I LOVE Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi action movie Children of Men. I’ve watched maybe six times and every time, the ending always almost brings me to tears. So when I learned it was adapted from P.D. James’ book of the same name, it was a no-brainer deciding what my next book would be.
After finishing the book, it wasn’t difficult to reach to the conclusion that I enjoyed the movie better.
While James’ book gives a more in-depth look at how human infertility and humanity’s slow death march towards extinction affects the sexual dynamic between men and women and almost demented ways humans try to cope with a world without children or a race of dead men walking, I feel the book dedicates WAY too much time describing the failing of human civilization and the Regrets and guilt of Theo Faron. It’s not even until after 2/3 through the book where it feels like the plot and story are properly paced and stuff of consequence actually begin to happen.
The film’s adaptation by, comparison, feels consistent in its pacing and the world building and woe-is-mes of Theo feel more compact a take up less of the audience’s time.
What books do you feel were worse than its film adaptation and why?
Not a movie, but The Boys, the comic is just not good, the show is written a lot better.
Garth Ennis and Mark Millar are the edgelordiest, try-hardiest comic writers to come out of the late 90s, and not surprisingly a lot of their work has been optioned for film & TV.
Ennis is okay, sometimes, when he reigns in his worst instincts, but Millar is a god damn hack.
Poor old Grant Morrison only gets Doom Patrol (sort of) and outright ripped off by the Matrix.
I don’t care for Ennis. His stuff is basically porn and in the worst ways possible.
The comics is just letting his characters beat the snot out of supes each chance they get for the jollies.