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brabbel123This is the first of quite a few Potter related posts that are likely to follow in the near future.
First of all, I'm not fond of book 5. In fact, it's my least favourite book of the whole series, so I didn't expect much of the film. But actually, the movie managed to surprise me on quite a few different levels.
IMO, OotP suffered from the lack of proper editing - it's way too long and doesn't quite manage to tie in with the previous books. Of course, it isn't surprising that the tone of the book is much darker, but, actually, that's not the problem. I always thought that starting with book 3 (perhaps even book 2) Harry Potter ceased to be a mere children's book. I rather doubt it's suitable at all for smaller children - but that's a topic for another entry. I was pleasently surprised that the movie didn't drag on, all the major issues of the book were there, but in a much more condensed way. Well done, indeed. In fact, that's the main point in favour of this movie.
Another is the cast, or at least parts of it. I adored the girl who played Luna - definitely the way I imagined her to act and look like. Fabulous acting job.
I also quite liked the portrayal of Umbridge - not that I like *her*, of course. She's a devil disguised as the maternal teacher who just wants discipline and order... And those pink dresses, the photos of cats in her office... it all fit the bill.
I also enjoyed the dementor scene at the beginning, quite creepy - but in fact, with this scene start my complaints. And I *know* that I can't quite compare book to film. However, it was never revealed quite who sent the dementors to Little Whinging. I guess it wasn't necessary since one could imagine it Voldemort's doing - but it adds to Umbridge's devious nature.
I liked the scene of Trewlaney's sacking, McGonagall's coming to her aid, Dumbledore's offering her a home at Hogwarts even if she's lost her job. On the other hand, the teachers as a whole come across as way too passive in their resistance. It's one thing for them to act that way in the book where Harry alone was singled out - but at least, once the whole DA got punished with the blood quills it would have been necessary to step in. Or could anyone imagine Molly Weasley knowing about such a punishment of 4 of her children and keeping quiet about it?!? In the book Umbridge acted much more subtle through threats, but never in such an overt way - that was a bit over the top, especially considering the fact that still nobody found it within themselves to actively oppose her.
Snape (and Malfoy) is another main point of criticism. First of all, when he slapped Harry and Ron with that journal in GoF it was funny because they both just acted stupidly, but this time it quite bothered me. Why would he do such a thing? He relies on the weapon of his sarcasm to properly subdue his students, not on such obvious gestures (even if they are perhaps meant to be funny). Snape isn't a funny person, he's the main antagonist at school, and portraying him as someone who slaps people around the head whenever he thinks it necessary doesn't quite add to his personality. Especially since the one time he actually gets physical with Harry (throwing him out after Harry invaded his pensieve) marks a significant change in Snape's behaviour. I did like, though, the way he refused Umbridge's order of Veritaserum and in doing so, cleared up Cho's betrayal of the DA.
I was kind of disappointed about the Occlumency lessons. Granted, I liked the way Snape's invading Harry's mind was shown, but end of the lessons left me completely unsatisfied. Why? Well, Harry didn't do anything that would have warranted such an action (like he did in the book), he just managed to get into Snape's mind. And Snape cancels the lessons because Harry for once manages to do the same thing he routinely does to his student? I kind of understood his reaction in the book (even though I thought it immature since Harry *needed* those lessons), but here his anger was completely exaggerated and unreasonable. I wonder, though, what role Snape is going to play in the 6th movie. They'll have to upgrade him from bully and occasional comedic relief to Dumbledore's murderer, after all - not an easy feat I suppose. The same goes for Malfoy who appeared but once or twice in the whole movie...
