Movie date: Vampire Academy

STARRING: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky, Gabriel Byrne, Dominic Sherwood, Olga Kurylenko

DIRECTOR: Mark Waters

THE SKINNY: As a Dhampir, it's the duty of Rose Hathaway (Deutch) to protect her royal Moroi bestie, Lissa Dragomir (Fry). The two attend Vampire Academy, where someone is trying to kill Lissa, and Rose must find out who!

RATING: PG

THE CONSENSUS: Isn't it time for the genre to move on? But for those still in need of their Harry Potter and Twilight fix, you'll find it in this latest wannabe.

MARS

Lackadaisical and wilfully goofy, Vampire Academy is a nice change of pace from the more serious vamp flicks we usually get.

The tone is set by our heroine Rose, who has a sense of humour, even when things get intense.

"A female, especially one who lives off blood and magic, is going to have her mood swings," she says in defence of her pouty BFF Lissa.

Offhanded and just a tad politically incorrect, her jokes provide the flick with a snappiness that makes the rest of the nonsense go down easier.

The main problem with Vampire Academy is that it seems like its various components were taken off a shelf.

When the Vampire Acade- Aren't there enough horny teenage vampires out there already?

It also seems like there won't be any slowing down of movies based on young-adult novels.

Those who have read Richelle Mead's teen supernatural books will understand what's going on here.

If you are a newbie though, then you need to pay attention to the many terms such as Moroi, Dhampir and Strigoi thrown at you in the first few minutes of the movie.

Not that they are that important.

You just need to know that Vampire Academy is Mead's version of Twilight, where vampires can stay in the sun and they don't sparkle, as explained by Rose.

Mead's vampires are also my books started coming out in 2007, it was at the height of Harry Potter hysteria and Twilight fever was already spreading.

It sometimes feels like the story here is just Harry Potter and Twilight smooshed together, with a bit of Joss Whedon-style self-awareness thrown in for good measure.

Vampire Academy is very late to the party.

That said, I had a pretty good time watching it, and I think you probably will as well.

The cast is very attractive.

The action is lively.

It's a trifle, but that's fine.

VENUS

Aren't there enough horny teenage vampires out there already?

It also seems like there won't be any slowing down of movies based on young-adult novels.

Those who have read Richelle Mead's teen supernatural books will understand what's going on here.

If you are a newbie though, then you need to pay attention to the many terms such as Moroi, Dhampir and Strigoi thrown at you in the first few minutes of the movie.

Not that they are that important.

You just need to know that Vampire Academy is Mead's version of Twilight, where vampires can stay in the sun and they don't sparkle, as explained by Rose.

Mead's vampires are also weaklings despite having magical powers, and they rely on human guardians to protect them from dangerous, red-eyed - and real - bloodsuckers.

Vampire Academy is pretty much a run-of-the-mill teenage flick, stressing the importance of best friends, and first loves, with some Buffy The Vampire Slayertype action in the mix.

Fry and Deutch are basically like Grimm's Snow White and Rose Red. The blonde and brunette pair has decent chemistry to carry this bland movie on their svelte shoulders. The men, on the other hand, need a lot more work.

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