Wonder' Movie Review Essay

Movie and book comparisons are the most common thing people go to doing for a research paper. The movie and novel Wonder starts out with the main character August or Auggie Pullman talking about how his life has been growing up. It goes into what he looks like, and how people may look at him. He had 27 surgeries before ten years old, and he’s not as ordinary as the other kids. According to the novel written by R.J. Palacio, Auggie has a cleft palate that the doctors called “small anomalies” (Palacio 6), but according to Ramin Zahed, “kids with this disorder also face with underdeveloped ears and cheekbones” (LAT). When people see him at the park or just out in public they look at him with some kind of horrifying look. As he goes on a tour of the school he faces a guy named Julian who seems to be rude and makes mean comments without trying to make it known. With both movie and novel talking about these things readers and audiences can somewhat get an understanding of what they will be about. Though the movie and novel have many similarities, Stephen Chbosky directs some differences in Wonder.

Stephen Chbosky seemed to have made some changes in the movie from the novel, by cutting some scenes out or making them shorter. This could be considered due to budget cuts, time in for the movie, characters, or rearranging orders. Since movies seem to always leave out some scenes due to time or simplifying the story to flow better in the movie format. According to Brittany Bell,” It’s very small details in certain scenes, which ultimately causes problems because it doesn’t make sense, or they rearrange or skip certain plot points altogether.” (The Breeze). In the movie, Auggie’s homeroom teacher is Mr. Browne, but in the book it’s Ms. Petosa (Palacio 24). It seems as if Chbosky did this to get the main point of how Julian is mean to Auggie. After rearranging the scenes it goes into more of Julian being mean, and Auggie going home upset as when he tells his mom he cries. It seems as if they change the whole concept to get everyone to think about bullying throughout the movie, instead of what it is really about. Also rearranging orders in the movie it can help get a better understanding of what is going on. Suppose the novel focuses on one character and then goes into focusing on another. In the movie, you can actually tell right away when they have left something out or cut a scene short. That’s when we know that Chbosky seems to have made minor cuts in the movie from the novel, but according to Kent Turner, “ even though there are some minor characters omitted, and the dialogue cut straight to the point; however, the storyline is always recognizable as Palacio’s (SLJ).

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Another thing that plays a part in the difference thing is the technology in the movie. Technology helps the movie to come alive and helps to get the audience's attention with effects, pictures, etc. With technology, we as the audience can get a better understanding of what is going on, instead of having to picture things in our minds as to what the writer is trying to say. Such as in the movie when Julian tells Auggie, he should be Darth Sidious for Halloween. As you read that same part in the novel you have a little trouble trying to imagine who that is, but in the movie after Julian says that Darth Sidious shows up himself. Also with Auggie having his little braid in the back of his head which is called Padawan, you can actually see what it looks like, but unlike in the book where you can only get details on how it may look. It also has that same effect on how Auggie looks at himself because within the book you only get what Auggie describes of himself, but in the movie, you can really see what he meant by his description. Makeup effect helps with getting the right description of how Auggie looks, and according to Ramin Zahed he had “talked with experts at a hospital in Chicago that specializes in treating children with this condition, and he has also looked at many pictures to help get it right. Some other effects that have helped Arjen Tuiten with pulling off the makeup were prosthetics that balanced with making it look real and not too much of a monster. What also helped was little eye bags connected to wire which they had to add contact lenses that enlarged the iris right along with whitening the eyes. They also used small things to help pull off the makeup such as fake eyebrows and teeth.

In both the movie and book, you can capture the main idea of what both are about. In the movie, though it doesn’t seem to capture everyone’s feelings as well as it does in the book. It does give us some evidence of how a character may feel. With the book you get a real understanding of everyone, and how everyone looks at one another. That is what brings the book to such meaning to some people because they get to see how everyone thinks about others around them. Even the actors or characters help with capturing the meaning as they play their part with real passion as if it’s their life for real. You also get to see what other people go through that you may have not known, but there are some things the novel captures well that the movie doesn’t capture. Brittany Bell stated that “when Auggie’s older sister Via tries to exclude the family from her play, Auggie reacts brashly in response to her not wanting her school to know about him. Which was supposed to be a profound scene between the two siblings, and their relationship is immediately pushed aside as the movie rushes into the death of their dog, Daisy” (The Breeze). It seems as if the movie was trying a little too hard on trying to make it just like the book, but they realized they had to shorten it. This caused them to focus mainly on bullying and the struggles of disformity, and with that happening it loses the main focus on what it is really. Although the movie seemed to have taken away some of the most important details on how the characters connect with each other, you still get that feeling of how they connect in another scene.

At the end of both the movie and novel, it shows how everyone then loves Auggie, and how they have accepted him for how he looks. According to Palacio to win the award of Henry Ward, you have to have “Courage. Kindness. Friendship. And Character.” (Palacio 304). Auggie seemed to have had that since he won the award. As he went to go up on stage to get the award he felt as if he was floating. He felt good for once with all the students and adults cheering him on. They all even gave him a standing ovation which really helps the reader or audience get the idea of people accepting him. By reading the novel you get a good feeling from everyone, but in the movie, you can also get a better feel as they are playing the part very well. With that being said in both movie and novel you can say that it’s best to read the book before watching the movie. It helps with trying to get a good understanding of what both are dealing with when it comes to order, technology, characters, etc. With all the cuts, rearranging, technology, and everything done within them both; it comes together well. Though the movie made some mistakes by cutting some things out they still seem to cover it up by adding some other scene or by adding the scene somewhere else to help connect it all together. So now that the movie and novel may have many similarities, but now you can see for yourself the differences that have been made by Stephen Chbosky.

Work Cited

1. “I ‘Wonder’ What’s Better: Book or Movie?” The Breeze, Brittany Bell, 3 February 2018, www.breezejmu.org/culture/i-wonder-what-s-better-book-or-moive/article_06086e96-0887-11e8-9a35-6bfa3e827caf.html.
2. “Wonder Leans on Its Great Cast to Tell an Engaging, Warm-Hearted Family Story.” Vox, Alissa Wilkinson, 17 November 2017, 9:30 am, www.vox.com/culture/2017/11/17/16646506/wonder-review-jacob-tremblay-julia-roberts.
3. “‘Wonder’ Makeup Designer Tackles a Trick Job and Makes a Boy’s Mom Cry.” Los Angeles Times, Ramin Zahed, 8 January 2018, 12:15 pm, www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-0116-crafts-wonder-makeup-20180115-story.html.
4. “‘Wonder’ Movie Review.” School Library Journal, Kent Turner, 20 November 2017, www.slj.com/?detailStory=wonder-movie-review
5. Palacio, R.J. Wonder. Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.