So, having Stormbreaker’s screenplay written by its original author must mean it’s pretty true to the original story, right? Well, uh, not so much actually. A lot of things stray from the original book. Nothing that major, no, but enough to make a difference. It’s like the producers have tried to make the whole thing “cooler”, with more action sequences, and several car chases that I could swear weren’t in the book. Maybe these are done to appeal more to the juvenile audience the film was mainly aimed at, ten year old boys do seem to like their over the top action. But people such as myself, and anyone over thirteen would’ve been able to see what the action/fight scenes really were: silly. The fight between Jack Starbright (Alicia Silverstone) and Nadia Vole (Missi Pyle) , for example, ends when Jack stabs Nadia’s hand with a blowfish. There’s countless other instances like that, which, for me, pretty much ruined the film, because while the Alex Rider series isn’t exactly realistic, the action sequences at least, are fairly plausible. As soon as you introduce blowfish, that goes out of the window.
"Faster! Before anyone realises this wasn't in the book!"
The thing that really annoys me about Stormbreaker is that it tries to keep the plot of the original book, but uses a lot of creative licence at the same time- and that just doesn’t work. You can have one or the other, but not both. There are, however, some good points about the film. The special effects are well done, and not too overused, the car chase with Ian Rider (Ewan McGregor) at the beginning is good and probably in fact, the best bit of the whole film, and if you like fast paced, action packed, over the top films, or are an eleven year old boy, then this is for you. The casting isn’t that bad, either. However, fans of the book are guaranteed a disappointment, same with those of you who are expecting something that lives up to the likes of James Bond and The Bourne films.
"What do you mean my hair looks silly?"
Still, at least there’s some comic relief in the fact that in the opening scene where the main actors are listed, the car scene involving Ian Rider, it states “Starring: EWAN MCGREGOR” when in fact, the character doesn’t even make it past the said opening scene.
Overall, it’s a decent film, but there’s better out there. Just read the book, or something.
