One lurker chiming in

[Adan]

As a member of a group of people referred to recently - that being a 
regular lurker not having put forth their opinion - I think it's 
time.  Among the reasons I hadn't chimed in are 1)I hadn't said 
anything, period, 2)I wanted to make sure what had been discussed and 
that took time and 3)Having read the messages, much of what I wanted 
to say had already been discussed.

It wasn't a perfect adaptation of the book, no. It didn't have 
everything that I wished to have seen because it was probably 
impossible time-wise.  I didn't really like the movie the first time 
I saw it.  But when I went a second time, this time with my boy (a 
fan) and the neighbor kids (who hadn't read the book), I just went to 
enjoy the movie. I didn't look for the differences, I just let it be 
what it was.  And, for me, that made all the difference.  I enjoyed 
it immensely, as did the rest of my 7 member party.

I loved the new setting for the castle. This was much closer to the 
Hogwarts that I see.  It seemed more real.  I loved the lushness, the 
cragginess.  It was much more the setting that I had always 
envisioned.  In order to keep out muggles, the castle appears a 
broken down ruin.  Why would some no-good land grubbing developer not 
have grabbed up that property with the perfectly low rolling hills 
and beautiful lake?  The new location isn't the end of a nice 
stroll.  And I liked how the forest just seem to envelop them.

What I really loved about all of the backdrops was how the magic was 
just there.  In the first movie, every little spell was an event, 
which I can somewhat justify since it was Harry's POV and it was all 
new to him.  CoS moved from this a little, but not enough to my 
liking. PoA, it's just everywhere and it's no big deal.  Every scene 
has so many little layers that might take me forever to appreciate 
them all.

But I'm going to try.  As I gaze into my genuine acryllic ball, I see 
an IMAX outing in my future.  And something that looks a bit like a 
DVD case.

Adan, a very wordy newbie that could have said much more but somehow 
restrained herself.