Slumdog Millionaire (My Review)

From the beginning of this film, I knew that it was another Twilight movie. I don't mean it in the sense that it is a vampire movie, I mean it as in 'the movie is not as good as the book.' All the good details and events from the book was taken away and replaced with a whole new scenario. Characters were added and even more were removed. The name of the main character, for goodness, was even changed. The setting seems completely different from what I visualized from reading the book. Even the ending of the story was changed because of all of its replacements in the plot. Needless to say, I like the book much better. However, unlike Twilight, I actually somewhat liked the remake of the novel into a film.

The major difference between Q & A and Slumdog Millionaire is the motivation of Ram (or Jamal as he is called in the movie) for participating in the quiz show. In the novel, he participates in the quiz show to get revenge at the host for abusing the most important women in his life, but in the film, he participates in the quiz show to find his lover, his destiny. To me, the film was more of a love story. In contrast, the novel, to me, was more of a thriller. Don't get me wrong though, the film is really good in some sense (especially the ending), but if you have just finished the novel and were looking for the film to reflect exactly what happened in the novel (like I did), then you're in for a surprise.

Anyways, I have to give the film some credit for its camera shots. In the beginning of the movie where Jamal and Salim (brothers, unlike in the book) were running away from the police, the director did a tracking shot and many camera whips to show the excitement, chaos, and fear the characters were experiencing. Throughout the movie, there were many close-ups to show the character's reactions and/or feelings. I liked that. There were also many establishing shots thoughout the movie to show India's various sceneries. The one camera shot I like the most was towards the end. The director did a bird eye's view when Jamal was looking at Latika's (his lover's) beautiful face at the train station. Her hair was softly flying, and the lightening in the background was bright making her stand out more. Adding on to the effect, the scene was going in slow motion. I just thought that was wonderful.

Nonetheless, I would recommend reading the novel and watching the film. They are both wonderful stories, regardless of their differences.