Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia – The Hole) is a 16-year old who always makes his parents proud. He’s quite popular at school and his academic achievements are just as impressive as his social status. He and his best friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson - Journey to the Centre of the Earth) come from completely opposing backgrounds though and both have their own qualms about how their lives are turning out. Through thick and thin, the two boys have always remained strong friends despite their noticeable differences in character.
One day a mysterious circus rolls into town, The Cirque Du Freak. This very special live show boasts that it has been touring the world for over 500 years. The boys both attend the mysterious event which is held in an abandoned theatre by ringmaster Mr. Tall (Ken Watanabe – Batman Begins). They get a startling surprise when Steve recognises one of the acts as an age-old vampire from one of his folklore books. Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly – Step Brothers) doesn’t harm people; he only drinks the blood of sedated victims and never drinks too much to kill them. He sees potential in Darren and when Steve’s life depends on it, decides to make Darren a deal for an antidote to spare his friends life. Darren reluctantly agrees to become his assistant, a half-vampire. Darren must leave his old life behind to join Crepsley although there is more to the story than just being the vampire’s assistant. Crepsley sees the boy as being pivotal in the upcoming battle between two warring factions of vampires and fears for Darren’s safety when the nefarious Mr. Tiny (Michael Cerveris – Fringe) comes looking for him. Turning him into a half-vampire could be the only way of saving Darren from the forces of evil who want to use him to start a war to end all wars.
From its opening title sequence, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant looks quite quirky and creepy (in a PG sort of way). The start of the film is well paced and sets the tone between Darren and Steve quite well. The Cirque Du Freak itself is done excellently with an atmospheric uneasiness surrounding all of the acts. Mr Tall, the ringmaster looks freakishly odd and coupled with Salma Hayek’s Bearded Lady and a quite frightening Wolfman; all seems to be going to plan. Even the rubber-faced Willem Dafoe makes a good cameo appearance to further set the scene.
After that strong build-up, the film loses its way during the middle and with it the audience too as the plot tries to be too clever. It utilises themes found in pretty much every major children’s fantasy book (a kid learns that he is destined for big things set amongst the backdrop of a magical and mysterious world). Harry Potter has already done this to far greater effect and Cirque Du Freak doesn’t come close to taking that crown off the young wizard. Adults and most children well-read in this genre will see where the story is going from the get-go. It’s predictable but there are flashes of promise on show.
John C. Reilly does well as the lead vampire and has some memorable set-pieces but you can’t help but think that he was slightly miscast here. Crepsley is supposed to be quite a young man and perhaps an actor with a little more natural flare for the fantastical could have suited the character better. That’s not to say that Reilly is bad, on the contrary he does exceptionally well with the material at hand and it’s nice to see the talented character actor in unfamiliar surroundings. He just isn’t as charismatic as perhaps Crepsley ought to be. Chris Massoglia handles the role of Darren admirably and is definitely a name to look out for in the future. He and Josh Hutcherson convince as the best friends who are slowly growing apart from one another to fulfil their inevitable destinies. The villains of the piece are mostly memorable with Michael Cerveris being a highlight as a very creepy Mr. Tiny. His right hand man is played clumsily by Ray Stevenson, fresh from his stint in Punisher: Warzone. He’s a pantomime bad guy played with little effect.
Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is watchable but it won’t enthral audiences. The premise is sound and interesting though and should a few problems be ironed out, I’m sure the inevitable sequels will fare better. As a standalone film, it doesn’t do enough to stand out from the crowd and some decisions on style and artistic direction could have helped this become a tidier film. The fight sequences need some work and the film generally needs to decide on what type of action it wants to convey. Mixing frenetic speed with slow-mo martial arts and wire-work didn’t quite gel in the right way here. There is potential in this franchise but the jury is still out on whether a second movie will even get commissioned if this doesn’t pull in the money. As Narnia and The Golden Compass have proved, franchises are hard to build up and I’m not sure that this film has enough strength to see a sequel is commissioned. That would be a shame as the story, whilst not original, could definitely work with a little tweaking here and there.
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