[the_old_crowd] POA Movie Review

[pennylin]

Hi --

I whole-heartedly agree with the BRILLIANT comments from Randy and Monika!  Hurray!  Newsweek was right: "the Harry Potter books finally have the wondrous movie they deserve!"  I have lots to say so it's taken awhile to find the time to compose this.  I'll no doubt think of lots of other things I meant to say later .......

OVERALL ADAPTATION ----- Loved it!  I thought the changes were really very effective, though I wish the Shrieking Shack scene could have been longer.  I think Amanda made some fair points about things that were not perhaps adequately explained for the average Joe Q Movie-goer.  But, overall, I really liked the pacing and the cinematography and just everything about this film.  I think it *easily* surpassed the other 2 movies!  I could see this one a dozen times in the theater ..... and probably will.

Curious that you think Kloves sacrified plot development for humor, Amanda.  I thought most all the humor and jokes were more or less as in the book, though Catlady and I appreciated the same added humorous lines.  My overall impression was not, however, that this was primarily comic ....... though it was very funny in places, yes.  The one added overall scene (that comes to mind anyway) was the boys in the dorm room, and I have to say that I just adored that scene.  It really felt good to see Harry just having fun and being one of the guys.  Rowling sometimes leaves the impression that all Harry does is eat, play Quidditch, study occasionally, serve detention, get into trouble and have adventures or worry ...... it's good to see him being a normal 13 yr old boy.

I think having Cuaron at the helm has made *all* the difference in the world!  I love the atmospherics of how he shot this film; I agree with the reviewers who indicated it gives the whole film a more sinister, less Disney-like feel.  The weather, the focus on the outdoors..... it was just great in my book.  I thought this was a very emotional film, which, of course, is in keeping with canon.  

I loved the new hair-cuts and the relaxed clothing style.  Even the scenes with the academic formal attire shows the kids with a more relaxed approach (robes open, ties askew, shirt-sleeves rolled up).  They all look much more grown-up too!  The first shots of the kids in the contemporary clothing threw me last year ..... but it must have grown on me, because I thought it worked well.  

THE TRIO ------

Dan Radcliffe ----- Amazing!  I think his performance just gets better and better.  Yes, even the crying scene, Amanda.  :--)  But then, maybe I just liked the interaction between Harry and Hermione in that one.  <g>  I think Dan is the perfect Harry, and I hope it all works out so that he can continue in this role through to the end.  

Rupert Grint ---- he's been shortchanged.  He's got more range than the comic relief bits that they keep giving him.  I'm by no means a Ron fan (understatement), but even I think he's getting short-changed in terms of characterization.  It's amazing to contrast the differences between filmic!Ron and canon!Ron.  You get glimpses of canon!Ron now and again, which is why I think Grint has the range to do Ron correctly (the bit where he says he'll apologize to Crookshanks ..... *that* is what I think of when I think canon!Ron).  BUT, see my Lexicon essay on the evolving partnership of H/H as a formidable duo, whilst Ron gets pushed further and further into the background, a trend I see as beginning right here in PoA.  But, honestly, the Harry and Hermione Show we see in this movie is more in keeping with OoP canon than PoA canon .......*not* that I minded watching it here already.  <vbg>

Emma Watson --- definitely improved tons since the first movie (though I thought she did a fine job there too).  Loved her!  I love PoAFilm/Kick-Ass!Hermione.  She's just fabulous in my book.  But then, you all knew that already.  

OTHERS --

Thewlis & Oldman ---- Oldman in particular was amazing!  I was leery of the casting of both these characters, because neither *looks* the part (which is a sentiment many of us seem to share!).  But, goodness ..... Oldman was just terrific.  I was so moved by that scene where he's bonding with Harry.  I had hoped that Dumbledore would do the "do you think the dead we loved ever truly leave us" bit, but I think Sirius pulled it off very well.  Thewlis ..... while he doesn't look the part at all, I thought his character and emotional persona all worked very well to create canon!Lupin quite nicely.  I connected with him, even though he didn't fit the visual.  

Gambon ----- he was just fine ....... I quite like the slightly-daffy take on Dumbledore actually.  

Emma Thompson -------- terrific, though I had hoped we'd have more of her.  One of the scenes I missed the most was the Christmas dinner feast ("Tripe, Sybill?" is Bryce's favorite line of the whole series in fact).

Rickman and McGonagall are unfortunately under-utilized, but great in the parts they have.

Draco ---- he's rather a pitiable little bully in this film, which I wonder .... designed to downplay the fact that so many fans fancy young Felton and mix him up with Draco (as JKR intimated recently)?  

Switching gears from my own review ----- Some of you may have read/heard this interview quote from Rowling re: the PoA Movie:

""I really got goose bumps when I saw a couple of those things, and I 
thought, people are going to look back on the film and think that 
those were put in deliberately as clues," Rowling says in an 
interview released by Warner Bros., which is distributing the movie."

So, I have my thoughts about what one of the "couple of things" might be at least:    

The executioner's axe silhouetted against the skyline.  I've been somewhat converted to no doubt what is a very minority theory that Harry will not only die in Book 7 but will be beheaded.  Mind you, I'll be thrilled if that *doesn't* happen ..... it doesn't make me at all happy to think about him dying, let alone in such a gruesome manner.  But Athena (and fellow H/H shipper) has worked out a tremendously credible theory in this regard, and when I saw that part in the movie yesterday, I thought: "Oh no.  This is it.  This would definitely be the kind of thing that would give JKR goosebumps and be truly foreshadowing if it came to pass."  I hope I'm wrong, but that's what I think.  I've been working on a project for the Lexicon which has caused me to read all of JKR's interviews and chats in rather rapid succession, and while she always acts like she's "just joking," when taken together, pretty much 80% of her interviews have some mention of Harry maybe dying.  When you put that together with the myriad of beheading references in *every single* one of the novels, it starts to look awfully grim.  If you take into account also the fact that Rowling has said that "A Tale of Two Cities" is one of the two novels that always make her cry .... well, heh.  Yeah, grim indeed.  Does Harry have a Sydney Carton to take his place?  

Less "goose-bump inducing" things might be:

-- Shipping-related: the Harry and Hermione team was in full swing for the latter 2/3 of the movie after all.  <g>  The R/H hand-grab from the previews was, IMHO, much ado about nothing (she grabbed his hand because she was afraid for Harry's safety and then quickly released it, and he looks uncomfortable and she looks disgusted ..... gee, what beautiful "romantic tension").  But, it gave the media something to talk about.  'Course if they'd really been watching and thinking, they'd see what many movie-goers no doubt did: Harry and Hermione's deepening emotional attachment to one another: holding hands, clutching each other, jumping in front of the other protectively, locked together by a time-turner (loved the bit where she slaps his hand), having a nice conversation by the lake, riding a hippogriff.  Ah, yes.  The imagery *was* nice.  :--D  [And, oh yeah, it would seem from the shots of the premier and cast party that Dan and Emma are quite taken with one another.]

Anyway, there probably are other foreshadowy-type possible things in this movie, and I probably haven't seen it enough times yet to come up with anything else though.  Anyone else have any thoughts?

Penny

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