Fanfic Reviews

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

Salvation
I watched this movie recently and fell in love with it. The storyline as well as the characters are very complex but eveything is woven together to create an imaginative and entertaining story. It is about a group of sideshow performers, Doctor Parnassus, his daughter Valentina, his assistant Anton and the midget Percy, who claim that by stepping through the magic mirror audiences can travel to the Imaginarium, an imaginary world within the mind of Doctor Parnassus, where their dreams can come true. This particular piece of fanfiction explores the story of one of the minor characters, Sal. In the movie she is taken by Anton, who is desperate to show up the new addition to the troupe, Tony. He forces her through the mirror, but we do not see where she goes within the imaginarum, only where she ends up when she comes out.
This fanfic tells what happens to Sal when she goes into the Imaginarium, and explores her feelings of fear and desperation. She doesn't see her dreams come true, as she was forced into the mirror. When she comes out she is snatched up by the devil aka Mr.Nick who has a competition going with Doctor Parnassus to see who can be the first to claim five souls.
I enjoyed reading this piece, it was very descriptive and created a great picture of Sal's jouney through the imaginarium, and how she was seduced by the devil, who easily claimed her soul. Her feelings were portrayed well, especially as she was confronted by Mr.Nick. I found myself encouraging her not to listen to him, even though I alreay knew her soul would be claimed.


STARDUST

Starchild
I have never read the Stardust book but have seen the movie, and quite enjoyed the story. This piece takes place after the end of the book, when Tristan and Yvaine are king and queen. Yvaine wakes up to find that her husband is not with her, and she later finds out from a pageboy Thomas, that he has been injured in a hunting accident at which point she faints. I found that I didn't really enjoy this piece of fanfiction. A lot of the story didn't make sense because of lack of editing. I couldn't quite picture the new characters as there wasn't a lot of description of them save for their roles in the story. The author writes that Yvaine likes these new characters but I did not get a sense of why she did. Even for a short piece it did not flow very well and the ending where Yvaine faints is a bit overdramatic, and does not keep with her character. I did not get the the sense of urgency that Yvaine would have been feeling, and though I think the author was trying to convey it, it did not not quite work.


SHREK

Fit for a servant
I really enjoyed reading this. It lacked the comedy that is associated with the Shrek movies but it was still great to read. The story focuses on Gwendolyn who was not part of the movies, but also includes Artie from the third movie-he is now king- and mentions Fiona.Shrek, Donkey and Puss make a short appearance later in the piece. It was a very descriptive piece, especially in terms of the character descriptions and I could easily picture the story in my minds eye. It wasn't over descriptive, but gave me just enough to go on to create my own image of the story. The characters could be easily related to, and I was routing for Gwendolyn, who is a a sickly maid to the king. The interaction between Gwendolyn and Mauricesa, another servant in the palace, is sweet to watch as, Mauricesa acts as a mother figure to Gwendolyn. Also the glimpse of the relationship between Gwendolyn and Artie foreshadows a romance, and I'm a sucker for romance! I really wanted to see what would happen next.


NEVERENDING STORY

My Dream Luck Dragon
Awesome! The Neverending Story movies were some of my favourite movies when I was younger. They're mysterious and action packed, and this fanfic did not dissapoint. It definitely drew me in. Readers are introduced to new characters in this first chapter of the story. Only the bookshop owner is familiar, but the story still has the mystifying feeling which is created by the movies. The story sees Alice go back to the bookstore where she had first found the Neverending story book. She doesn't want to find it again but the book calls to her and through its magic she is entreated by the voices of her friends from the world of the book to save them. The author created a pleasing picture of the bookstore and of the old character Mr. Coriander. The descriptions create a vivid scene but still hold intrigue, which is the best part of the original books and the movies. It was almost like I was in the bookstore with Ali.


