Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

So not 15 minutes into this movie it dawns on me that this is probably based on a book. It also dawns on me that this book is probably meant for people 13-17 (give or take), and that this is probably a book in a series of books... for people 13-17. It is about now that it dawns on me that I will probably not see the rest of them.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is an interesting concept for a movie (or book) but, unfortunately, it's an immature movie meant for an immature crowd. Now don't get me wrong, it was reasonably entertaining to watch, but it lacked any real flow to the movie. The plot was completely aimless, and though there was forward momentum, it didn't feel like that movement had a real purpose to it. Perhaps I would have appreciated it more being a fan of the books, but seeing that I'm not, I didn't. It was the standard good guys versus bad guys plot, with some interesting characters thrown into the mix and an open-ended-lack-of-conclusion that all the cool kids seem to be doing now days.

The cast was surprisingly all-star, with Chow Yun-Fat, Salma Hayek, and in a bizarre casting choice, John C. Reilly as the serious, mentoring vampiric boss. There are a few other appearances of well-known faces amongst the characters, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get over John C. Reilly. For those of you who don't recognize the name (or are too damn lazy to click the wiki-link), you may know John C. Reilly from such films as Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, Walk Hard, and even more serious films like Chicago, Gangs of New York, and Days of Thunder. He's in a bunch others I don't care to list off, but as of late he has leaned towards the more "stupid-funny" comedies. Due to this type-casting, I couldn't take him seriously through out the entire movie. I just failed to picture him as this mysterious, and powerful vampire who has lived for hundreds of years and could impart the wisdom and guidance necessary to the future generations. Maybe I am stereotyping vampires, but he just didn't fit the role in my eyes, which distracted from the movie as a whole.

Everything else is, frankly, uneventful. Things happen, people change, and life goes on. You may come to care about certain characters, but basically this movie felt like something that would have been better suited as a television series on the Sci-fi channel or Fox network than a cinematic masterpiece. I chuckled a few times and enjoyed seeing the various stars in less serious roles, and for that I give this movie 6 out of 10. Not bad, but more for fans of the series.

________________________________________________________