Vampire Academy
age 14+
Blood and sexy stuff in teen-targeted supernatural spoof.
- Rated: PG-13
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Release Year: 2014
- Running Time: 104 minutes
What parents need to know
Positive role models
Violence
Sex
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
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."
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Kids say
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?
QUALITY
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.
Families can talk 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?
Movie details
| Theatrical release date: | February 7, 2014 |
| DVD/Streaming release date: | May 20, 2014 |
| Cast: | Danila Kozlovsky, Lucy Fry, Zoey Deutch |
| Director: | Mark Waters |
| Studio: | Weinstein Co. |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Topics: | Book characters, High school, Monsters, ghosts, and vampires |
| Run time: | 104 minutes |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | violence, bloody images, sexual content and language |
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are conducted by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
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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 plot can only be liked by young teens. I was surprised by the amount of sexual innuendo, but much of the the phrasing was done in a way to go over the heads of more naive teens. However there is one scene that went beyond what I expected in a movie for this age group. No nudity, but it made me a little uncomfortable for my 13 year old daughter to be watching. The vampire blood scenes is gross, but one bloody scene is just campy. Cheesy fight scenes and a pretty graphic car crash aftermath. There were a few clever lines of dialog, but mostly I felt like I was watching a made for teens TV movie.
What other families should know
Too much sex
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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
What other families should know
Great role models
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Vampire Academy a MUST See!
This movie is great for all ages. The books were great and the movie stick to the books. There is action, love, its a little funny at times but an all around great movie!
What other families should know
Great role models
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