Welcome to the fourth day of my eight-day long Harry Potter marathon. This is purely because I have not seen any of the Harry Potter's and I promised a whole lot of people that I'd watch 'em all when the last DVD came out. That was just about a month ago, so I have to do it now. I will be blogging about my journey through Hogwarts...and such.
Due to immense tiredness from yesterday's festivities (more on that on Tuesday), I left watching Order of the Phoenix until early this morning. It was a good start to the day, especially as this movie brings David Yates on board to direct, which brings the seriousness I wanted from the series. From an outsider's perspective:
-It's weird how the movies keep throwing in characters, but not for long. Like, I forgot that Lupin and Sirius existed for a while. But then they came along. Sirius seems so underused, though.
-Otherwise, this is a really cool film. The best I've seen so far (even better than Half-Blood Prince, which I watched this afternoon). It's so cool watching the rebellion come together and the introduction of the Death Eaters.
-I was wondering when Luna Lovegood was going to come in. She is cool...but I expected her to be more loony. Then again, Evanna Lynch does the spaced out thing really well.
-Where is Dobby at? I miss him :(
-Whenever they go back to Hogwarts to have food, they always have nice looking pudding. It makes me so hungry.
-It was interesting to see why Snape is like he is. It was a bit sad, really. I actually think that Snape is one of the best characters in the series, and Alan Rickman definitely does deliver the best performance out of anyone. I just wish that there was more of him.
-Dolores Umbridge was extremely annoying. How dare she just come to Hogwarts and think that she owns the place. It was so sad when she tried to fire Sybill Trelawney, but then McGonagall saved her. Mirenva McGonagall, FTW!
-Mind you, Umbridge's office was pretty cool. I liked how there were a whole lot of cats in her plate display. Then again, I am a cat person.
-But Umbridge's methods of discipline are a bit far. If a teacher ever tried to carve a message into my hand I'd probably punch them or something.
-I really liked the direction of this. There was a lot more urgency, a lot more conviction, and everything is a lot darker. Plus, the editing is far better. The other films seemed to focus on just showing what is happening on screen, but this one decided to make it more exciting. Props to David Yates and his team, they really capture the darkness and maturity that I wanted to see from the series. I can't wait to see how his style progresses in the final films.
-I so didn't know that Hagrid has a giant half-brother. He just keeps getting awesomer!
-The relationship that Harry had with Cho was a bit weird. Cute, but weird.
-The final act is pretty intense. There isn't much fluffing about in this one. And we don't have the seriousness doused in 10 tonnes of family-friendly sugar.
-I have heard that this is the longest book, and yet this is one of the shortest movies. So I imagine that there is a lot missing. Still, the movie moves quite fast, which I liked.
-Helena Bonham Carter = love.
-The other films, to me, just felt a little like spin-offs to keep Harry Potter alive for as long as they could. This one stood up on it's own two feet. Something I've been waiting for.
So yeah, this one is my favourite of the series so far. I'm so glad things started to get darker. The darker, the better.
What I got:
I really loved this one - I know some people who hated it which I always thought was strange. You just wait until McGonagall's badassery comes out in full force.
ReplyDeletePsst - the first time I came across Alan Rickman was when I was watching Philosophers Stone for the first time. Snape = fave character and Rickman now = fave actor.
This one is my favourite Potter film. I absolutely despised the book. Harry was super annoying in it, but they made quite a brilliant film out of it. I love the DA, I love Luna, I love Fred and George, I love love the ending. The whole Ministry sequence is my favourite, and that Voldie vs Dumbledore fight is the best. This was also the first HP film in which I cried (I cry in all of them now... my childhood :'( ) at the end, when Harry fights of Voldemort from within him. It was so intense.
ReplyDeleteI dunno why that came as Anon- it's by me, Nikhat :P
ReplyDeleteIf you are starting to like Snape, you are in for a treat with the character in a few days ;)
ReplyDeleteThe actress playing Dolores was pretty awesome. It's a tribute to her that the character is so loathsome!
Interesting that you find this to be the best of the first 6 movies. That's pretty uncommon I think ;)
You're right--it is the longest book, and it is one of the shortest movie (I can't recall if DHPt2 is shorter). But that isn't a bad thing. As Nikhat said, it really isn't a great book. Harry is VERY annoying in it. I'd say at least 200+ pages are dedicated to Quidditch. And it feels very unorganized and random. Even JK Rowling has said that if she could ever go back and do further edits on a book, it would be this one.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, there are about 4 things in the book that were cut out of the movie that I miss.
