CoS SPOILERS: All Snape, and nothing but Snape

[Amanda Geist]

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Okay. Being who I am, I must of necessity focus on Snape. The rest of the
movie was very nice, too, but I am here to make up for all the other
reviewers who glowed about all the other bits and added the afterthought
that Alan Rickman as Snape was good.

I know there wasn't much of Snape in this movie. But what there was kicked
ass. Here you go:

In Snape's Office:

I wish that they'd left it being Snape who finds Harry and Ron. Rickman
could have delivered that line bitingly. Ditto that to, "Excuse me, but I
believe *I* am the potions master at this school." I would love to hear
Rickman deliver *icily.*

I think that the scene in his office presages great and wonderful things for
what Rickman can do with PoA: the office confrontation with Harry, the
Shrieking Shack scene, and after Black's escape [join me in praying these
all survive the screenwriter and editor mainly intact]. Here in his office,
Snape is completely controlled; what he is doing is what he is intending to
do, but he is intending to project anger and he is terrifying. I think
Rickman as an actor is a bit over-the-top here, so some of Harry's
perception of peril is conveyed to the audience. It worked. He was perfect.

My husband Jan had pointed out that in the first movie, Rickman's
interpretation seemed to be trying to be, well, serpentine. Fixed stares,
abrupt shifts of attention--what a predator does. For those of us who have
seen Alan Rickman in many movies, fluidity is his norm, and the abruptness
of some of his movements stood out more. And in CoS, here we find him
stalking around the desk, projecting menace. No other word for it than
"stalking." Lovely.

I also saw no reason for Dumbledore to have come sailing in, appearing to
save the boys from him; Snape was not out of control, he was in the process
of telling the boys that their fate was not in his hands (along with what
that fate would have been if it *were*), and he yielded authority
immediately. Perhaps this, too, was to underline the boys' perception of the
danger they were in, that they felt Dumbledore had saved them.

In the hall when Mrs. Norris is found:

I thought they did very well with the timing of Snape's comments, allowing
for the exchange of disbelieving expressions among Harry, Ron, and Hermione
when he seems to be helping them, and then that, "However..." I think that
Rickman did a superb job of conveying skepticism with his expressions. And I
noticed that I found Snape less potent in the hallway than in his office; he
was simply an administrator helping to deal with the situation; he didn't
seem to have the focused venom that he did in his office. Which was
appropriate; Snape has no reason to be irate in the hallway; just deeply
suspicious. I did wish I'd have gotten to see Rickman doing the "peculiar
expression," trying very hard not to smile. Ah, we can't have everything.

Duelling scene:

I wanted Snape to look more irritated or be more clearly disgusted with
Lockhart. I would have loved a cut to Snape's expression when Lockhart comes
bouncing back with his "I let you do that" nonsense. But on the whole, I was
delighted with the blasting of Lockhart. I caught this out of the corner of
my eye the second time, but I *think* Snape does a little satisfied bounce,
like a "hah," after he's cast his curse and Branagh is tumbling through the
air; if I see it again, I must watch for that. The eye is naturally drawn to
the careening Lockhart at that time.

I thought the quirk of his mouth when Harry got blasted was perfect; not too
much, but enough. I thought his expression of irritation when Draco fell at
his feet, and he hauled him up and shoved him back towards Harry, was a
parallel of Lucius' expression when Draco crashes in the Quidditch match.
[This is probably my character blindness, but I honestly believe that Snape
realized Draco was unhurt, and might have stepped in otherwise; a contrast
to Lucius, who simply looks put out and inconvenienced when Draco truly *is*
hurt at the match...such is the strength of Isaacs' malevolent performance.]

My thoughts on Snape's reaction to Harry speaking Parseltongue, and why he
waited so long to take care of the situation, I have chronicled in an
earlier post.

What should have been the staffroom scene:

I liked what they left in. I wish more teachers would have joined in, but
Snape and McGonagall made a potent combination and adequately dealt with
Lockhart. I think the sentiments of the staffroom scene were conveyed
sufficiently.

In general:

I cannot stress strongly enough how much Rickman's use of expression *makes*
Snape. He is actively acting Snape 100% of the time he is onscreen. If he is
speaking, that's an added bonus, but just watching him *be* Snape is
rewarding. Here's hoping that some of the extra 18 minutes will have Snape
in them.

~Amanda