Read Mixed User Reviews for Paper Towns

4

DirtyDaveJul 30, 2015

Through the painfully normal high school nerd friendships and self destructive, hypocritical main heroin, this movie gives some heart and chuckles. It's better spent with your actual friends though as you could probably have a better timeThrough the painfully normal high school nerd friendships and self destructive, hypocritical main heroin, this movie gives some heart and chuckles. It's better spent with your actual friends though as you could probably have a better time watching Netflix with them… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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4

MrMovieBuffSep 16, 2016

Teen romance is done rarely well, most of the time, they feel cliched, uninteresting, and at times, really pretentious. 'Paper Towns', unfortunately, falls for every one of these cliches, and it doesn't use them ironically.

Based on theTeen romance is done rarely well, most of the time, they feel cliched, uninteresting, and at times, really pretentious. 'Paper Towns', unfortunately, falls for every one of these cliches, and it doesn't use them ironically.

Based on the novel written by John Green (who also wrote 'The Fault in Our Stars'), the movie focuses on a young boy named Quentin Jacobsen (Natt Wolff, who was also in 'The Fault in Our Stars') going through his last year of high school, and has found himself infatuated with a girl named Margo (Cara Delevingne), a girl he's known since childhood. She is a mystery as she is fascinated with strange things that he has trouble understanding, and as they're growing up, she, for some reason, disappears and is nowhere to be seen.

Quentin does everything he can to find her, since they spend one amazing and somewhat risky night together playing pranks on all her former friends as her boyfriend cheats on her. After that night, that's when she strangely disappears for reasons unknown.

Quentin tries to piece everything together to help him look for her and find out where she is. He tells his idiotic and stereotypical best friends, Ben (Austin Abrams) and Marcus (Justice Smith), two young boys so splashed with low-life stereotypes, I often wonder what's a bland, heartbroken teenage boy like Quentin, doing being friends with those two. Then again, why does Quentin fuss so much about Margo? We don't get to know a lot about her, other than the fact that she is a mystery...but there is nothing else to her character.

And that is the biggest mistake that this movie makes, Quentin is just your typical, girl-obsessed teenage boy and Margo is just... a girl. His friends are just walking talking stereotypes as one is plain dumb, and the other is of a different race, but in case his skin color doesn't make that obvious, he falls under typical stereotypes that we see, and they're not funny at all.

The movie just ponders on and on with Quentin piecing together the puzzle to try and find Margo, but I must admit, these characters are so one-dimensional, I stopped caring too early. They may as well have called this movie "Paper Thin".

All the build up also leads to an ending so unsatisfying in its resolution, that I couldn't help but wonder, why is this all worth it? The movie should have had a different ending, that way, at least this wouldn't feel like a waste of an almost two hour movie.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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5

car149tobaseNov 4, 2015

Quite different from the book in a bad way. The characters seems like a lighter version of the original ones. The perfect soundtrack saves the movie a little

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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6

danippJul 24, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Nothing close to what The Fault In Our Stars was. We have a good cast but the story is just too simple. The book manages to go deeper in characters and their struggles but the script doesn't. Development on them is poor, the story itself is already silly and the end is rushed a lot (and this was essential to understand Margo). As a result, a teen movie about a nerd who falls for a popular girl who doesn't know who she is and who doesn't love him either. It's funny and touching but it's just another teenage movie in Hollywood.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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6

NerdConsultantAug 24, 2015

Paper Towns is a film that promises much but really fails to deliver with a rather tired plot and characters who are a mixed bag to deal with particularly the female lead. the film has a slow beginning and a questionable ending (which fromPaper Towns is a film that promises much but really fails to deliver with a rather tired plot and characters who are a mixed bag to deal with particularly the female lead. the film has a slow beginning and a questionable ending (which from what i heard is much better in the book) but it's 3rd act that saves the film providing the best portion of the film that the trailer promised. would only recommend it to 12-17 year olds as they will get the most out of it anyone older is well aware of where this story is going… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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6

