But really, what else is new? I knew it would be quite lackluster going in simply because it was only a little over two hours and the book itself is around 700 pages. I've read several reviews on this movie that are not favorable, but the reviewer never seems to have read the book. This is a review from the perspective of someone who has read all the books and loves them.
This is Harry's emo year, something I think he's allowed due to the fact that his childhood was a mess and he witnessed poor Cedric die at the end of Goblet of Fire when he found out for certain that Voldemort was back. Really though, that doesn't make the emo-ness any less funny. I just find it fairly realistic. Anyway, the fifth book was basically about foreshadow and the slow build up of dark power and it was quite dark and eerie. The movie, I think, did manage to capture this. What it did not capture was the nuances of the rest of the book. I mean, Harry Potter is in school. Harry Potter is on the quidditch team. The book is dark, but it's also quite funny. I think that overall Harry Potter is a good deal harder to do than other fantasy epics like Lord of the Rings because the characters are fully developed people that you really care about. The characters in Lord of the Rings were actually developed more in the movies; in the books they were nothing more than archetypes.
So here is my slew of complaints:
1) First off, their Miss Figg was awful. Just really awful! She's supposed to be frantic and angry but instead she's soft spoken and calm. I mean, for goodness sake! She's a squib and the boy she's supposed to be watching after's just been attacked by dementors! That was just awful.
2) Hermione and Ron weren't made Prefects. Are they just writing that out entirely from now on?
3) Quidditch was never even mentioned. Are they done with quidditch entirely as well? Because that had a lot to do with Ron's character in the later books. I mean, where is Ron's character without "Weasley is our King"?
4) Ron had all of four lines.
5) Having Harry and Cho make out in front of the picture of Cedric was unnecessarily gross.
6) What the hell was up with having Cho spill the beans instead of Marietta? And I know it would be horrid to mar Cho's pretty face, but they could have at least kept the bit about Hermione charming the contract everyone in Dumbledore's Army signed to spell out "SNEAK" in pimples if they betrayed the group. That was brill, and I loved Hermione all the more for it. Also, I realize this was a quick way to break Harry and Cho up without having go into all the issues involved with going out with the boy who watched your last boyfriend being killed by a dark lord who many don't even believe has returned, but still. Once it was let out that she only gave out because of veritaserum it kind of ruins it.
7) What was with all the development of Kreacher only to not have him play the pivotal role in the death of Sirius? Also, I could have done with the Sirius's mother's portrait occasionally shouting "Mud-Blood!" and "Blood Traitor!" That would not have been that time consuming.
8) It was nice meeting you for five seconds, Tonks!
9) I really didn't give a shite when Sirius died. Also, why did he die before he fell through the veil? That's not what happened in the book.
10) I think Malfoy spoke once. They're going to have fun with that in the next one when he has a huge part.
11) Why was Ginny acting kind of jealous? She wasn't jealous, she was dating all sorts of fellows by then.
12) Why did they skip out of the kids actually being able to defend themselves in the Department of Mysteries? And why did everyone travel about in smoke? I don't think they can do that. Sure, they can apparate but that was definitely not apparating. I mean, it looked cool but I was kind of looking forward to seeing Death Eater's heads shrinking and such. It made these young witches and wizards who, in two years time will have to be battling full force with that sort, seem helpless.
13) I don't know about everyone else, but I always pictured the Ministry of Magic as pristine and white. Why was it black? And why was there a creep Stalinist portrait of Fudge floating about?
14) Why was Harry actually possessed by Voldemort? The whole point in the book was that he wasn't possessed by Voldemort. He talked about it with Ginny and she was like, "Well did you kill any chickens? Cause that's what happened to me when I was possessed by Voldemort." And he was like, "No." And then he wasn't possessed by Voldemort.
15) Could they try and bit a bit more subtle with the message next time? I prefer to not be beaten over the head with the moral of the movie.
That being said, they did do some things quite well. Umbridge was the creepiest thing I have ever seen. Seriously. And that's including Ralph Fiennes without a nose. I'm also glad they included the twin's bang of an exit, I was quite worried about that. It's wasn't that well done, but I still did smile because it made me remember how it happened in the book, which was absolutely brill. I really think that this would all work better as a miniseries because then it could be four or five hours no big deal. It's a lot to cram into 2 hours and 10 minutes. Too much to make it good.
Finally, I say what heck to the movie theatre. They keep putting in more and more commercials (not trailers, commercials) before the movie yet instead of reducing ticket prices, which you might think would happen, ticket prices go up. We went to a 10:00 showing of Harry Potter. It didn't start until 10:22. Ridiculous.
7 days until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! *squeals in delight* I really cannot wait!
Listening to: Wilco--Sky Blue Sky
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