Banger
July 13th, 2007, 08:49 AM
Has anyone seen the latest Harry Potter movie?
I saw it a couple of days ago in IMAX (3D!). It was a fun movie, but middling in terms of where it stands among the other HP movies. Imelda Staunton was perfect as Umbridge, and the film's increasingly darker tone worked well. The 3D version I saw was in 3D for about 20 minutes during the climactic Ministry of Magic scene. It was my first 3D moviegoing experience, and while it was neat in some respects (for instance when they're flying to the Ministry), I actually got a bit confused as to what was going on during the chaotic magical shootout. I would recommend those who can see it on IMAX to do so, but those who can't get to an IMAX theater aren't missing out on too much.
As for the criticisms...
The movie's omissions, which are a necessity to keep the films at a reasonable duration, were more glaring in how they deviated from the series's plot. For instance, if you blink you might miss the fact that they're taking classes and studying for the OWLs. Also, Neville's character, which Rowling really developed in the fifth book, got passing treatment but not enough, in my opinion. His connection to Harry was one of the most interesting things in the book to me.
Also, there were a lot of things from the book that were included but their significance might be unclear if you haven't read the books. For instance, I'm not sure what a non-reader would make of Harry's (very brief) invasion upon Snape's memories.
It was also a bit unfortunate that for all of the great actors in the film, there was very little for many of them to do. Daniel Radcliffe has definitely improved from the first movies (in which he was rather poor), but his emotions are limited by the script so that he has some moments of brooding and little else. Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleason, David Thewlis, Robbie Coltrane and Maggie Smith got about 4 minutes of air time each, it seemed. Ron and Hermione didn't have any character development, just there as sidekicks and heavy-breathers (someone get Emma Watson an asthma inhaler!). Gary Oldman didn't seem to have the same energy he had in Prisoner of Azkaban and Sirius Black had in the book, in part due to the script toning down his character, I think. Michael Gambon has definitely taken ownership of the Dumbledore role, such that I couldn't imagine the much more soft-spoken Richard Harris Dumbledore in many of the scenes in this film. Ralph Fiennes was menacing, but only in it for brief flashes and the fight at the end. Helena Bonham Carter was batty and little else - hopefully they'll give her the character development LeStrange deserves in the 6th film. Alan Rickman was great as usual, although his occlumency lessons with Harry were a bit underdeveloped in the film, I thought.
In fact, underdeveloped is probably the operative term for just about everything in this film. It has the makings for a better film, but they removed certain things that seemed really important in the book, and what they kept in should have been expanded upon.
Overall, it's a fun movie and the franchise is still in good shape, but it's a let down from Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire.
I saw it a couple of days ago in IMAX (3D!). It was a fun movie, but middling in terms of where it stands among the other HP movies. Imelda Staunton was perfect as Umbridge, and the film's increasingly darker tone worked well. The 3D version I saw was in 3D for about 20 minutes during the climactic Ministry of Magic scene. It was my first 3D moviegoing experience, and while it was neat in some respects (for instance when they're flying to the Ministry), I actually got a bit confused as to what was going on during the chaotic magical shootout. I would recommend those who can see it on IMAX to do so, but those who can't get to an IMAX theater aren't missing out on too much.
As for the criticisms...
The movie's omissions, which are a necessity to keep the films at a reasonable duration, were more glaring in how they deviated from the series's plot. For instance, if you blink you might miss the fact that they're taking classes and studying for the OWLs. Also, Neville's character, which Rowling really developed in the fifth book, got passing treatment but not enough, in my opinion. His connection to Harry was one of the most interesting things in the book to me.
Also, there were a lot of things from the book that were included but their significance might be unclear if you haven't read the books. For instance, I'm not sure what a non-reader would make of Harry's (very brief) invasion upon Snape's memories.
It was also a bit unfortunate that for all of the great actors in the film, there was very little for many of them to do. Daniel Radcliffe has definitely improved from the first movies (in which he was rather poor), but his emotions are limited by the script so that he has some moments of brooding and little else. Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleason, David Thewlis, Robbie Coltrane and Maggie Smith got about 4 minutes of air time each, it seemed. Ron and Hermione didn't have any character development, just there as sidekicks and heavy-breathers (someone get Emma Watson an asthma inhaler!). Gary Oldman didn't seem to have the same energy he had in Prisoner of Azkaban and Sirius Black had in the book, in part due to the script toning down his character, I think. Michael Gambon has definitely taken ownership of the Dumbledore role, such that I couldn't imagine the much more soft-spoken Richard Harris Dumbledore in many of the scenes in this film. Ralph Fiennes was menacing, but only in it for brief flashes and the fight at the end. Helena Bonham Carter was batty and little else - hopefully they'll give her the character development LeStrange deserves in the 6th film. Alan Rickman was great as usual, although his occlumency lessons with Harry were a bit underdeveloped in the film, I thought.
In fact, underdeveloped is probably the operative term for just about everything in this film. It has the makings for a better film, but they removed certain things that seemed really important in the book, and what they kept in should have been expanded upon.
Overall, it's a fun movie and the franchise is still in good shape, but it's a let down from Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire.