By Nathan Fu | Sports Editor
The long wait is finally over; after twenty years an adaptation of The Giver is finally made. Much like other dystopian novels like The Hunger Games and Divergent, The Giver by Lois Lowry centers on a young teen trying to escape the “perfect world”. Despite a star studded cast that includes Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, and a brief cameo by country star Taylor Swift, the movie fails to live up to the lofty expectations set by the book.

In the beginning of the film, we are introduced to the main character Jonas, who is played by newcomer Brenton Thwaits. Already, there is an inaccuracy as Jonas, who is a thirteen year old in the book, is played by a twenty five year old. Making matters worse, Thwaits did a lackluster job at best as he lacked emotion and was expressionless at times especially when he was making his long trek into the “real world”.
The Giver is a relatively short and simple book compared to other books; it only has one hundred seventy nine pages. However, the movie felt the need to stretch the plot needlessly and in the end, the movie’s pace was painfully slow. In addition, the movie had an unnecessary sci-fi feel to it when the producers decided to add in a complex drone and a motorbike chase scene.
After walking out of the theaters, I was in shock. The movie was nothing like the book; it did not have the simplicity of the book and it had a lot of extraneous information. If you love the book, do not watch the movie. The movie is everything but the book.