How Satisfied Are You With The Cast?

[Carol]

dazz_arlonsy wrote:
>
> OK, how do you assess these casts (according to OWL), and WHY
> 
> O = Outstanding
> E = Exceed Expectation
> A = Acceptable
> P = Poor
> D = Dreadful
> T = Troll
> 
> 1. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter : E (Daniel is Exceed
Expectation because Harry isn't as cute as him, but I don't give
Daniel an Outstanding because he doesn't have the breakruler and
emotional image as Harry does in the book)

Carol:
I liked Dan Radcliffe when he was little, but he seems less like Harry
to me now. His hair isn't messy enough and he should be skinnier and
smaller. E, I guess. (I don't think he's cute, BTW, especially his
nose, but then I'm much too old to care.)

> 2. Rupert Grint as Ronald Weasley : E (actually I would like to give
Rupert an Acceptable because Ron's supposed to be cuter and have long
nose, but I decide to give him an Exceed Expextation because he's so
funny nonetheless)

Carol:
Rupert is a cutie, IMO, maybe too cute and insufficiently freckled for
Ron (wrong nose, as you say), but great comic timing and underused. No
actor can look exactly as he's described in the books. I'd give Rupert
an A or E in the early films (both he and Emma emphasized the wrong
words in some of their lines) but an O from PoA onward.

> 3. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger : E (I think Emma is perfect as
> Hermione)

Carol:
I thought her acting seemed forced in the first two films, but she's
grown into the part and is perfect whenever Hermione is supposed to be
anxious and breathless. I think I liked her best at the Yule Bll in
GoF. A little too pretty for Hermione, but JKR seems to see Hermione
as Emma now, judging by the wolf whistles in DH. E for the recent films.

> 4. Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore (movie 1-2) : E (perfect
Dumbledore) 

Carol:
Yes and no. I can't see Richard Harris, as old as he was, fighting in
the MoM. He did have the twinkly side of Dumbledore down and was
endearing in the role. O for the two films he appeared in.

> 5. Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore (movie 3-7) : T (Michael is
Troll because he is not Dumbledore, he doesn't have Dumbledore's warm
eyes, he doesn't have the wit of Dumbledore, and it worsen by the fact
that Dumbledore's gay because Michael doesn't look gay at all LOL you
know what I mean)

Carol:
I think DD's gayness, which is only how JKR imagined him, now how she
wrote him, is irrelevant. However, Gambon would do well to read the
books rather than (self-confessedly) playing himself. DD would not
have shaken Harry and yelled at him, accusing him of putting his own
name in the goblet, for example. Nor is it his fault that the costume
designers have continually given him the same drab set of robes,
somehow suggesting that he never bathes or changes clothes. However, I
thought he was brilliant in the scene in OoP where he escapes from his
office using Fawkes. He had DD's lines (which were almost straight
from the book) down pat. I'm getting used to him and think he will be
okay as DDD in HBP (as long as he delivers "Severus, please!" with the
appropriate tone of anxious desperation) and Portrait/Dead!DD in DH.
Between an A and an E, I think. I think he needs to know what's coming
in DH to pull off HBP convincingly, though.

> 6. Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid : E (perfect Hagrid)

Carol:
Agreed.

> 7. Alan Rickman as Severus Snape : O (BEYOND PERFECT)

Carol:
Agreed fo SS/PS, but his age is showing in the other films, especially
the last two. Beyond Perfect in voice (if he didn't hesitate so long
in saying Expelliarmus in CoS, and his position for that spell is
ridiculous--it's the non-wand arm that should be curved and the wand
arm that should be extended,as in fencing), in posture, and in
gestures. His robes should be floor length (no pants beneath) without
all those buttons, though they do suggest repression and uptightness,
and they should somehow make him look thirtyish instead of fiftyish.
(Fortunately, the actors playing his contemporaries are also somewhat
too old for their roles but not so noticeably.) Can I give him an O
minus? 

