Queen of the Damned

[Fierce Critter]

Another DVD I rented lately. I wouldn't mind knowing what others thought of it.

First off, I'm not a fanatic over Anne Rice. I read and liked IWTV and anticipated the release of the movie version. I'm also not highly critical of movies overall. So if you want a review/analysis by someone who is one, the other or both, I recommend the message board for said movie at IMDB.com.

That said, I did enjoy the movie. Not a classic, but entertaining for sure.

It's worth noting that I did read The Vampire Lestat and read a few of the chapters of Queen of the Damned, both of which the movie was based on. (I read that the producers were about to run out of time on their contract for rights to make movies of the first 3 books, so they rushed a mash-up of the 2 books into one movie into production before Anne Rice got the rights back.) I admit when I first read of Lestat becoming a modern-day rock star, I thought the concept absurdly silly. But now I realize it's very fitting the character.

I did like the book IWTV and anticipated the release of the movie. I did like it, and liked Tom Cruise as Lestat. But I think Stuart Townsend made a great Lestat as well. I also was surprised at how well Aliyah did as Akasha.

Mostly, I found the gothic costumes & atmosphere yummy. Heck, I like vampire movies of all sorts, and this was certainly an enjoyable one.

Jonathan Davis of Korn wrote the soundtrack, as well as the songs performed in the movie. Contractual barriers either prevented him from singing overall or just on the released CD version, so the songs were performed by people like Marilyn Manson and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, etc. The songs were pretty decent, though the words, written from Lestat's point-of-view and history, bordered on cheesy at times.

Overall, if you haven't seen it yet, aren't a sworn/branded Anne Rice sycophant, and enjoy vampire/goth/musical themes, you'd probably enjoy it.

As for extras, there's a gag reel that's giggly, a nice tribute to Aliyah, somewhat interesting deleted scenes (some of which would have made for a fuller story), and a really decent amount of behind-the-scenes features.

[nodrew]

Well, let's just say that Queen of the Damned was a phenomenal book. In fact it is my second favorite Anne Rice book, only to The Vampire Lestat. With this in mind I will say that I absolutely HATED this movie. I thought that they made the story into a trite piece of crap. Some people say I'm being critical. Yes they changed some of the story element in order to fit with time constraints. This I can forgive. Yes they did things like make Marius Lestat's sire.... this I can forgive. Did they really touch on anything from the Vampire Lestat, no. This I can forgive.

What I can not forgive is the fact that they royally fucked the character of Lestat. They turned him into a plan, run-of-the-mill bad guy. This I cannot forgive. One of the elements of Lestat's character that is so intriguing, is that while he is absolutely horrible and evil, you really want to like him. He's the perfect anti-hero. In this movie however, he was anything but. They don't really explain why he wakes up Akasha. That he was trying to bring an end to all the vampires of the world, including himself. That he was sick of being evil.

I could go on for days about how they butchered this movie. For the sake of everyone's sanity, I will not.

I will say however, that the one argument that I have heard is that, "it's just a movie, it's a different version of the story." Well, to that I say, I don't mind small changes to fit with hte obvious differences between literature and film. Like with Interview, I didn't mind that they left out the beginning part of why Lestat first went to Louie. That was okay, it wasn't overly important to the overall plot and didn't detract from the movie a whole lot. What gets me is when a film is made and it detracts from the spirit of the original story. That is one thing that is unforgivable.

I blame Anne Rice, simply because while she sold the rights, she should have required some sort of creative input. To have a final say on the script. Perhaps even to write the script herself. I can't blame the director. Half the time they don't know what they're doing anyways.

Oh yeah, the music they picked was horrible. Lestat was supposed to have a haunting voice that tore apart hearts when he sang. I'm sorry, Korn does not fit that bill.

And Aliyah, my main gripe is that she's black. Not as a racist thing, but because Akasha's skin was supposed to have become bleached white, like an alabater statue, so much so that when she stopped moving that she looked to be a frozen in time, as she had been out of the sun for almost 3 thousand years. I can understand that they may have been stuck with a special effects budget, but I've seen people do this at ren-fairs with just a bit of acting and simple mackup.

These are just a small few of the elements that made me hate this movie. I'm going to stop now before I get too pissed.

[Vater Araignee]

im going bye bye

[Fierce Critter]

Yeah, most Anne Rice devotees posting on IMDB.com feel the way ya'll do. And I can definitely see why.

They say at the beginning, "based on the vampire chronicles by Anne Rice", not "based on The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned." It would have been more truthful to say, "VVVVEEEERRRRRRRRYYYYYY looooooooooooooosely inspired by..."

Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot 90% of the details from the books. But the alabaster skin would have been a nice touch.

They say Aliyah's brother helped with the overdubs of her voice - I imagine a decent amount of that needed to be done, and with her death, who knows whose voice you're hearing where? Could be a good reason behind the not-so-good accent & the weird effect they put on her vocals.

I admit now that I've been reminded, I thought it pretty confusing as to why/how Lestat woke Akasha. They totally make it look like an accident. Even if you don't know the books by heart, or forget details like I do, the way they did that in the movie leaves one with a big "wha?"

And as for Lestat's voice, I'm soooooooooo not a Korn fan. But I think it'd be pretty hard to come up with a voice that fits the book's description. One person's "unworldly, heartbreaking voice" is another's whiny squeal. I think it's harder to do "remarkably wonderful" than "hey, let's just make him sound like a death metalhead".