YA Book to Movie: Chaos Walking
Spoiler for both book and movie ahead!
Plot
Book: Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.
This book isn't an easy read, content wise. It's full of pain and darkness. But it's superbly written. It grips you from page one and won't let you go until you reach the end. And then you need book two. It also has a lot of deep themes and questions about morality. I found it interesting that the villain wants to win by making Todd a murderer, not by killing him like you might think. There's a lot of mystery and so many twists and turns.
Movie: In Prentisstown, Todd has been brought up to believe that the Spackle released a germ that killed all the women and unleashed Noise on the remaining men. After discovering a patch of silence out in the swamp, his surrogate parents immediately tell him that he has to run, leaving him with only a map of New World, a message, and many unanswered questions. He soon discovers the source of the silence: a girl, named Viola.
The movie is a lot more straight-forward. And, since the book is 500+ pages, they cut out a lot. It feels like a stripped down version of the book, taking only the most important parts and leaving everything else out. It's not the closet adaptation, and it was a lot easier to predict what would happen. Not to say I didn't enjoy it, but when it can't really compare to the book.
Characters
Todd
Book: Todd is almost 13 years old and uneducated, which means he uses words like tho, ain't, and creachers. It doesn't take away from the book, but brings his voice to life. He might be young, but he's smart and determined. It's so interesting watching him fight against being morally corrupted by the men of Prentistown.
Movie: Is it a YA movie if they don't age up the characters? In the movie, he's portrayed by Tom Holland and is probably seventeen. He's a lot more physically capable, but still has that innocence that kind of defines Todd. As with most 1st person books, his character isn't as strong in the movie, but still decent.
Viola
Book: Viola is also 13 and is part of a new spaceship of settlers heading to New World. Her parents die in her pod crash, leaving her alone with only Todd to protect her. I like that she's a capable character with her own weaknesses, not just another "strong female character". In later books, she also gets a POV, which helps you get to know her better.
Movie: She's also aged up and her parents died years ago on the spaceship, rather than in the crash with her. I'm not as sold on her and Todd's relationship in the movie, which is sad, because it's a driving force in the book. (I also really hate her hair. I know it's a small thing, but it looks so bad.)
Mayor Prentiss
Book: The Mayor isn't as big a player in the first book as he is in the other two. Aaron plays more of the villain. But the Mayor is still a major player. He's the one behind the corruption in Prentisstown, and while he is evil, it's hard to take your eyes off him.
Movie: In the film, they increase his role to main antagonist. I feel like he wasn't as well done as in the book. He wasn't convincing enough, and they tried to bring in some of the stuff from books two and three without explaining it. He goes from this fascinating character in the book to this fairly generic villain in the movie.
Book to Movie Accuracy
All right, let's talk about a few things before we give it a rating. First, if you properly adapted the book, it would probably have to be a 3 hour movie. I know this movie went through a lot in production, so I'm not surprised it didn't come out great and seemed a bit short and rushed.
Second, I admire them for wrapping it up in one movie. Even though this is only an adaptation of the first book, they killed off the villain at the end and gave us a happy ending. Which is quite different from the book, but at least they didn't try to make two more movies that would never see the light of day.
Lastly, I think the biggest change I would have made is cut the Spackle completely, at least on screen. In the books, they are so important, and the scene where Todd fights the Spackle is pivotal. But in the movie, they only show up once, never to be seen again. I would preferred that to be cut and used the screen time for something else.
So, to give it an accuracy score, I'd give it four out of ten. I enjoyed it, but it was a far cry from the book, and they left out so much that gave it depth.
Have you watched the movie or read the books? How would you compare them? Tell me in the comments.
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