Spoilers - my POA review

[Theresa]

Okay some of you asked for a spoiler type review so if you are not 
one of the fans who wants to know spoilers please STOP reading now. 
This is rather long and I tried not to cover everything so I could 
leave you with something to be surprised by.

Here let me do this properly...
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There. Sure you want to know? Well...

Ok - first of all the film may seem choppy to some - I know the 
little girl next to me told her mom she thought it jumped too much. 
It did seem fast paced and the 2 hrs 20 minutes were over in no time. 
The Whomping Willow is down the hill now but at least it really looks 
like a willow tree now. I was so busy watching I did not remember it 
was not down a hill in COS. There are several changes like that such 
as now there is that covered bridge and I don't remember it but it 
was a nice setting.

Secondly, the acting abilities are much improved for the trio - in my 
opinion, they could definitely continue after Harry Potter is  
complete. I loved Gary Oldman, and David Thewlis as Sirius and Remus. 
Fine acting by two wonderful actors. And both have such pretty eyes 
(sorry I have a thing for pretty eyes).

The arrival of Aunt Marge was well
 she is a wicked evil woman -
well done Pam Ferris. I hated her from the moment she steps in the 
door. Anyway, then they sit down to eat and Harry of course is not 
sitting but playing waiter/bus boy. Neither Dudley nor Petunia speak 
much, and of course Aunt Marge is blabbing away about what a nuisance 
Harry is. There is a line that shocked me, they put this line in the 
film. Marge states the breeding problem (referring to Harry) comes 
from the mother comparing it to dogs. I think it was something 
like "if there is something wrong with the b*#%h then there is 
something wrong with the pup" and that is when Harry shouts "shut up" 
and she begins to inflate like a helium balloon. That was well done 
and quite amusing. 

The knight bus is cool and Stan is a dork with pimples but exactly 
how I pictured him. He only says Sirius is a murderer but no details. 
The shrunken head is the coolest thing - it is quite a laugh. Such 
puns. They go to the Leaky Cauldron straight away so we don't see 
anyone else get off and I never saw Harry pay but he did get a ticket 
from Stan. Oh and he never tells them his name nor says he is 
Neville. 

When Harry is at the Leaky Cauldron Fudge has already purchased his 
books for him (maybe it is shortened for time but you never see Harry 
get his presents from everyone including the book from Hagrid). The 
scene in his room with the Monster book is really funny. 

The cat and rat issue seems to be downplayed a bit as I don't think 
it seems Ron and Hermione are ever not really speaking to one 
another. Oh and I think Crookshanks is cute. 

On the train, when the dementor comes in, it appears to be sucking 
out more than just happiness from Harry and that is how it seems 
later with Harry and Sirius by the lake. Like just its presence sucks 
out your soul. That might confuse those who have not read the books. 
They ARE really scary if you ask me. Oh and they fly too. Don't 
remember that but it makes them creepier.

The only classes I remember seeing are Divination, DADA and Care of 
Magical creatures. Trelawny is funny and eccentric. I think you see 
her class twice in the film. 

The boggart scene is well done. Harry does get a turn though and 
starts to do the spell but then Lupin leaps in front and you see a 
full moon coming out of the clouds and he turns it into a balloon 
deflating around the room which has been in a few trailers. So there 
is your first clue about him and the werewolf curse. The next DADA 
class is the one with Snape and yes that is a slide projector in the 
trailers. He teaches about werewolves so there is your next clue.

Hagrid's class is pretty much like the book - he shows Buckbeak, who 
is wonderful, I loved him, and Harry makes friends with him, rides 
him a bit and thoroughly enjoys it. It is cute how Hagrid is trying 
so hard to be a good teacher.

Malfoy is a pure git in this movie. He is the typical rich kid who is 
a bully. The one the audience loves to see get what is coming to him -
 first the beastie (Buckbeak) then the girlie. Our theatre audience 
cheered when Hermione punches him. Tom did a great job considering he 
always seems so sweet in interviews. 

The timeturner was handled well. Hermione keeps appearing in the 
classes just as Ron and Harry look away then back there she is and 
Ron keeps saying, "When did she get here?". It was cute.

The Fat Lady does get slashed but you never meet Sir Cadogen nor does 
Neville lose the passwords nor Sirius get in and slash Ron's 
bedcurtains. Kind of miss seeing those scenes.  

There are a few scenes with Harry walking with Lupin and talking to 
him about the dementors and his parents. Lupin seems to be more of a 
confidant for Harry than I remember but it is nice for him to talk 
about his parents with someone. There is only one Patronous lesson 
and Harry succeeds after a few tries. Might seem too quick for some 
but I did not mind it. 

