I LIKED IT (bracing for rotton fruit thrown)

[Tasukibeth1 at cs.com]

I have been on this group for over a year now, and have been looking forward 
to PoA as much as you all have. Quite frankly, I am glad I didn't read these 
reviews before I went. I loved the movie, and was depressed to open my mail and 
read this stuff, which has ranged from intelligently analytical to just plain 
catty.

So for some much-needed contrast, and to speak up for the quiet minority who 
LIKED the movie, I am going to point out things that I enjoyed:

(1) The computer graphics were seamless. The first two movies, especially 
SS/PS, were loaded with seriously crappy CG. The bathroom fight with the troll 
and (shudder) the rogue bludger incident were so badly done that the children 
looked like ragdolls on strings. This movie had  DR & EW battered by the 
whomping willow quite well, and the scene where Harry fell from his broomstick was 
very real to me - I got a bit of vertigo watching him fall. And buckbeak was 
breathtaking. Fabulous.

(2) I was personally stunned by the scene in the park in the beginning of the 
movie as Harry was leaving home. It was, down to the last blade of grass, 
identical to the mental picture I had of the park that played to prominently in 
OoTP. I could just picture Harry in that park, hiding from the Dursleys and 
egging Dudley on for a fight. I know it was unintentional, but it still gave me 
the chills.

(3) I LIKED that the dementors flew. Yeah, it took me by surprise. Yeah, I 
thought it was a little wierd at first. But once I just bought into it, I had no 
problem with it. And the scene where they chased him through the sky was very 
claustrophobic, like being stuck in the ocean surrounded by jellyfish. The 
fact that they menaced him, even in the air, gave a sense of hopelessness - like 
you can't escape them no matter where you are.

(4) I LIKED the stuff that was added purely for the movie. The shrunken head 
and aunt Marge floating over town in the night were FUN and it kicked off the 
show with some giggles. I thought the animal candies were FUN! These are boys, 
for crying out loud, having some laughs together after summer vacation. 
Remember how excited you were to see your friends again when school began? The 
scene was a good example of what young wizards do to goof off and be stupid. It's 
better than Tee-Peeing peoples cars, for goodness sake. 

(4) I'm not sure what was up with the car alarm, but I laughed out loud, 
along with the rest of the sold-out theatre.

(5) I LOVED BUCKBEAK. I loved the bird-of-prey sounds he made, his eyes, his 
beak. He was very frightening to behold - one bite and he looked like he could 
have snapped your arm off! The frightened children were hilareous, and 
Hagrid's obliviousness to their fear was even better. And I don't know if the "King 
of the world" homage was intentional or not, but I don't care, I LOVED IT! It 
exemplified, as someone on this board wrote, Harry's exhilaration of flight. 
For just a second, there was no Sirius black, no Draco, no Dursleys. Just 
flight. It was brilliant.

(6) I liked how this director FINALLY made Hagrid BIIIIIGGGGGG! Did you 
notice? Hagrid was much, MUCH bigger. He actually looked like the half-giant he was 
always supposed to be.

(7) I had no problem with the creative interpretation on Lupin's werewolf. I 
like that he DIDN'T look like a dog; he is NOT a dog, after all! He is 
a....thingy...a monster, a creature. He is not a dog and therefore shouldn't look 
like one.

(8) I don't care if they got a new fat lady. She was a riot!

(9) While the history of the Marauders was left out (one thing that I wasn't 
nuts about), most anyone with a brain in their head can deduce by the 
attitudes of Remus and Lupin that they obviously knew what the map was and what it 
did. I watched the movie with my SO who had not read the books, and when I 
brought it up in the post-movie discussion, he said that he pretty much caught onto 
that right away without being told.

(10) The tap-dancing spiders dream was a scream, and the way Harry handled it 
was hilareous. It was well, placed, too, coming right off of a serious scene. 
The contrast was well done.

(11) I like that the children didn't wear their robes to Hogsmead. Robes = 
uniform. It would be completely illogical for them to wear their uniforms 
outside of school. 

(12) I had no problem with SuperHermione, Remember, she was *written* to be 
that way, much to the schagrin of the HPFGU Book group. Hermione is perfect - 
that's how she was written. Take it up with the author if you don't like it. 
She always says the right thing, does the right thing, shows up at the right 
time. She's Hermione, That's just what she does.

(13) The time-turning was stunning. I loved watching the flight backwards 
through time. Way cool.

(14) And FINALLY, I loved the "flogging the dolphin" reference in the opening 
credits with Harry under the covers. It was ***cute***, people! A little blue 
humor never hurt anyone. The boy is thirteen, for Chrissakes.  

Okay, so that's my 2 pence. And while there were things here and there that I 
did miss, I found that they didn't bother me so badly that I would hate the 
movie because of them. I hope there is an extended-version DVD with more stuff 
in it - I'm all over that.

B


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