POA for non-canon readers-- Spoilers

[Theresa]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, "Trevor" <trevor-weiland at c...> 
wrote:
> I asked my niece, 13, today how she liked POA.  She read SS years a 
few
> years ago, struggled and did not read the rest yet and she liked 
the first
> two movies.  Her initial response, typified 13 year old, was non 
committal.
> She then asked me if I had seen it and upon revealing that I had, 
she stated
> that she didn't like it.  I asked her why and she pointed out the
> freeze-frame ending first (I have trained her well).  She then 
explained
> that she found it hard to follow, that it jumped from point to 
point.  I
> asked her if she understood where the Marauder's Map came from and 
she had
> no clue, she noted that she wished Harry would have asked Lupin.  I 
asked
> her about the dorm scene, she responded that she didn't understand 
what it
> had to do with the movie, although it was funny.  She did like the 
vistas
> but didn't understand the tree scenes.  She didn't get the Firebolt 
scene
> and said that it was randomly tacked on with no plot connection.  
She then
> asserted that she didn't like Daniel's acting at all, she thought 
Ron was
> excellent.  She finds Hermione's character annoying (13-year-old 
girl
> stuff).
> 
>  
> 
> Is this typical of non-canon readers?  Remember she had no book to 
compare
> the movie with.
> 
>  
> 
> Trevor 
> 
> 
Interesting, I spoke with a friend's 13 year old son today and got a 
different take. He has not read one of the books and only went to see 
the first movie because I took him with my sons on opening day. 
Though he is prefers LOTR's movies (again he never read the books), 
he did actually say POA was decent. That equates to not up to par 
with LOTRs but a good movie in his speak. He said he liked how the 
tree showed the seasons changing. That impressed me that a 13 year 
old would catch that. He did say it seemed rushed in some places. He 
thought the trio acted better. Especially Emma - he liked that she 
wasn't a bossy wimpy know-it-all this time. After the first film he 
asked how someone like her would be in Gryffindor. However, I was 
shocked when he said she was alright looking but too skinny. First 
boy I have heard say that. Anyway, he understood the Firebolt was 
from Sirius due to the feather but thought the ending was a bit 
silly. Not as silly as COS he said he hated the "cheering for the big 
dumb guy." Especially, after he heard me (I didn't like COS's ending 
either) say "that wasn't in the book and it detracts from Harry and 
Ron's award and what about Ginny?" He liked Trelawny, said he thought 
she would be a hillarious science or math teacher. He liked the 
dementors and the patronous. However, he did ask me why Harry changed 
his mind so quickly in the shack. He caught that they were all 
friends and assumed Lupin had seen the map before so that was why he 
knew about it. When I explained the whole marauder backstory, he 
said "hmm, they could have take on 10-15 minutes to have Remus and 
Sirius briefly mention that in the shack or had Lupin explain it 
while he was packing." He absolutely loved the Aunt Marge scene. I 
won't repeat what he said about her but he thinks she got what was 
coming to her just like Malfoy.
I then asked how did you like it compared to the first two and he 
replied "It was better but it isn't LOTR". He said he thought the 
first two movies were geared to younger kids and this one is to 
teenagers and adults. He said though the werewolf was creepy the 
scary part is the dementors sucking away your "happy thoughts" and 
little kids won't get that. I asked him what would make these better 
films and I quote "make them a little longer and tell more so I don't 
have to ask someone who read the book if I caught all of the 
storyline." He sat through the LOTRs films with no bathroom breaks 
and stayed for all of the credits. Then he said he would give it 7 
out of 10 stars (maybe 8 due to the visuals - said the tree was 
cooler this time). Oh he also said Ron needed more lines as he is 
Harry's best friend too.
Personally, I liked POA but have some nitpics about it but I have 
that with the first two as well. Being a huge fan of the books, I 
would love them to be identical to the books but alas they are not. 
My boys and muggle hubby (he is no HP fan at all and often rolls his 
eyes at me) liked the movie. The boys are 8 and 12 and said "awesome" 
when we left the theater. My hubby said he thought it was an 
improvement and not some little kid movie but he personally wouldn't 
pay full price again unless we go to the IMAX (he thinks that sounds 
cool as we have never seen a feature length film on IMAX).
Anyway, as for your question about those who don't read the books 
getting confused, I think some folks may well be. But here is an 
equivalent boy to compare your niece to
Also, I believe there are groups that didn't like the movie and those 
who did and I think that happens with every movie. 

Theresa
PS: Side note - since the first two films opened in Nov and the 2nd 
weekend was Thanksgiving in the US - did Friday's sales count for the 
weekend count? Just curious as I have several friends who go to a 
movie that day as a family tradition - stuff your face on Thursday, 
see a movie with the whole family on Friday. Oh and LOTR came out a 
month later so it wasn't really competition for the first two films.