Whenever Bryan and I see movies, we spend time afterward discussing them, talking about their strengths and weaknesses. Last night we debated the newest Harry Potter film. I think I need to see it again to really solidify my opinion of it. I won't say much because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I will tell you this though: when I told my dad that I didn't want to give anything away he said, "We've read the book. Did they change the ending?"Yes, yes they did.
Some major events are still in place, others are not. I'm so conflicted. There were scenes and line deliveries that I loved. ("Sir!") And there were parts that made me squirm. (Could someone please tell Emma Watson to think ON the lines and not between the lines? You could drive a bus through some of those pauses.)
I want to like it. No, I do like it. I want to love it. I want to recommend it to all my friends and tell them that they'll love it. But I'm not sure I can. This is how I felt after the fourth movie. I had to see that one a second time before I decided that I did in fact like it.
Here's my theory: the books that I like the most are the movies that I have the hardest time with. Books four and six are my favorites, books three and five are okay. Movies three and five, however, are tied for the coveted top-spot of favorite Harry Potter film. If I use this measure, I should LOVE the last two movies based on the seventh book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or, as Bryan calls it, Harry Potter Goes Camping.
Has anybody else seen this? What are your thoughts?
5 comments:
We haven't seen it, but we've read two different reviews. One gave the movie an A-, the other an F. At first I had a really hard time with Harry Potter films because I love the book. However, I had to learn to watch the movie for a MOVIE and not the book-movie. I'm nervous, though, about what they changed in the ending. Thanks for the fair warning!
Oh, and seriously, I think Bryan has the right idea for the 1st movie of the 7th book. It sure felt that they were camping for half the book.
I saw it last night, and I really enjoyed it. 3.5 stars from me. Of course, I also haven't read the book since it came out, so I didn't have much to compare it to--just my fuzzy memories. Still, I strongly discourage people from going into a Harry Potter movie with an expectation of 100% fidelity. Even 75% fidelity. The books are way too massive to be able to portray everything or even most everything. The director's job is to capture what he or she felt the book was "about", then transfer that to the screen. I felt like that happened in this movie. Yes, they made changes. But as far as Harry Potter films go, this was one of the best for me. The characters came across as characters, the threats were real, the acting was very well done, and the movie fit together well. Actually, my only quibbles with it were when the book intruded too much on the movie. (SPOILER! For example, when Snape says "I am the Half Blood Prince--I was sort of like "Who cares?" That just wasn't that big of a part of the story that the film was telling, but I felt like they felt like they had to keep it in, mainly because that's what the book was titled.)
Anyway--just my two cents.
I totally agree that the book and the movie can't be the same. I think it's the job of the screenwriter to judiciously decide which parts of the book will translate well to the screen. It's the job of the director and the actors to use the rest of the book to inform the story that the screenwriter has chosen to tell.
(SPOILER) I really liked most of HP6. I think Lavender Brown was hilarious and the Felix Felicius scene made me think that Daniel Radcliffe can actually act. The part that got me was the lack of battle back at Hogwart's during Harry and Dumbledore's horcrux mission. I don't think the film crescendoed enough without it. The death of Dumbledore was a major event and the battle/chase that followed it brought the book to a wonderful emotional climax. The movie was sad, but it didn't evoke any strong feelings within me.
So there you go, a better explanation of my wishy-washy review.
I just saw this yesterday, and I liked it as much as the others. Which means, I don't love them and I may not ever see them again unless I decide to do some sort of movie marathon just before the last one comes out; but they're okay, I liked them fine. For me, the best part about going to and see the HP movies, is comparing how them with the books; and it's fun to see how much of the movie you'd already imagined and how much was so very different. Anyways...there's my opinion on HP movies.
I wanted to leave in the first 20 minutes. It was excruciatingly boring throughout, with brief moments of interest. I know it wasn't filmed in black and white, but every scene was so drab, it might as well have been.
Post a Comment