'Paper Towns' Review (with GIF's!)

Readers, welcome back to Teenage Fanatic! Today, I will once again be getting in touch with my inner film critic (who, let's be honest, isn't so inner), and giving you the low down of the new young adult book-to-movie adaptation 'Paper Towns'. Was it any good? Did the John Green novel translate well into film? All will be revealed shortly.

I may as well put you out of your misery now, I did indeed really enjoy the movie. Was I expecting to? I hadn't decided yet. But I'm pleased to say I was pleasantly surprised. The trailer didn't really let on whether the film was going to be overly cliche and angsty, or, you know, actually decent, so it really could've gone either way. However, I am obviously grateful that it didn't make me want to claw my eyes out or vomit everything I'd eaten in the past week. I don't know about you, but that's always a bonus for me.

The story begins as protagonist Quentin "Q" Jacobsen (Nat Wolff) introduces us to the enigma that is Margot Roth Spiegelman (Cara Delevingne) whom he lives across the road from.

The two were super close when they were young, however as time went on, Margot's sense of adventure proved to be too far from Quentin's comfort zone, and they eventually grew apart. Margot managed to work her way up the high school hierarchy, while Quentin chose to remain closer to the bottom, content to hang with his two closest friends Ben (Austin Abrams) and Marcus (Justice Smith).

All of this changed however when one night, Margot climbed into Q's window and asked for his assistance in a revenge plot against her cheating ex-boyfriend and the friends who helped in covering it up.

They then went out on the town and did just that, getting up to all sorts of mischief including wrapping a girl's car in cling wrap, exposing her cheating boyfriend and removing a boy's eyebrow.

The next day however, Margot had vanished. Where to? No one knew. But Q put it upon himself to find out, enlisting the help of Ben and Marcus, Marcus' girlfriend Angela (Jaz Sinclair) and Margot's best friend Lacey (Halston Sage).

How does it all end? Do they ever find her? I'm afraid you'll have to buy yourself a movie ticket and discover the answers for yourself.

As I've already disclosed to you, I was indeed pleasantly surprised with 'Paper Towns'. To be honest, not much happens, but that's a nice change from the mindless, action-packed films that seem to be taking over cinemas as of late. It actually made you think, and considering that the characters in the film were grappling with the prospect of graduating from high school, something that will be happening to me in just over a year, I could definitely relate. I actually can't even define what genre the film slots into. There was drama, sure, but it wasn't angsty or annoying, and everyone managed to survive, and although it had comedic elements, it definitely wasn't just a straight-up comedy. So honestly, I don't even know what it is, but I just know I enjoyed it.

Acting wise, the film was pretty solid also. Nat Wolff as Q did an excellent job, fitting into the role really easily and managing to be natural the whole time. Honestly, I can't really imagine anyone else doing a better job. Cara Delevingne as Margot I feel was also super fab. I didn't know what to expect considering she's only just transitioned from modelling to acting, but she really nailed it. It would be hard having to play a character who's super mysterious and randomly runs off all the time, but she did it really well, so we didn't ever totally hate her or anything, but at the same time we had no idea what she was going to do next.

I have to say, my favourite part was that there was no cliche ending. Without giving anything away, I have to tell you now, it's pretty cool. You rarely ever find a teen movie that could actually emulate life, but low and behold, this delivers just that. I have to admit, a part of me wanted a fairytale ending and for everything to be perfect, but the bigger, more logical part was really glad that art was finally able to realistically imitate life.

All in all, I highly suggest that you guys check out this flick when you have the chance. It really is super good, and manages to break the mould and appeal to the masses at the same time. How? I do not know, but I'm pretty sure John Green is some kind of magical creature.

That's pretty much all I have in store for you. Now please, do yourself a favour and check out this film as soon as possible in a cinema near you. Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx