make Crepsley tough, cold and often overly critical, but he's still well intentioned and does care about other people's well being.With that being said, the best performance of the bunch has got to be, no question about it, Josh Hutcherson as Steve Leonard. Hutcherson's Leonard is ruthless, merciless and intimidating as all Hell. You can just feel the hate and anger radiate off the screen from his character. While the film is merely good, and a failure of an adaptation, I really do think Hutcherson as Leonard is one of the best castings for an adaptation I have ever seen. He completely steals the show.While there are plenty of insulting things to be found in the movie to fans of the book, like the vampaneze coming off as more laughable than frightening or that GOD AWFUL CHEMISTRY DEVOID ROMANCE between The Monkey Girl (Seriously, how do you confuse a personality devoid white girl with a monkey tail working at a circus with a strong, intelligent black girl coming from a rich family?) and Darren, the film does manage to at least capture the atmosphere of the books perfectly. The sets, the costumes, the lighting, the musical score, they all do a fantastic job of capturing the Gothic, macabre feeling of the books and sucking you into the world of the movie. If anything, this LOOKS just like a "Cirque du Freak" film SHOULD look.Also, unlike adaptations like "Percy Jackson", the film's humor is actually really, really effective. It's dark, it's clever, it's unexpected, and best of all, it never feels out of place. There are some genuinely funny scenes and characters in this movie, and the film manages to make them work without sacrificing it's macabre tone.My advice would be to read the books and skip the movie entirely. But if you really, really hate reading, and just wanna see a creative, atmosphere filled, well acted vampire movie, then I guess check the film out at least on a rent. It's far better than most Young Adult Adaptations and kicks the crap out of "Percy Jackson" any day of the shark week.

The reason I find this film so bad, isn't just that I have personally read the books,and I know that they can't put everything in, but seriously? It's a joke to say that this is based on the books, the plot is terrible, the whole film had basically nothing to do with the books, and I for one, am sickened by this film, I love John C. Reilly and Salma Hayek and I like Willem Dafoe but the acting in this is wooden as hell, the scriptwriter must have been either drunk or a monkey or something because its terrible. Overall this film was a BIG disappointment, as I had been really looking forward to seeing it, I've put myself through this film twice now I do not plan to do it a third time. I don't actually think there is anything redeemable about this film and as a fan of the books, and of some of the actors, I was sorely disappointed and saddened by this film.