The second Hogsmeade visit Harry tries to sneak out under his cloak 
but Fred and George figure it out and catch him. They then give him 
the map and explain it. I like how they still talk over one another. 
Then of course he sneaks into the village and catches up to Hermione 
and Ron at the shack being harassed by Draco, Crabbe and another 
Slytherin. Harry scares the Sylterins away and that was hilarious but 
Harry's head is never revealed, however, I think it worked better 
this way. The cute scene in the photos with Harry and Hermione is her 
trying to comfort him after he over hears McGonnagal speaking about 
Sirius, Peter and Harry's parents. Boy can young Daniel show emotions 
now. He is crying but then gets angry and I think he was excellent in 
this scene. He is definitely becoming a fine actor. (and he is a 
cutie too - I see why the young girls drool.)

The part with Snape and the map is a bit different from the book 
whereas, late one night Harry is watching the map (the map is done 
well with names and stuff), and Harry sees Peter Petigrew's name on 
the map so he sneaks off to I suppose catch him which is when Snape 
finds him with the map. It insults him once and Harry reads it to him 
so no it doesn't talk out loud - that made me happy - I was so afraid 
of that after the way they did the hat. I have a friend who had not 
read the books who said "Does everyone hear what the hat says to the 
person?".

The hug scene everyone is seeing online is when they think Buckbeak 
is executed is cute. Hermione hugs Ron and Harry is hugging her in 
sort of a three-way hug. I thought it was sweet and not really 
romantic just three really close friends. 

The Willow was awesome looks like a willow and is wicked fast. It 
really whacks H/HR pretty hard and even swings them in the air. The 
shack scene is well done - Sirius is really maniacal - quite insane 
at first. He doesn't seem sad like in the book just crazy to kill 
Peter (well you figure that out later). When Remus comes in and he 
hugs Sirius - you can tell they are good friends. Of course some 
quick explanation begins but I don't recall the explanation of the 
four marauders becoming illegal animagi to be with Remus. Nor who 
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs ever being explained so that is 
the slight disappointment I mentioned before. I think those who have 
not read the book do not get the full understanding of Harry's dad 
and his friends' relationship or that they are illegal animagi. Also 
Harry is the only one who attacked Snape but it was cool to see him 
fly and crash the bed. 

The werewolf transformation was not at all how I dreamt it. He just 
looked gross to me, so I suppose it was my only other slight 
disappointment. I did love that Sirius was telling Remus to remember 
who he was and asking about his potion (hmm did they have that before 
Sirius was imprisoned?) while protecting the kids. Then Sirius as a 
CGI dog fights Remus the CGI werewolf and then Snape comes out of the 
tree and protects the kids as we have seen in the trailers. Slight 
error here is the Willow never moves and they are standing right 
under there. This is the last you see of Snape so he does not pitch 
his fit later on. Oh well I would have loved that.

The time turner scene is great. It explains how certain things happen 
during the first time through those scenes like where the howling 
comes from that distracts Remus. One part that is a little funny is 
Hermione2 critiquing Hermione1's hair. The actual Patronous is good 
but you only see the stag as standing there on the shore from 
Harry1's point of view. Looking from Harry2's point of view it just 
looks like a bright light that gets the dementors.

The most heartwarming scene is between Harry and Sirius on the tower 
when they are saying goodbye. I think Sirius says one of Dumbledore's 
lines from the book about those we love never truly leave us as they 
reside in our hearts or something like that. Personally I think it 
works better coming from Sirius.

Two last things, the Quidditch scene is awesome, super fast and you 
barely know it is Harry if it weren't for the new uniforms - goggles 
and their names and numbers on the back of their robes. Looks good 
like a real sport team. The icy rain actually cuts Harry's face and 
the Dementors are flying around everywhere. Harry falls what seems 
like a mile but they say 100 ft in the film. The Firebolt does not 
arrive until towards the end of the film and it shows up with one of 
Buckbeak's feathers so you know who sent it but there is no 
permission slip for the next year for Hogsmeade. Guess they will need 
to fix that for GOF if they even go to Hogsmeade in GOF film version. 
The credits are cool too the way they are presented - stay and watch 
them - it is the map sort of.

All in all I enjoyed the movie and will see it again and again. POA 
is still my favorite book and I think the filmmakers did it 
brilliantly. Hope I didn't spoil too much for all of you. I started 
writing not intending to be so long but couldn't stop.

Theresa