Movie Review (very long--you've been warned)

[Tara]

--- Schlobin1 at aol.com wrote:
> I, too, missed the great lines they deleted.
> Why? And probably my real major 
> criticism is why replace great lines with
> mediocre ones?


I, too, was a tad miffed about the lack of humour
- especially on gred&forge's part.  I also
expected to see more pretentious percy.

I loved the movie, but at this early stage, I'm
not sure if it's just because it's HP or if it's
because it was a truly great film.  My mom kept
laughing at me throughout, because everytime a
certain landmark showed up for the first time, I
would tear up and grin.  And I was not the only
one sniffling through the mirror scene.  I wish
they would have made a bigger deal out of the
photo album at the end, flipped through a few
more pages maybe.

I also wanted to see more Oliver Wood (is that
guy gorgeous!), perhaps in the form of quidditch
training.  

Someone had mentioned earlier about some of the
victories seeming rather hollow due to the lack
of backstory provided:  

I didn't feel like the sudden friendship between
Harry&Ron towards Hermione was flushed out
enough.  Also, I didn't feel like their dislike
of her was shown enough to make their eventual
friendship more, well, meaningful.  And on that
same line, I still felt like they didn't want to
be around her that much even after they were
supposed to of become best friends.

I also wasn't that impressed with the way they
represented the animosity between slytherin vs.
all the other houses, especially gryffindor.  I'm
not sure those who haven't read the books would
of understood the importance of the quidditch
match(es) and the winning of the house cup.  Was
it even mentioned in the movie that Slytherin had
won the past 7 years straight?  Again, felt like
a hollow victory.

Another thing I felt wasn't up to canon was
Harry's popularity in the wizarding world,
especially in the scene in The Leaky Cauldron.  I
heard someone behind me ask "what's the big deal
about two people wanting to shake his hand?". 
tsk tsk indeed.

I think it would of also been beneficial to the
final win if they had shown what the loss of 150
points to Gryffindor house had done to the rest
of not only their own peers, but to Hufflepuff
and Ravenclaw as well.  Again, empty victory.

But then, I'd of been more than willing to sit
through a 4 or 5 hour movie provided they gave us
restroom breaks ;-)

Things I loved:

Dudley chowing down on Harry's cake like no one
was going to notice...

Snape, every last flourish of cloak... 

Voldemort passing through Harry in the last
chamber...

Oliver Wood (I was blushing like Ginny
Weasley)...

The Sorting Hat barely touching Draco's head
before announcing "Slytherin!"...

Everything about the Quidditch match...

The mirror scenes (gotta adore Ron - "I look
good!")...

Neville's face when he found out he'd won the
house ten points for bravery....indeed!

I'm sure I've got loads more, but I'll have to
see it again to remember them all properly....


Tara







=====
@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@
"...people meeting in secret all over the world 
were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed 
voices:" To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"

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