KizerCriticOct 18, 2015

It's simple, If you didn't read the book then you will enjoy this movie. I did read the book and i found that the revisions irritated me a lot and really took me out of the film. It is disappointing to see how much they altered in comparisonIt's simple, If you didn't read the book then you will enjoy this movie. I did read the book and i found that the revisions irritated me a lot and really took me out of the film. It is disappointing to see how much they altered in comparison to The Fault In Our Stars which for the most part kept true to the novel. Performances were strong and the film still is a fun and entertaining watch. I've been following Natt Wolf's performances for a while now and my only fear is that he will get type casted as a Micheal Cera kind of actor. My only recommendation would actually be to watch the movie first then read the book after. Overall not a bad movie, but readers may be irritated in the amount of alterations... clearly i was.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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5

hanneguacamoleAug 5, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Paper Towns is the stereotypical "white people problems" and I think that could have been expected even before paying actual money to watch it. I'm not saying it was a terrible movie, because that's not the case, but honestly I think the story in itself was not great. I'm pretty sure I've read this book – years ago – but I can't imagine that the story was more involving or emotional than what was shown on-screen.

I think my biggest problem with the story itself lies within the fact that Margo Roth Spiegelman is portrayed not like a person, but a fascination. A fascination – almost a toy – that Quentin feels the need to take ownership of. He thinks she needs to be saved and she is his to save, when the reality is that he shows up unannounced thousands of miles away. That's more creepy stalker than anything. This movie isn't even romantic. It's weird.

Paper Towns is a journey. A literal journey. Hypothetically that should be ok, let a movie's plot do what it wants, but the physical movement of their minivan moved it along more than the characters. I would rather watch a movie about nothing with characters I would take a bullet for than a movie with a journey across the country with characters that are, ultimately, words on a piece of paper.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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6

luketeddyJul 29, 2015

Get lost to get found. Paper towns is ok the only really good scene is at the last 30 so minutes of the film I thought this would be like the fault in our stars but it's 100% different.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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5

AliceofXJul 28, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I haven't read the book, but in the IMDb forums someone said that the ending, and through it ultimately the meaning, of the book was quite different. According to that individual the book ends with Quentin realising that Margo is not the deep and interesting girl that he created in his own head.

I don't know if such an ending would have been better but it at least would have been more interesting than the bland ending we got. There would have been some drama with Quentin seeing his illusions smashed. Instead he just realises she doesn't like him. And then it ends.

Margo was my biggest problem of this film. Besides that, the film was very enjoyable and funny. You really wanted to spend time with Quentin and his friends because they felt real. Unlike Margo who just felt like a character from a children's adventure book.

Which brings me back to my original point. Margo starts out as the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. By the end she could have become human. But she doesn't. So when you compare her to all the other characters in this film it's like they come from completely different worlds.

Paper Towns is, overall, a good film but the ending completely ruins the entire story and the themes that it was building.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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6

TheArchetypesSep 9, 2016

I'm not really a fan of the romance genre but this one wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Well I see people complaining about this film not being to similar to the book by John Green which it interest me into watching it, so I did. II'm not really a fan of the romance genre but this one wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Well I see people complaining about this film not being to similar to the book by John Green which it interest me into watching it, so I did. I will say that I didn't find anything wrong or boring in 'Paper Towns' although it goes downhill in some occasions on scenes that I found uninteresting or pointless. It's an original story with a so-so plot twist that I wasn't expecting. Since I'm not really a fan of the kissy kissy genre, I will give this movie an honest 'SIX' for not bore me to death and it wan't really that bad.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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4

SpangleJan 22, 2016

Paper Towns is kind of a funny little flick. It screams teenaged philosopher and is a film that thinks it knows more than it really does. Yet, it does offer some interesting insights on relationships (both romantic and friends) and has aPaper Towns is kind of a funny little flick. It screams teenaged philosopher and is a film that thinks it knows more than it really does. Yet, it does offer some interesting insights on relationships (both romantic and friends) and has a compelling plot that is fun to follow along with. However, it is aggressively average all the same. The film is decently cast and has the occasional moment of brilliance from a filmmaking standpoint, but is like an agglomeration of every other teenage film ever. Paper Towns tries to get its viewer to leaves their comfort zone. To avoid the ordinary and become extraordinary. Tragically, the film ignores its own advice as it shamelessly borrows from prior coming of age dramedies aimed at teenagers. Even more, the story is largely quite ludicrous and far-fetched (how did these kids have access to this much cash), which also serves to hold the film back. Now, it is quite charming and a good time even it is quite typical. For a film that is largely derivative of past works, it needs to offer something new or just have enough pizzazz and power to overcome its generic nature, but Paper Towns does not do this. For fans of the genre, Paper Towns should satisfy. For everyone else, Paper Towns will likely just be a mildly fun way to spend almost two hours.… Expand