Well, that leaves us with Harry. I'm astonished to say that I actually liked him and could relate with him - as opposed to the book. His dreams, his feeling of being out of the information loop, his bouts of anger, they are all well explained by the growing influence of Voldemort. I especially loved the scenes with Sirius (the hug in front of the Black family tree - well, *that*'s exactly what I had wished to read in the book!) who didn't decline to being a drunkard, and even though he calls Harry James, it was right at the end, before he died, so it didn't have quite such a negative impact on me as in the book where I found his mistaking his godson for his best friend quite despicable. The main disappointment, again, was Sirius' death. Of course, I didn't expect him to "magically" survive, but at least, in the book there's still kind of a doubt as to his final destiny left. Bellatrix hit him with a (red) curse, the force of which catapulted him beyond the veil. In the movie, the curse was green, and it was quite obvious that Sirius died before he fell beyond the veil. The scene itself came as sudden and unpredictable as in the book - which is good and bad at the same time, I guess. I still would have wished for Sirius' death to have a meaning. Perhaps it still will since we still don't know what the veil actually represents. If it were unimportant for the further story, then the film wouldn't have included to fact that Harry and Luna both hear voices from beyond the veil. So, here's still hope that in some way this wasn't the last we heard (or saw) of Sirius.
Even though the scenes in the Ministry are different from the book, I quite enjoyed that sequence. I could have done without those special effects of the Death Eaters flying around the room but it gave the whole scene a creepy undertone and managed to show that the children aren't yet quite up to par with the adults. If anything, the battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore was a bit of a letdown, but Harry's possession by Voldemort was brilliantly captured. Wow, indeed.
Last but not least, a couple of minor things I find worth mentioning. First of all the DA itself. I thought it quite interesting just how powerful Ginny is portrayed to be. And Cho, I liked the way that romance was handled, but I quite disliked the fact that *she* betrayed the DA to Umbridge, albeit under Veritaserum. It's kind of cruel to ostracize her for something she had no power over - quite different to what happened in the book where she defended her friend to Harry. I still don't like Hermione - but I guess, that's more because I don't like Emma Watson's way of talking. I think she overdoes her acting, she emphasizes words that don't need emphasizing, she exaggerates in gestures and mimics... she just rubs me wrong. I can't help but see book Hermione as film Hermione which leads me to seriously dislike her every appearance - which actually doesn't do that character justice even if she's an insufferable know-it-all on occasion. I'm glad the whole houseelf movement was dropped, I could even have done without Kreacher, especially since he didn't play an important role in the movie (opposed to the book) - but since he was included I guess that reflects on his importance in later books, especially of course book 7.
Well, I guess that's all I have to say about OotP - it certainly was the best sequel I've seen this summer, and with GoF and CoS among the best Potter movies so far.
First of all, I'm not fond of book 5. In fact, it's my least favourite book of the whole series, so I didn't expect much of the film. But actually, the movie managed to surprise me on quite a few different levels.
IMO, OotP suffered from the lack of proper editing - it's way too long and doesn't quite manage to tie in with the previous books. Of course, it isn't surprising that the tone of the book is much darker, but, actually, that's not the problem. I always thought that starting with book 3 (perhaps even book 2) Harry Potter ceased to be a mere children's book. I rather doubt it's suitable at all for smaller children - but that's a topic for another entry. I was pleasently surprised that the movie didn't drag on, all the major issues of the book were there, but in a much more condensed way. Well done, indeed. In fact, that's the main point in favour of this movie.
Another is the cast, or at least parts of it. I adored the girl who played Luna - definitely the way I imagined her to act and look like. Fabulous acting job.
I also quite liked the portrayal of Umbridge - not that I like *her*, of course. She's a devil disguised as the maternal teacher who just wants discipline and order... And those pink dresses, the photos of cats in her office... it all fit the bill.
I also enjoyed the dementor scene at the beginning, quite creepy - but in fact, with this scene start my complaints. And I *know* that I can't quite compare book to film. However, it was never revealed quite who sent the dementors to Little Whinging. I guess it wasn't necessary since one could imagine it Voldemort's doing - but it adds to Umbridge's devious nature.
I liked the scene of Trewlaney's sacking, McGonagall's coming to her aid, Dumbledore's offering her a home at Hogwarts even if she's lost her job. On the other hand, the teachers as a whole come across as way too passive in their resistance. It's one thing for them to act that way in the book where Harry alone was singled out - but at least, once the whole DA got punished with the blood quills it would have been necessary to step in. Or could anyone imagine Molly Weasley knowing about such a punishment of 4 of her children and keeping quiet about it?!? In the book Umbridge acted much more subtle through threats, but never in such an overt way - that was a bit over the top, especially considering the fact that still nobody found it within themselves to actively oppose her.
Snape (and Malfoy) is another main point of criticism. First of all, when he slapped Harry and Ron with that journal in GoF it was funny because they both just acted stupidly, but this time it quite bothered me. Why would he do such a thing? He relies on the weapon of his sarcasm to properly subdue his students, not on such obvious gestures (even if they are perhaps meant to be funny). Snape isn't a funny person, he's the main antagonist at school, and portraying him as someone who slaps people around the head whenever he thinks it necessary doesn't quite add to his personality. Especially since the one time he actually gets physical with Harry (throwing him out after Harry invaded his pensieve) marks a significant change in Snape's behaviour. I did like, though, the way he refused Umbridge's order of Veritaserum and in doing so, cleared up Cho's betrayal of the DA.
I was kind of disappointed about the Occlumency lessons. Granted, I liked the way Snape's invading Harry's mind was shown, but end of the lessons left me completely unsatisfied. Why? Well, Harry didn't do anything that would have warranted such an action (like he did in the book), he just managed to get into Snape's mind. And Snape cancels the lessons because Harry for once manages to do the same thing he routinely does to his student? I kind of understood his reaction in the book (even though I thought it immature since Harry *needed* those lessons), but here his anger was completely exaggerated and unreasonable. I wonder, though, what role Snape is going to play in the 6th movie. They'll have to upgrade him from bully and occasional comedic relief to Dumbledore's murderer, after all - not an easy feat I suppose. The same goes for Malfoy who appeared but once or twice in the whole movie...
Well, that leaves us with Harry. I'm astonished to say that I actually liked him and could relate with him - as opposed to the book. His dreams, his feeling of being out of the information loop, his bouts of anger, they are all well explained by the growing influence of Voldemort. I especially loved the scenes with Sirius (the hug in front of the Black family tree - well, *that*'s exactly what I had wished to read in the book!) who didn't decline to being a drunkard, and even though he calls Harry James, it was right at the end, before he died, so it didn't have quite such a negative impact on me as in the book where I found his mistaking his godson for his best friend quite despicable. The main disappointment, again, was Sirius' death. Of course, I didn't expect him to "magically" survive, but at least, in the book there's still kind of a doubt as to his final destiny left. Bellatrix hit him with a (red) curse, the force of which catapulted him beyond the veil. In the movie, the curse was green, and it was quite obvious that Sirius died before he fell beyond the veil. The scene itself came as sudden and unpredictable as in the book - which is good and bad at the same time, I guess. I still would have wished for Sirius' death to have a meaning. Perhaps it still will since we still don't know what the veil actually represents. If it were unimportant for the further story, then the film wouldn't have included to fact that Harry and Luna both hear voices from beyond the veil. So, here's still hope that in some way this wasn't the last we heard (or saw) of Sirius.
Even though the scenes in the Ministry are different from the book, I quite enjoyed that sequence. I could have done without those special effects of the Death Eaters flying around the room but it gave the whole scene a creepy undertone and managed to show that the children aren't yet quite up to par with the adults. If anything, the battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore was a bit of a letdown, but Harry's possession by Voldemort was brilliantly captured. Wow, indeed.
Last but not least, a couple of minor things I find worth mentioning. First of all the DA itself. I thought it quite interesting just how powerful Ginny is portrayed to be. And Cho, I liked the way that romance was handled, but I quite disliked the fact that *she* betrayed the DA to Umbridge, albeit under Veritaserum. It's kind of cruel to ostracize her for something she had no power over - quite different to what happened in the book where she defended her friend to Harry. I still don't like Hermione - but I guess, that's more because I don't like Emma Watson's way of talking. I think she overdoes her acting, she emphasizes words that don't need emphasizing, she exaggerates in gestures and mimics... she just rubs me wrong. I can't help but see book Hermione as film Hermione which leads me to seriously dislike her every appearance - which actually doesn't do that character justice even if she's an insufferable know-it-all on occasion. I'm glad the whole houseelf movement was dropped, I could even have done without Kreacher, especially since he didn't play an important role in the movie (opposed to the book) - but since he was included I guess that reflects on his importance in later books, especially of course book 7.
Well, I guess that's all I have to say about OotP - it certainly was the best sequel I've seen this summer, and with GoF and CoS among the best Potter movies so far.
