Miscellaneous impressions and a few plot problems

[jsteinb103 at aol.com]

At the end of the movie a woman sitting behind me said "I never realized how 
much was in the books until I saw how much they took out here."  That 
reflects my feelings very well.  

I really enjoyed the movie.  
The acting seemed fine - I didn't see problems with Daniel or Emma that other 
people on this list have mentioned, and I agree with the folks who have 
pointed out that the script took out some of Dumbledore's best lines, leaving 
Richard Harris with a skewed view of the character. (Although if he had read 
the book he might have tried to compensate for it.)  

I'm not quite sure how to put this: the movie had the right "feel".  Except 
for the one time that Hagrid said "Voldemort" instead of "You-know-who" or 
"He who cannot be named" I didn't feel that any of the lines were out of 
character or that anything was anacronistic.  It felt like JKR's universe.

Most of the changes were positive.  Dudley jumping on the stairs was 
wonderful.  So was the snake scene.  And the owls on Privet Drive.  Loved the 
Chocolate 
Frog jumping out the window.  No problems with Harry first meeting Draco at 
Hogwarts instead of Diagon Alley.  The keys were good.  The changes in the 
Devil's Snare scene and elimination of the potions challenge didn't bother 
me.  And when I realized what was going on in the fight between Harry and 
Quirrell, my reaction was "This solves the deus ex machina problem (discussed 
on the main list) nicely."

Minor quibble:  In the Quiddich match after Wood fell off his broom, we never 
saw him remount and continue playing.  Why didn't Slytherin's score go up 
drastically after that if the Keeper was no longer guarding the goals?

Now for the major problems that jumped out at me:

1)  I don't think it was established that Voldemort was not just a bad guy, 
but had been a major force in the wizarding world prior to his defeat when 
the curse recoiled back on him.  And I don't remember it being mentioned that 
this caused Voldemort's defeat.  If I'm forgetting something here, please 
correct this.
By removing any mention (by either Dumbledore or Vernon) of seeing wizards 
celebrating in the streets, and removing this part from Hagrid's narration, 
Voldemort's attack on the Potters and Harry's survival becomes solely a 
personal story, not one with world-wide impact.  Given this, Harry's status 
as The Boy Who Lived makes him more of a celebrity than a hero.   Based on 
what is said in the film, the headlines in the Daily Prophet would have been 
"House Broken Into; Entire Family Murdered; Baby Miraculously Survives."  
Whereas in the book it would have been "You-Know-Who Defeated by Baby Harry 
Potter."   I didn't realize this while I was watching the movie, because my 
mind automatically filled it in, but after I started thinking about it this 
*really* bothers me.

2) The film never establishes that Dumbledore and Flamel had worked together. 
 The scene was set up as in the book, where Harry gets Dumbledore's card in 
the Chocolate Frog package, but in the movie he doesn't read it.  When 
Hermione finds Flamel in a book, she notes that he discoved the secret of the 
Philospher's (Sorcerer's) Stone and that he is 665 years old.  But again, no 
reference to Dumbledore.  So why does Dumbledore have the stone?  Why is it 
in the Hogwarts' vault at Grigotts?

3) The conversation between that Harry overhears between Snape and Quirrell 
is so truncated that there is no mention of the Fluffy or the third-floor 
corridor or the Stone.  In the book this is what leads Harry to believe that 
Snape is after the Stone.  The movie doesn't give a good reason beyond 
Snape's general nastiness (which isn't developed nearly enough - I want more 
Snape!) why the trio suspects him of trying to get the Stone.

4) The hospital scene.  Other people have commented on this, so I won't say 
more than that it wasn't good as explanation and felt anti-climactic.

I've only seen it once, but hope to go again after Thanksgiving.

Julia


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