1) The trip to St. Mungo's hospital. This is probably one of the best scenes in the series, where Harry runs into Neville and his parents, and it's such a sweet and heartbreaking scene. They kind of do it anyway with the 'picture' moment, but it's not the same. Also... you would get a Lockhart cameo.
2) The full prophecy. The movie cuts out the bulk of the prophecy, which seems strange, as that's the one thing the movie is actually about. And in actuality, Neville was almost 'the chosen one' himself, as the prophecy also could have been about him.
3) The full "Snape's Worst Memory" sequence. You see Snape being bullied, but you don't get the actual moment that is his worst memory, which I can't say or it might spoil stuff later.
4) The extended Ministry sequence. I know they had to shorten this for time--I guess--but in the book, the Ministry battle is almost 150-200 pages long. The Department of Mysteries is a freaky place, and they go through a huge chunk of it as they battle.
Overall though, I'd say they turned it into a strong film. And I disagree with Castor. I know plenty of people who say this is the best of the first 6. Granted, a lot of people also say Prisoner of Azkaban, but those people are silly :P .
But if you want further character development and less of the "characters coming in and out," read the books. As mentioned already, there are tons of characters that are explored much more deeply in the book (Tonks, for instance, gets an extreme disservice in the films). And Sirius should have been all throughout Goblet of Fire, but was mostly cut. As for Dobby... yeah, he's in all of the books except the first and third. The movies, though? Not so much...
Of all of the characters in the Harry Potter book. There was no character I loathed more than Dolores Umbridge. Yet she was the character everyone loved to hate and I thought Imelda Staunton nailed that character perfectly. She made me hate her even more. That's what a great performance does. She is one of the great definitions in being the ultimate bitch.
ReplyDeleteI stopped watching after the fourth film, but my girlfriend and my sister are huge fans of the series so of course they've seen all of them. My girlfriend actually didn't like this one or Half Blood Prince; she reckons they're the worst two in the series.
ReplyDeleteRuth - Yeah, it has a pretty low rating on IMDb which I don't understand. Still, I liked it a lot.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Rickman is awesome! I think he gives the best performance in the series out of everyone.
Nikhat/Anonymous - I'll have to read the book to see what it is like!
That was pretty intense!
Castor - Well, I've seen Half-Blood Prince and he killed Dumbledore, so I'm not so sure...
Yes, Imelda Staunton was extremely awesome in the role!
I know a few people who thought this was the best out of the first six, but there's not that many :P
Nick - Whoa, 200 pages dedicated to Quidditch? That sounds...boring. Still, I will have to give the books a go.
They missed a Lockhart cameo? But I loved Lockhart! Damn!
I don't understand how people think that Prisoner of Azkaban is their favourite. It was good, but not that good.
Yes, I will read all of the books. Especially if there is more Dobby.
Steven - She definitely is! I hated her!
Tyler - That's interesting, as I thought those were the films where things picked up!
Well... the book is like... 870 pages or something like that. This is how the book is basically broken down...
ReplyDeleteFirst 200 - Dementor Attack/Harry pissed at the world/Meeting the Advance Guard/Grimmauld Place (including a whole chapter on cleaning it)/Meeting The Order/Harry pissed at the world/The Trial/More Grimmauld Place.
Middle 470 - Everything in the movie at Hogwarts + More Umbridge/More shenanigans/Harry pissed at the world/LOTS of Quidditch/More Cho/St. Mungos/More Occlumency lessons/Harry pissed at the world/Much more Grawp stuff (Done MUCH better in the movie)/O.W.L.s testing.
Last 200 - Getting rid of Umbridge/Going to the Ministry/Battles/Ending (with more explanation of the prophecy) and Harry destroying Dumbledore's office, because he's pissed at the world.
You know... the biggest character you're missing from the books that isn't in ANY of the movies? Peeves the Poltergeist. And his best moment in all the books happens in this one, right when the twins make their big exit.
I really like how they brought in Nicholas Hopper to do the music - some of the pieces here are realy lovely, espeically the one where Voldemort possesses Harry, but the best piece is in H-BP. I missed Dobby too, so much when I was watching the series, it's a shame they only used him twice!
ReplyDelete