RUBY RED

I don’t know why but I kind of assumed that the movie would more closely follow the storyline of the book. I was wrong. A few major things that bothered me were:

GWYNETH WAS GWENDOLYN.

Upon further review, somewhere on the internet I was told that Gwendolyn is the proper translation from German, so that should actually be her name in the books too. Don’t know how accurate that is, but it’s interesting.

GIDEON’S HAIR WAS ATROCIOUS.

It’s supposed to be ‘shoulder length.’ A low ponytail is longer than shoulder length. And it looks very fake. 

THE SECRET SOCIETY WAS WAY CREEPIER AND MORE CULT LIKE THAN THE BOOKS MADE IT OUT TO SEEM.

Why was Charlotte put in that creepy white dress and taken to the temple on her birthday and whenever she was ‘feeling symptoms?’ The chalk outline from the book was a lot funnier, and made a lot more sense even though it was ridiculous. I also felt like any scene at the temple was like stepping into Twilight and a meeting of the Voltouri. The guys of the inner circle were wearing dark robes with the hoods over their heads. We don’t even meet all the people from the inner circle in the books, let alone have them consistently meet in creepy outfits. 

While we’re talking about the temple, we can also discuss the movie’s visual representation of it. Yes, the movie made dragon hall creepier than I expected with dragon statues and fire, but ‘downstairs’ and the tunnel system was almost medieval looking. They looked like rounded tunnel walls with, maybe, dirt like floors. And that’s present time as well as historic time. You’d figure they’d do some updating of some sort. I guess my small brain and imagination pictured fluorescent lights and cement. More The Hunger Games District 13 than Knights of the Round Table. 

GIDEON WAS A LOT MORE OPEN TO THE POSSIBILITY OF THE BELIEFS OF THE ORDER BEING WRONG. AND ABOUT COUNT SAINT GERMAIN BEING EVIL.

In the book, Gideon very much goes along with Falk and the order in whatever they believe. It isn’t until the third book that Gideon starts to show that he’s thinking for himself. Maybe he was the whole time, but he doesn’t really trust Gwyneth at the beginning, and that shows. 

THE MOVIE REALLY DOWNPLAYED GIDEON'S ‘RELATIONSHIP’ WITH CHARLOTTE.

This goes along with my previous point. Gideon’s been trained his whole life to complete his mission with Charlotte. He doesn’t like Gwen. And while we never really know in the book whether anything romantic ever happened between Gideon and Charlotte, Gwen assumes based on their actions that it’s a possibility. And Charlotte plays it up. She does for a second in the movie when she tells Gwen to ‘stay away’ from Gideon and that they talk on the phone every night, but that’s really it. Other than a kiss on the cheek. The movie’s downplayed relationship between Gideon and Charlotte allows for Gideon and Gwyneth to trust each other more easily. And then that leads into Gideon being more open to the possibility of the Count being evil and the order being wrong.

GWYNETH WAS WAY MORE OPEN TO TRUSTING GIDEON. AND WORKING THINGS OUT WITH HIM.

And my previous two points also play into this one. Gideon and Charlotte’s downplayed relationship makes Gwen more open to trusting Gideon. As well as Gideon letting Gwyneth see that he has questions about their mission. Gideon says that he feels like the order ‘owns them’ because they need the chronograph in order to survive. Unmanaged time travel would be deadly for them, so they have to do what the order wants in order to be able to use the chronograph.

THE PROPHESIES, THE SECRETS, AND PAUL AND LUCY'S DOUBTS WERE A LOT CLEARER FROM THE BEGINNING.

Gideon and Gwen are also more open with each other because they get more clear information at a way faster pace in the movie than they do in the books. They don’t know half of the prophecies' meanings or what might happen when the circle is closed until the last book. It just doesn’t compare to an hour into the first movie. 

GWYNETH AND THE GHOSTS.

