Vampire Academy

Name: Vampire Academy
Item: Vampire Academy
Rating: 2
Author: Jeffrey M. Anderson

Movie review by

Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media

Common Sense says

age 14+

(i)

Blood and sexy stuff in teen-targeted supernatural spoof.

PG-13
2014
104 minutes

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Parents say

age 12+

Based on 10 reviews

Kids say

age 12+

Based on 13 reviews

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A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

Positive Messages

It's hard to detect through the mishmash just what the movie is getting at, but one of the characters gives an impassioned speech at the end about sticking together and not bullying one another.

Positive Role Models & Representations

Even though the movie is hard to take seriously, the main character is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-type, a skilled fighter, brave and dedicated to protecting her friend.

Violence

The movie features lots of martial arts fighting against monsters, where the monsters are often stabbed with silver stakes. It isn't extra-gory, but it does feature a generous amount of blood. Two "warnings" are written in blood. Several scenes of vampires sucking blood are shown. Humans are shown volunteering to be "vampire food." A nasty-looking car crash is shown. The bloody corpses of a fox and a cat are shown (though not real). A character is briefly tortured (using magic), and is shown with various (temporary) cuts on her arms.

Sex

The teens in this movie kiss in several scenes, and sex is definitely thought of and discussed frequently. The main character's cleavage is prominent in several scenes. In one scene, a love spell causes her and an older man to kiss, undress down to their underwear, and fall onto a bed together. The man then breaks the spell. The main character is shown in a bra and panties, and the man in underwear.

Language

The movie avoids very strong language, but does have its share of milder words, like "ass," "boobies," "bitch," "dick," "jerk," "hell," and "whore." In one scene, a character utters, "mother..." but stops before she gets to the second half of the word.

Consumerism

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Vampire Academy is an action/comedy based on the bestselling young adult novels by Richelle Mead. It contains plenty of Buffy the Vampire Slayer-style martial arts fighting and monsters, plus a generous amount of blood, even if it's not overly gory. Some dead animals are shown (but obviously not harmed in real life). The teenage characters are shown kissing in more than a few scenes, and sex is a topic for discussion fairly frequently. In one scene, two characters are under a spell and begin kissing and falling into bed together; the female hero is shown in her bra and panties and the man is shown in underpants. There's also quite a few cleavage shots of the female lead. Language is mild, but still contains "ass," "bitch," "whore," and "d--k."

User Reviews

Parents say
Kids say

Parent of a 10 and 13 year old Written bymarierm February 8, 2014

age 13+

Tedious vampire high school movie for teens

My daughter reads these books and so she's excited about seeing the films. But halfway through this film I really wanted to walk out. Tedious dialog and pl... Continue reading

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Parent of a 10 year old Written byLaura moon May 20, 2014

age 8+

Wow

This movie is so great and actually fun for kids, my daughter is 10 and I think a 8 year old can watch it

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Teen, 16 years old Written byiPunk February 9, 2014

age 10+

A little darker than I expected

Rose (Zoey Deutch) said to a mean girl, "you are so insecure". I felt that was mean to say, yet very wise at the same time. I actually went to a liste... Continue reading

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Teen, 16 years old Written byStevie111 May 28, 2014

age 12+

This movie sucked, no pun intended

Boring, horribly acted film dissapointed me quite a bit. I was really looking forward to seeing this. It's unfunny, pretty violent, and just not good. I wo... Continue reading

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What's the story?

Rose (Zoey Deutch) is a Dhampir, a half-vampire whose job is to serve as a guardian for the pureblood vampires, known as the Moroi. Rose is bonded to princess Lissa (Lucy Fry). For mysterious reasons, they have run away from their school, nicknamed the VAMPIRE ACADEMY, but are found and forced to return. There they face a series of strange occurrences, such as warnings written in blood and dead animals left as omens. This could be the work of a race of evil vampires, the Strigoi, or it could be something even more sinister. Meanwhile, both Rose and Lissa must deal with ordinary high school stuff, like crushes, bullies, and the big upcoming dance.

Is it any good?

Unfortunately, what the Water Brothers deliver is not a very good movie. To start, it looks bad, like waxy video with bad computer-generated effects stamped on top. The writing is filled with exposition and explanations, trying to get all the information of this vampire world across in the most direct and graceless way possible. This writing often leads to bad acting, even by such veterans as Gabriel Byrne. However, with its particularly unique attitude, it has a chance to become a classic "good-bad" movie.

Screenwriter Daniel (Heathers) and director Mark (Mean Girls), are no strangers to this kind of material. And even though Vampire Academy is very clearly meant to capitalize on franchises like Twilight and Harry Potter, the brothers are more interested in creating something snappy and irreverent. It's not a bad spoof, like Vampires Suck, but rather its own welcome entity. Certainly the spunky Zoey Deutch helps, with her boundless energy and funny line readings.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about the movie's violence. How does seeing blood affect the intensity of the violence? What's your reaction to seeing violence onscreen?
How much does this fictional high school have in common with your own high school?
How does the movie compare to the books? What is the appeal of these kinds of supernatural/young adult stories?