Hey youtubers it's Charlie and I had a chance to go to the Night Before Our Stars event
for TFIOS so this is going to be my review of the movie. If you've never heard of it
before it's a young adult drama based on a novel by one half of vlogbrothers, John Green.
I assure you it is an endurance test of your ability to not cry. Which is part of the reason
I was really excited to see it with so many superfans.
Because a lot of you probably haven't seen it yet I'm going to do my non spoilery review
as well as talk about the Night Before Our Stars and then I'll give a spoiler warning
and do my top 5 moments and a breakdown of all the differences between the movie and
the book for any of you that are book readers.
If you're finding me for the first time I'm doing summer movie reviews every week. Next
up is How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Transformers. Be sure to subscribe to get everything and
feel free to leave me suggestions for other movies in the comments.
So first off, The Night Before Our Stars was a special preview screening and Q&A session
with Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, John Green and bunch of other people from the movie.
They did it in theaters all over the world and just broadcast the Q&A to all the places
at the same time.
If you're a fellow nerdfighter then you'll be pleased to know that they showed John Green's
cameo in the film. It got cut for time and even though he said he was happy they cut
it out of the movie. All of nerdfighteria will really enjoy it when the dvd comes out.
The place I went to was understandably mostly teenage women and families but it was a very
different experience from the time I saw that last Twilight movie in a theater. That time
it was pretty much all women too, but instead of everyone crying everyone was laughing.
At Twilight, not at TFIOS. Although the Fault In Our Stars had some really funny moments.
It's a really good movie to go see if you're 1 not afraid to cry and 2 want a really deep
emotional experience that you might not get at a big effects driven action movie. And
3, it's always fun to watch a movie about a book you really love. Just to watch it unfold
in front of your eyes.
I caution you, if you are a huge fan of the book you're eyes will either burn out of their
sockets from all the excitement or melt from all the tears.
One of my favorite things about the movie was that it's totally upfront about what it
is. A young adult cancer drama intended to yank on your heartstrings and ask the question,
what happens to the people you leave behind. But it gets there in a very authentic way.
I kept having to squish old feelings the movie reminded me of when I was around 16 to 18.
I guess if you wanted to explain the story to someone in an even simpler way you could
just say "pain demands to be felt"
I'm pretty good at keeping feels deep down inside, but if you ever wanted to be a part
of a giant group of people all feeling the same thing. This will be the best movie you
go see all summer.
For all the book readers out there I'll talk more about specific stuff the movie changed
during spoilers in case you want to wait till you see it.
But even if you don't consider yourself a nerdfighter DFTA and go see this movie. This
will go down as the highest grossing movie originated by a youtuber. And the community
of nerdfighters is a big reason why everyone knows about this film. I won't make any comparisons,
because it wasn't like any other movie I've seen in the last year. And that's a very good
thing.
So now I'm going to movie into spoilers and talk about my Top 5 Moments and all the changes
from the book. So careful if you haven't seen it yet. Here we go.
Number 5 - Augustus Passionately Defends Price of Dawn
This reminded me of every time I tried to convince my girlfriends over the years to
watch Star Wars or Lord of The Rings. I was also a huge fan of the Dragonlance books in
Middle School which is kind of like a Dungeons and Dragons series of novels. I was never
quite as articulate as Augustus. He really knows how to sell a book, regardless of what
it's about.
Number 4 - Willem Dafoe as Van Houten
He was awful and funny at the same time. Which was totally on purpose, the character is so
terrible all you can do is laugh at him. Especially when he jumped in Hazel's car at the funeral.
Be sure to let me know in the comments if you ever listened to Swedish Hip Hop after
reading the book or seeing the movie.
Remember, it's not important what they're saying, it's what they're feeling.
Number 3 - Hazel and Augustus's Talk While Isaac Smashes Stuff
I laughed a lot while all this was going on, mostly because Augustus has this unbroken
attention on Hazel and their conversation about An Imperial Affliction and you see Hazel's
eyes dart back and forth between trophy smashing and Augustus. Like she's surprised both by
Isaac going crazy and the fact that Augustus is totally able to ignore it.
Just on a technical level I can't imagine how hard it must have been for the actors
to do that scene and remember all their lines. It would be like having two conversations
at the same time and remembering everything without messing up.
Number 2 - The Birth of the Okays
That whole initial text montage and the way the movie visually showed their texts was
really cool. But I feel like the okays were one of the most important parts of the story.
Like that was like the real moment they became bonded as a couple. I thought that was way
more meaningful and emotional than when they actually had sex.
But let me know what moment you think they became an actual couple.
and my Number 1 Moment - The Dinner in Amsterdam
I felt like this was the real climax of the movie. Because up to this point Hazel finally
gotten over her grenade fears and just let herself be in love with Augustus who is just
on fire. Ansel Elgort really did bring it.
The really intimate way they filmed the restaurant scene just made that whole dinner feel like
they were floating in heaven. And I liked that they used the lights on the tree as a
visual metaphor for the title. I don't think Dom Perignon tastes like stars but in that
moment in space and time it totally felt like it did.
But now it's your turn, let me know in the comments what your favorite moment was?
As promised, here are all the things I could find that were different from the book. Feel
free to add more if you saw something I missed.
They didn't do the phone number in the book, instead Hazel just waits for him to call.
They didn't do the V for Vendetta scene where she puts her hand out and he doesn't try to
hold it. They did the should I go in for a kiss double take.
Kaitlin and Hazel don't go shopping
Hazel never peeps on Augustus' ex girlfriend
Hazel didn't read Van Houten's letter in the hospital
They don't write a swing set advertisement, "Lonely Vaugely Pedophilic swing set seeks
the butts of children."
Hazel and Isaac don't play video games together
Augustus never fights with his family before going to Amsterdam
When they're on the boat tour of Amsterdam people don't yell how beautiful they look
They didn't drink Champagne on the flight
Augustus and Hazel's families don't have dinner together
We don't meet Augustus' extended family
And Hazel never got upset with all the condolences messages from people after Gus dies
And also, instead of Divergent being on Hazel's shelf they had Hunger Games because Shailene
Woodley thought it would be too weird.
So like I said, even if you're not a nerdfighter. DFTBA and go see this movie. Then let me know
what you thought.
My next movie review will be for How To Train Your Dragon 2. Be sure to subscribe to get
it. I'm getting ready to hit 250,000 subscribers and I'm trying to time it so that I post a
Doctor Who video right as I cross the line. That's happening tomorrow.
Right now click here to learn about Emily Blunt becoming the new Catwoman or maybe Miss
Marvel and click here to learn why I think Benedict Cumberbatch needs to be Doctor Strange
Thanks for watching, see you guys tomorrow. High Fives okay okay!