ALICE IN WONDERLAND

This Time No Let Love Grow
Really cute! this was a sweet light hearted story of Alice and the Mad Hatter. In this piece the White Queen holds a ball in honour of Alice's one month return to Underland. In spending time together at the ball the Hatter and Alice discover they have feelings for each other deeper than their close friendship. There was lots of light humour and I found myself smiling the whole way through. It wasn't cheesy but it was still romantic. The language of the story, which was kind of formal, and the descriptions of the wonderous world of Underland, transported me "down the rabbit hole" into the world Alice and the Hatter live in; an old kingdom with many mysterious wonders. The author used a few of the descriptions and phrases from the movie, so I wasn't confused when I was reading the story. I felt like I could be watching a scene right out of the movie. The lyrics at the beginning and end of the piece tie in perfectly with the story and are a nice touch.

EVERNIGHT

Nightmare
This was kind of a disappointment. The author did nothing to recreate the world of Evernight. I felt like I was just thrust into the middle of the story with no clue about any of the important details like the setting, and what the heck was going on! It moved through so fast without descriptions of any sort. It could have been a whole new story with no connection to the Evernight book aside from then mentioning of the name of the main character Bianca. I didn't want a fullblown description of the colour of the paint on the walls or anything like that, but some kind of descriptive language could have helped me picture what was going on. I think the author was just trying to get to the climax, so there was no build up and a lack of suspense that would have helped push the story along and made it more interesting. To me it was just about young modern woman who is on her way to her a wedding and gets kidnapped, much like a what would happen in a soap opera, and not in the story of Evernight where everything is intriguing and complex.

REIGN OF FIRE
Dark World

Dark World
Reign of Fire is one of my favourite movies.This was a great piece of fanfic. The narrative developed really well and though the only character mentioned from the movie is Creedy, it still had the dark ominous feel of the film. I really loved the voice of the main character, a blind girl on her own in the midst of a dragon infested world. It was a great idea to have readers experience the story from her point of view. It is unique but in a way also makes her more relatable. She has a sharp wit which is also endearing. Though the author has only written the first chapter of their fanfic the story has developed quite a bit so far. Readers are already introduced to a number of characters within one paragraph, but it is done seamlessly. The setting is describe effectively, which seems difficult as the main character is blind, but I could easily picture the scene in my mind. This is definitely one that I would want to read further.


VAN HELSING

The Cure
Really imaginative! I loved this fanfic. In this piece Anna does not die like in the movie, but Van Helsing in his werewolf form bites her, infecting her with the curse of the werewolf. He has to set out on a mission to find a cure for Anna and save her from the same fate he had to endure. The story evovles nicely over the nine chapters, and with each the build up gets more intense. Will Van Helsing suvive his mission? Willl he be able to cure Anna? Its all extremely exciting and I appluad the author for being so creative as well as writing the story in such a great way. The sort of old fashioned, formal language takes me straight back to the dark supernatural world of Van Helsing and the story incorporates a bit of humour which adds a nice touch. The imagery used sets the ominous mood for the story, and helps to make it a little scary at times as well as suspenseful. I like the fact that the author did not change the characters too much. They are already unique and that world is so well established I don't think I would have enjoyed reading something that had changed the Van Helsing world too much.


PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN

Memories_Better_Left_Forgotten
It is kind of strange to see Jack as vulnerable as he is in this fanfic. At the beginning he is a lot like he is in the movie, arrogant, obnoxious but endearing. However when he finds out that Elizabeth is dead he goes into this mode of depression which I don't think suits him. Maybe it is the fact that in this fanfic he is in love with Elizabeth, something which I don't really agree should happen. The bit at the beginning with the lyrics from Lady Antebellum's Need You Now song made me giggle. It just did not go with the period the story is set in. it ruined the mood of the story for me.


ZOMBIELAND

ZOMBIES
The first chapter of this was hilarious! I loved the wit and sarcasim of the main character. However the whole story was a bit disjointed, as if after the first part the authors could not be bothered anymore and just wrote babble. I didn't really get a sense of who the main character is. He just seems like a funny guy who likes to kill not just zombies but anyone who even remotely annoys him. I think the piece could have had a lot of potential if the writers could be bothered to develop a story, not just create random scenarios where the main character blasts everyone. It seemed at the beginning to echo the feel of the Zombieland movie but then fell short.