From the very beginning of the book, Gwyneth understands that she can see ghosts, gargoyles, and demons, but she only realizes it halfway through the movie. I think this does a real disservice to her relationship with James. She talks to him once during the whole movie. But she’s good friends with him in the book. And her actions to help him in the third book (if they happen later in the movies, I don’t know) don’t seem justified without that friendship.

I also really don’t like how Robert was not Dr. White’s son who died in a drowning accident, like he’s supposed to be from the book. In the movie, Robert was Lucas Montrose’s brother who died at the temple by falling out of a window, I think. I like the original story better. 

THE TIMELINE OF THE EVENTS FROM THE BOOK WAS ALL WRONG.

The major important events from the book that were included in the movie were IN THE WRONG ORDER. That’s just cold. And way unnecessary. Gwyneth is supposed to elapse in a dark basement room (which isn’t even included in the movie), meet the count, and then meet Lady Tinley with Lucy and Paul. The movie has her go straight from being accepted as the ruby to meeting with Lady Tinley (and Lucy and Paul) and then meeting the Count. Wrong. Because Gwyneth met the Count first in the books, and realized he might be a creepy bad guy, she was more open to Lucy and Paul saying he was bad. That’s the whole point. 

GWYNETH HARDLY SPENT ANY TIME AT SCHOOL AND DIDN'T ELAPSE AT ALL.

The time Gwyneth spends at school in her classes and discussing Mr. Whitman with Lesley is kind of important. Their discussions of his possible involvement in the order—important.

I also think it was unnecessary to skip the parts of the story where Gwen just goes to the temple to elapse after school each day. That’s what she was supposed to be doing. It’s how the order convinced her mom that she was going to be okay. She wasn’t supposed to be helping with the mission, and they stuck to that for a few days. They also didn’t really want her involved. They didn’t trust her. And for good reason. That was stupid to skip. Also, Gideon and Gwen bond while elapsing together those first few times. That’s really the base of their relationship in the first book. 

OTHER EVENTS WERE ADDED TO THE MOVIE THAT WEREN'T IN THE BOOKS.

To start, Charlotte and Gwyneth’s birthdays had already taken place at the start of the books. So that was extra in the movie. 

Gwyneth doesn’t talk to her grandpa in one of her first time travel experiences. She doesn’t talk to him about things until the second book. And the scene was almost similar-ish to one that takes place in the third book. 

Gideon and Gwyneth don’t go out to eat after returning from visiting Lady Tinley. They kiss in the confessional at the church and that’s when the book ends. The church is also when/where Ximerious shows up. That’s not until the second book, but it’s in that moment. He’s not in the movie. 

When Gwen finally does meet the Count, we are never actually told if he can read minds in the book. In the movie, he acknowledges he can read her mind and ‘strangles’ her from a distance (telekinesis?) very obviously in front of multiple people (it’s not obvious to other people in the book), including Gideon—another reason for him to doubt the order and the Count. 

Gwen never sneaks out of her house to meet with Gideon and break into the records room. The prophecies aren’t a secret (most of them). That whole situation with the blood in the ice prophecy, the observatory, Gideon getting thrown in the dungeon, Gwyneth falling in the snow, Robert saving her, and Dr. White and Falk thinking of ‘letting’ her die—it never happens. 

Also, the key Gwen’s given on her birthday, the one from Lucy (I guess), isn’t a part of the book. There is a key, but Gwen takes it from the past during her first time travel experience at the temple, or the first time she elapses there. It becomes important later in the story.

The ball also isn’t a thing. No dancing. No fancy dresses. No very long makeout session on the dance floor. 

CONCLUSION

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: when given the choice, one should always watch the movie before reading the book for optimal enjoyment of both stories SEPARATELY. Whenever I read the book first, I care a lot more about the movie being true to the original story (that I’ve already spent so much time in), and that’s what happened here. That being said, I really enjoyed watching the movie and comparing it to the book. I would recommend it, just don’t expect everything to be exactly the same as the book.

*Side note—this is a foreign film. I watched an English dubbed version. I would love to watch the next two movies, but as far as I can tell, they’re not available in the USA—at least no English version, dubbed or subtitled.