Dumbledore's physical with Harry and other thoughts on the Movie

[juli17 at aol.com]

Kemper wrote:
Before I start, I want it known that I enjoyed this  movie the best.  I give 
it a B+, but I'm also grading on a curve.   !!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

The suck parts:
Dumbledore grabbing Harry.  This was a  major disconnect from my view of the 
character not because of the grab, but  because of the anger directed at 
Harry.  Perhaps, I'm reading the scene  wrong.  Maybe Gamdon was suppose to be 
portraying fear for Harry rather  than anger at Harry. Then I can kind of see 
Dumbledore grab Harry... kind  of.
 
Julie:
That scene startled me a bit, especially at the beginning, but I do  think by
the end it was clear Dumbledore was expressing fear for Harry. And  he had
to make sure Harry hadn't submitted his name, just as Sirius did  (telling
Harry from the fire "I had to ask.")

K:    What the hell happend to Crouch Jr!?  Though It was interesting, 
knowing  what we know, that Snape was the one left alone to Guard Crouch Jr. instead 
of  MacGonagall.
 
Julie: I found that fact interesting too! I'm not sure it had any  
significance, but
the way Snape was pressing his wand into Crouch Jr's cheek with that  intense
look in his eyes...

K: The Quidditch World  Cup.  We don't see it.  We see the pre-game show, 
barely.  But  the stadium was impressive.  Newell's brevity is understandable 
here  because the World Cup is not important to the plot.  It's the post-game  
activities that are the reason we, the audience, are there.
 
Julie: I didn't mind not seeing the World Cup. What we saw, the  stadium and 
the
mix of wizards from all over the world attending, was more interesting  to me 
than
seeing another Quidditch match (been there, done that).
 
K: I'm a big strong-female-character fan.  Fluer sucks and is  weak.  I was 
hoping for the screenwriter to take liberties with the  character by making 
Fluer fierce.  But, in the end, that's a minor  complaint.
 
Julie: A minor complaint for me too. Especially in the maze, Fleur ran  
around like
she was terrified. Hermoine or Ginny wouldn't have done  that!

(snip)

K: Snape  suggests to keep Harry in the tournement!?  The Snape-ophobes will 
be  elated.  Boo...
 
Julie: Oh, I don't know. It can easily be construed as Snape  hoping that 
annoying
Potter brat would succeed in getting himself killed  ;-)

(snip)
   
K: What the eff is up with talking about the Foe/Faux  Mirror and then not 
using it later!?!  I was so looking forward to the seen  from the book where 
Harry sees Dumbledore, MacGonagall and Snape in that mirror  right before the 
three blast in the door to save Harry.  Boo... Newell...  Boo...
 
Julie: I was expecting the same thing. A minor disappointment,  though it 
would
have been a mere few seconds to show them in the mirror. Darn. 
 
My other disappointment was when Moody traumatized Neville with the 
Crutacious curse on the spider, then later takes him off for a cup of  tea
after Harry and Hermoine ask in the hall if he's alright. One line would 
have cleared up why Neville was so shaken, for those who haven't read
the books and don't know his parents were Crucioed into  insanity.

(snip)
 
K: Ralph Fiennes.  Good Voldemort

Julie: I agree. He was appropriately menacing with just the right edge  of 
insanity. 

K: Dan Radcliffe.  I've hated him as Harry.  Sure, he had the  look but he 
lacked the soul.  Also, his acting was great for school pagents  at best.  Wow!  
Has he improved.  I got teary eyed when he  brought Ced back.  
 
Julie: I though he was excellent in the scene with Cedric's body. Dan 
does have a tendency to fall into periodic blank expressions. But I  actually 
think what makes Dan work so well as Harry isn't his acting  (which isn't at
the level of, say, Rupert's), but his heart. (I've read a couple of  reviews 
that
mention this, so this isn't my idea, but I totally agree  with it). Dan has 
heart
the way Harry has heart. They're the same in that way, and that's why  it's
easy to buy Dan as Harry. Watching Dan struggle with his task  (acting) is
watching Harry struggle with his task (being the boy who lived). So Dan 
in essence melds into Harry, which is what matters. We have to buy him 
as the character, which I do, wholeheartedly  ;-)

K: Emma Watson.  Also, never quite a fan of  hers.  However, that too has 
changed.  Though some of the lines she  gets seemed out of character and more for 
the audience then the characters on  screen, I recognize that this is not her 
fault.
 
Julie: Oddly, she seemed a bit overwrought at times in this  movie. I mention
Dan having Harry's heart, and sometimes I don't feel Emma quite  overcomes
her "acting" to inhabit Hermoine's character. But she does have  her moments.

K: Rupert Grint.  I've always like  him as Ron and felt him a better actor 
than Dan.  His performance was the  best of the three though they were all 
great.  I can't wait to see his new  film next year.

Julie: Rupert rocks. Rupert *is* Ron. Enough said!

K: Dragons.  Well done, though I would like to have seen what  Krums looked 
like (we only see a wing) and what the Fireball looked like instead  of having 
to hear Crouch Sr 'Oooooh...' it, but it was funny.  However, I  did wonder... 
did they run out of money?
 
Julie: I liked the fact that we "stayed" with Harry while the  others were out
fighting their dragons. It let us feel what Harry  was feeling, the 
claustrophobic
sense of the room, the growing tension of waiting for his turn,  fearing it 
but 
wanting to get it over with...well, that's what I got from the brief  few 
moments
anyway. Could have been a budget issue, but it worked for  me. 

K: Neville.  Yea!!!  More  Neville.  Who cares if he's at the library at 
3am?!  More Neville with  better lines.  More Neville with better lines!  More 
NEVILLE with  better LINES!!!

Julie: Agreed! I'll expect as much in OotP :-)
 
And as for the other characters, Gambon as Dumbledore wasn't as bad as  I'd
feared (having seen the shaking Harry scene in a Making of GoF special)  and
he's even growing on me. McGonagall got some good lines. Mad-Eye was
very well played by Brendan Neeson, as was Rita Skeeter by Miranda 
Richardson. And Filch coming through the Great Hall was hilarious!
 
As for Snape, there much of him, and I missed the scene where he and 
Mad-Eye go at each other (no sense of animosity between them in the
movie as there was in the book). But I'm glad there was that scene  between
him and Harry over the gillyweed, as Snape's snarkiness toward Harry  is
a critical component of the books. I also found it amusing that he  cuffed
Harry and Ron on the heads with his book, then rolled up his sleeves  and
shoved their heads back into their books, for two reasons. One is  that
he seemed like a typically nonpartisan teacher knocking them on the
heads for continually talking (as they *didn't* stop even knowing he  was
watching them) than targeting them in his usual partisan way. And the
other is, in the books Snape never physically touches any student  (that
we observe), no matter how annoyed he is. So it comes across doubly
odd for him to do so here, and in such a seemingly neutral manner. 
 
BTW, were we to assume Neville stole the gillyweed out of Snape's 
potions closet (as Dobby did in the book)? It seemed that way, and  I'm
still trying to get a handle on Neville having the gumption to do  this!
 
In closing, finally, I'd give the movie an A-. The minus is for the  couple
of minor missing moments mentioned above (foe mirror, Neville's  parents)
that served as important clarification points so should have been  there. 
 
Julie 







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