Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
This film is really simple to break down. Any time the action focuses on one of the two younger male leads--Josh Hutcherson of ZATHURA and JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH fame, or newcomer Chris Massoglia--the movie breaks down. Whenever there's a more seasoned cast member inevitably stealing the scene from Massoglia (playing the focal character Darren) or Hutcherson (playing his best friend Steve), the movie is humorlessly entertaining. Fortunately for CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE’S ASSISTANT, based on the first three novels in a series of 12 by Darren Shan (yes, the author gave his lead character his name). The film almost demands comparisons to Twilight, and that's fine since both series are centered on young vampires dealing with not only life in the undead world but also their own unformed maturity.
CIRQUE DU FREAK is the better first movie thanks to its freak show environment that allows us to meet all sorts of bizarre-looking and -acting souls, including John C. Reilly's Larten Crepsley. Half the time, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be laughing at Reilly's portrayal of this foppish ringleader, who changes Darren into his own personal Renfield (go read your “Dracula” if you don't get the reference). Darren and Steve sneak out late at night and hit a traveling freak show that has come through their town. They somehow figure out that Crepsley is a vampire, and this leads to Darren sneaking into Crepsley's dressing room and getting busted. The friendship is fractured when Darren is turned (I guess Steve didn't like the idea of his friend becoming a vampire without him), but Darren is too busy marveling at the circus-like environment to notice at first. We meet such splendid creatures as Salma Hayek as the bearded lady, Orlando Jones as this hideously skinny dude, Ken Watanabe as Mr. Tall (sometimes the names tell you all you need to know), Frankie Faison as Rhamus Twobellies, Jane Krakowski as Corma Limbs (she can grow back severed body parts), Patrick Fugit's marvelously laid-back take as Evra the Snake Boy, and Willem Dafoe possibly gay vampire Gavner Purl, who is only in the film briefly, but if they make more of these, he'll play a more prominent role in future installments.
The big-picture story involves a 200-year-old war between tribes of vampires, the more villainous of the two called the Vampaneze, lead by the nasty Murlaugh (Ray Stevenson of "Rome" fame). And that pretty much sets the stage for what I'm hoping will be a franchise. CIRQUE DU FREAK isn't a great movie, but it's good enough that I'm curious where things go from this point. Director Paul Weitz (who co-wrote the adaptation with Brian Helgeland and is the brother of NEW MOON director Chris Weitz) has added a mildly perverse element to the story, which I sincerely appreciated. There's also a rich visual component to the movie that helps distract us when the plot gets thin, which is more often than I would have liked. Still, when you've got John C. Reilly as your maudlin, brooding vampire lead whose comic timing is active whether he wants it to be or not, something special is bound to result. All of this said, this film is clearly aimed squarely at the 'tween and young teen audience, even more so that the TWILIGHT books. But a saga focusing on a mixed-up teen boy whose hormonal imbalance is replaced by a mild lust for blood is an appealing, if obvious, metaphor.
Some significant improvements need to be made before another chapter in this series can get made, primarily having to do with Massoglia and Hutcherson's acting. The former simply can't yet, as he stands there like a newly planted tree that people simply step around as easily as they could mow down. The latter is a better performer, but there's a smug quality to him that goes beyond what is called for in the character. It's a knowing that because of his good looks, somewhere out in the darkness young girls are swooning over him and his confidence. And it kind of takes over from his actual acting. We'll call that quality "Pattinson-esque," after the man who perfected it. CIRQUE DU FREAK gets a barely passing grade for what happens on the outskirts, but the next film better make its foreground at least as interesting or I smell trouble.
-- Capone
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