> 8. Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall : E (perfect)

Carol:
Agreed. And her robes and age actually match the books.

> 9. Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy : E (perfect)

Carol:
A little too old for the part, and his accent should be more
aristocratic. E. (But I like him in the role, anyway.)

> 10. Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley : P (where's the mane Uncle
> Vernon has?)

Carol:
OMG, did you see how fat his body is and how skinny his legs are in
OoP? He seems to have aged twenty years since the first film. I think
he has Vernon's personality down but is too old for the part. E at
first, now A.

> 11. Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley : P (Poor!!! Aunt Petunia is
blonde, not brunette)
> 12. Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley : P (same as Aunt Petunia)

Carol:
I don't think the coloring matters. Actually, the coloring makes them
look like Harry's relatives, which is fine for the movie. I think
Fiona Shaw is too old for Petunia, who should be in her late thirties
in OoP, and Dudley should have a more middle-class accent (but since
I'm American, maybe I'm misjudging him; he sounds almost Cockney to
me). He did look like a proper bully in OoP, though, and looked
thoroughly "demented" (too bad the scene was rewritten and stripped of
its essence). Aside from her age, I think Fiona does a fine job with
the role (E or O) and Harry Melling does at least an adequate job (A
to E).

> 13. Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom : A (Matthew seems to grow
faster)

Carol:
I think that Matthew was perfect as Neville in the first film but I
wish they'd left his teeth alone in the next few films. A little too
good-looking in this one, and they shouldn't have given him that OoC
line about vengeance. Otherwise, no complaints. E.

> 14. Julie Walters as Molly Weasley : E (perfect)
> 15. Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley : E (perfect)
> 16. Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy : E (perfect)
> 17. Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley : E (perfect)

Carol:
Agreed, I guess. Mark Williams looked different, somehow, in OoP, and
not just after the Nagini attack. I might give Julie Walters as O. She
looks and sounds just the way I picture Mrs. Weasley. Bonnie Wright is
a bit plain but I like her being so much smaller than her brothers and
she has the right touch of feistiness. I like movie!Ginny better than
book!Ginny, RWIW.


> 18. Gary Oldman as Sirius Black : D (Dreadful!!! Gary is a great
actor, but to me he isn't Sirius. Sirius is supposed to be more
handsome than Gary :p)

Carol:
I suppose you could think of it as his looks being ruined by Azkaban,
but I agree. I especially didn't like the tatoos they gave him in PoA.
And he should have black hair. (Now I'm thinking that coloring
matters, but black hair does tie the Blacks (other than Narcissa and
Andromeda) together, as red hair links (and characterizes) the
Weasleys. Oldman!Sirius is also a more sympathetic character than
Book!Sirius, but I understand why they'd rewrite the part to create
that effect. A.

> 19. David Thewlis as Remus Lupin : D (same reason as Sirius cast)

Carol:
That little mustache is ridiculous. Did they get rid of it for OoP? I
don't recall seeing it. Good actor, though. A to E.

> 20. Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew : E (perfect)
> 21. Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney : E (perfect)
> 22. James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley : E (perfect)

Carol:
I didn't like Timothy Spall as Pettigrew at first, especially the rat
teeth and mannerisms, but now I'm used to him. He didn't look as if he
was suffering enough pain, though, when he cut off his hand, and they
seem to make him more wicked and loyal to Voldemort, as opposed to
weak, scared, and corrupted, than Book!Wormtail strikes me as being.
As for the Weasley Twins, their hair should be brighter and I'd like
to be able to tell Fred from George by the lines (George is more
sensitive and more aware of legalities). Oh, well. E's all around, I
guess, or maybe an O for Emma Thompson as Trelawney.

> 23. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort : O (BEYOND PERFECT)

Carol:
Agreed, except for the weird way he holds his wand in GoF. It looks as
if he could lose his grip on it in GoF, and he's noticeably
left-handed, which for some reason I find distracting.

