1. Everyone’s a huge fan of Zoey Deutch, but her character Rose should have been the main focus of the film. The story should have centered solely on her journey as opposed to switching back and forth haphazardly to Lucy Fry’s character, Lissa. Less is more, simpler is better!

 

2. Everything seemed rushed. It felt like the filmmakers desperately wanted to satisfy the readers with everything they read in the books, but for those who have not read them, important information did notfeel correctly explained.

 

 

3. Danila Kozlovsky was miscast. Danila plays the brooding Dimitri, and even though the age thing is touched upon, the chemistry between Dimitri and Zoey somehow seems forced. Divergent got this one right with Theo James.

 

 

4. Not enough sex. Has it been that long since Twilight? The coolest, or shall we say hottest, scene features three characters with their naked backs to the camera as they write words in blood on the wall. But it’s brief and not nearly epic enough – they could have gone much farther!

 

 

5. Wait–what’s happening outside of school? The film makes this whole point at the beginning illustrating how the girls find sanctuary at the Academy to escape from vicious forces outside. But then that entire storyline is completely forgotten until the very end. Weird…

 

How to make it better?

 

1. The sexual chemistry between Zoey and Lucy should have been more deeply explored. This could have easily blown this movie wide open, and to the next level. It almost seemed like there was supposed to be this underlying attraction, but they never went there.

 

 

2. More explanation with less action. For once! The elaborate sequences and set pieces are well produced enough, but the end result doesn’t say much. Car crashes, and vampire fights without any clear cause…Sit down and talk about what’s going on. Narration during a fight between vampires is very confusing!

 

 

3. What was that letter from Rose’s mom? Unclear. This is what we mean by ‘more explanation’ (see above). But at the end there, just for a minute, Zoey looks exactly like her real life mom Lea Thompson. That was cool.

 

 

4. Too many instrumental pop songs! Throughout the film, familiar and fun songs were played, but without the lyrics. It was Top 40 hits without the Top 40, and it got quite distracting, taking away from the impact of the story.

 

 

5. More Sami Gayle. As a Mean Girls expert, director Mark Waters should have spent more time with Sami’s character Mia, giving her more time to ruin Rose’s and Lissa’s lives. And more Sarah Hyland definitely wouldn’t have hurt either!