Movie Adaptation Review: Paper Towns

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image source: here. edited by me.

MOVIE ADAPTATION of Paper Towns

read my review on Paper Towns by John Green

"She loved mysteries so much, that she became one."

This movie has been out for quite some time now, but I've hold myself back from watching it until recently. Maybe it's because my feelings about the book is just so-so, that's why I wasn't particularly very excited to watch this movie adaptation. And after I finished watching this movie, my overall feeling was more or less the same with the book. Though I had to say that I enjoyed the book slightly better than the movie adaptation. Okay, here's my non-spoiling review for the movie adaptation of Paper Towns.

The story begins with Quentin who has admired and loved Margo Roth Spiegelman ever since she moved opposite to his house when they were kids. They became good friends; until the two discovered a body of a man who just committed suicide and Quentin refused to join Margo in her investigation. They grew apart and live in a completely different group of friends when they are teenagers. Margo hung out with the popular people, while Quentin had his two best friends: Ben and Radar. So Quentin was surprised to see Margo at his bedroom window one night, asking Quentin to assist her on a mission. After that night, Quentin thought his friendship with Margo will be reformed the day after. But soon, Quentin found out that Margo is gone; and it seems that she left clues for him to find her.

In terms of movie adaptation, I think this movie did a pretty good job because it successfully portrayed the book without much differences. All the things that I managed to remember from the book, I see it come to life in the movie adaptation. So I think audiences who watched this movie without reading the book will still be able to enjoy and understand the story thoroughly.

"What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person."

The main character of the story, Quentin, is portrayed by Nat Wolff (who played as Isaac in The Fault in Our Stars movie adaptation). I think he did a pretty good job portraying Quentin's character; his awkwardness and anxiety when he's around Margo is really apparent. It's really obvious on-screen that Quentin is absolutely head over heels for Margo. And just like the book, Quentin's character became kind of annoying towards the end of the story. So, even though I didn't fully enjoy the story, I think Nat Wolff did a marvelous job in bringing Quentin's character to life. Even though Margo Roth Spiegelman (played by Cara Delevingne) is also a main character, she only showed up several times on screen—mostly in the beginning, a snippet in the middle, and another bit at the end. I do hope the audience understands that Margo's problem is that everyone has a certain idea about her that's not even her real self.

My favorite character from the book is actually Ben, played by Austin Abrams in the movie; because he's absolutely hilarious and crazy. All my favorite scenes from the book actually exist in the movie, but I don't know why they're not as funny as they were in the book. It's probably because I was quite distracted when I watched the movie, but I honestly think the book is better. Radar (played by Justice Smith) is incredibly sweet with his girlfriend, Angela (played by Jaz Sinclair). It's quite unfortunate how the movie doesn't fully portray how much of a genius Radar actually is. But at least he's a cutie with Angela <3 And of course I can't leave out the last member of the road trip crew, Lacey (played by Halston Sage). I don't remember much about her from the book, but she's really pretty on screen! No wonder Ben was going crazy about going to prom with her ;D

"You have to get lost before you find yourself."

My favorite scene from the movie is probably the one in which Quentin, Ben, and Radar sang Pokemon's theme song to fight their fear. That scene was so adorable and shows how nerdy they are (in a good way of course; since I consider myself nerdy as well). And I do think the friendship part of this book is much more meaningful than the romance. The story reminded us that we should treasure our true friends, who would be willing to make sacrifices for and stand by you at all times :)) Oh, and Ansel Elgort made a cameo appearance in this movie! I was pleasantly surprised to see him, and I think he's there to support John Green and his fellow TFIOS co-star, Nat Wolff :))

As I've said earlier, this movie is just so-so in my opinion. The story-line is flat most of the time, nothing really gets me excited or anything—that's why I was constantly distracted whilst watching. But anyway, it's just my opinion, I think people who loved the book would definitely enjoy the movie adaptation as well. For me personally, I would just read the book and skip the movie adaptation because the book offers so much more detail and personality to the characters.

by.stefaniesugia♥ .