> 24. Brendan Gleeson as Alastor Moody : E (perfect)

Carol:
I don't know. I didn't like the tied-on eye. Couldn't they have made
it look like it was really in his eye socket using CGI? And he's a bit
too fat; maybe not quite old enough. Anyway, he didn't look like I
pictured Moody, and I thought it was weird that the movie had no
explanation as to why a person the audience learned was a bad guy was
back as a good guy in OoP. They should at least have mentioned the
imposter from GoF. A, I suppose.

> 25. Robert Pattinson as Cedric Diggory : P (Cedric should be more
> handsome than Robert)

Carol:
I loved Robert Pattinson as Cedric and thought he was more than
handsome enough, certainly the best-looking young actor in the films
(though the boys who played Oliver Wood in SS/PS and Diary!Tom Riddle
in CoS came close). I'd give Robert an O. 

> 26. Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter : E (perfect)

Carol:
I suppose. I don't like the character, and they shouldn't have made
her quite so, erm, busty, but I suppose that teenage boys appreciate
the awkwardness of the scene where she and Harry were confined in the
broom closet. (And "You should feel right at home, then," was a
brilliant addition.) E, I guess.

> 27. Clemence Poesy as Fleur Delacour : P (Fleur has veela blood, so
she's beautiful, so beautiful. Not Clemence please)

Carol:
Absolutely agreed on this one. And did they have to make her such a
weakling?

> 28. Stanislav Ianevski as Viktor Krum : P (Viktor has the eagle eyes
and slim body, not like Stanislav)

Carol:
I thought he was perfect for the part. No need to make him duck-footed
or hawk-nosed. (I don't remember "eagle eyes." Doesn't that just mean
that a person has excellent vision?) E.

> 29. Katie Leung as Cho Chang : T (Oh come on, Cho is Harry's first
> crush, Cho should be pretty, not like Katie. So decent.)

Carol:
Katie is quite pretty, IMO, and her Scottish accent is cute. I didn't
like the rewritten script, but she handled it well. E.

> 30. Adrian Rawlins as James Potter (movie 4) : T (James died at 21,
> how come his ghost played by a 50 year old Adrian? gosh)
> 31. Geraldine Somerville as Lily Potter (movie 4) : T (same as
James, Geraldine is 40 and played Lily who died at 21? please)

Carol:
That problem goes back to SS/PS, where they seem to have shown Harry's
parents in the mirror (and Lily dying) at the age they would have been
if they'd lived. Bad casting from square one. P. Or :-P!!

> 32. Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge : O (BEYOND PERFECT)

Carol:
Well, she should have been more toad-faced and squat. But as far as
personality is concerned, Imelda nailed it. E.

> 33. Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood : E (perfect)

Carol:
I thought her voice was a little too high-pitched and the clothes they
put on her were absurd, as were the missing shoes. (No fault of
Evanna's, of course.) I liked the added scene where she was feeding
the baby Thestral, which seemed in character, somehow. E, I suppose.
We'll see how she comes through in HBP, where I hope they stick to the
storyline better.

> 34. Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks : P (where is Tonk's spiky hair?)

Carol:
I didn't like the way the noses were generated in the CGI scene, and
you're right that she should have looked more--what? New Age? Goth?
Whatever you call the RW girls with pink-dyed spiked hair. She's
pretty, but she didn't have enough of a role for me to judge the
casting. A?

> 35. Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange : E (just perfect)

Carol:
I never pictured Bellatrix as a vemp with heavy make-up. Helena seems
to have developed a single witch or witchlike persona, which she uses
in every film that calls for it. She certainly has the unhinged aspect
of Bellatrix down pat, however. It will be interesting to see her in
the "Spinner's End" scene with Alan Rickman in HBP. A.

Carol, realizing that she let costuming and scripting affect her
assessments rather than judging by casting alone