[the_old_crowd] My review (also too long)

[Monika Huebner]

Just adding a few comments after my second viewing...

Catherine Coleman <catherine at ...> wrote:

>At the risk of being repetitive, here's my own handful of knuts....
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>Pace - too fast, and I could have done with another half an hour.

I could have done with another half hour, too, but for me the pace was
excellent. I realize that I find the pace too slow in the other two
movies after having watched them a couple of times. And there are
scenes I find actually boring in the first two (like the extensive
Quidditch matches and - heresy - Harry fighting the Basilisk at the
end of CoS).

> My aunt told me 
>this morning that she felt as though it didn't work as a film in its own 
>right, but was more of a visual aid to the books (and an inaccurate one 
>at that) - I do see what she means.  I can't imagine how I would 
>understand what was going on if I had seen the film without reading the 
>book.

Interesting, because I had the impression that we saw a "real" movie
for the first time. The other two just jump from scene to scene and
don't stand very well on their own IMHO.

>I thought the patronus scenes were excellent.  I loved the dementors - 
>superbly done. 

Yes, the Dementors were absolutely great. I didn't mind that they were
flying rather than gliding. The Quidditch scene worked much better
because they were actually chasing Harry around. And they were creepy.

>I loved the sense of actually seeing the soul begin to 
>depart from Sirius - and as has been pointed out, it means that Harry in 
>effect saved Sirius' "soul" rather than his "life", which may be of some 
>import at a later date. 

You think so? How could this be foreshadowing since Sirius is dead?
BTW I also loved how that scene was done.

>I also got a strong sense of Harry actually 
>thinking about a  happy future with Sirius when he conjured the 
>patronus, and the fact that he was fighting for that, rather than 
>thinking about happy past memories.  I don't know why that has never 
>occurred to me before, but it makes a lot of sense. 

Well, in the book his only thought at this point is that he is going
to live with Sirius, so the thought of saving his life or rather his
soul should help him conjuring a really strong patronus. It definitely
makes a lot of sense.

>Tom Felton - when he's through with HP adaptations he should definitely 
>stick to fishing.

LOL. Yes, I agree. But I liked his haircut better this time.

>Very disappointed with Lupin.  He didn't come across as the kind, 
>troubled person I have always felt he is. 

Interesting. Though I think he didn't look the part, his acting
actually worked for me. Of course he is kind, but he is also very
tough IMHO. Don't forget he was ready to kill Wormtail, too (also in
the book - while he still seemed to be more rational than Sirius,
there was no mistaking that he would have killed him in cold blood
without even blinking).

>Sirius - Gary Oldman was OK, but I still think Colin Firth would have 
>been better(!)

I beg to differ here. ;-) Please, not Colin Firth. I just can't see
him as Sirius, though I think he is an excellent actor. But for
Sirius, no way. I am perfectly happy with the casting.

> I wanted to see the face-transforming smile, and I'm 
>wondering whether it was omitted because it just wouldn't work with Gary 
>Oldman. (Those are his real teeth, aren't they?)

Ugh, no. At least I have never seen them in that state before.
Personally I think that Gary Oldman has an irresistible smile, and I
was wondering why we didn't get to see it, but then I thought that it
wouldn't have been very esthetic given the state of his teeth in this
movie. BTW Sirius' teeth aren't described as being very esthetic and
clean in the book, IMHO it was a nice touch that they took account of
this detail.

>I thought the music was excellent, for the first time, despite the way 
>it was used in the Shrieking Shack.

Yes, I also loved the music this time. In the first two movies, it
didn't do much for me, I was thinking that John Williams was getting
old. It was too formulaic and not very original. And I didn't mind the
frog chorus in the least.

Monika