Fine, then. Pottermovie.

[anghara]

Went this afternoon, in the company of mareklamo - I bought tickets in advance and we got there a full 35-40 minutes early, well, wouldn't YOU? It's the Pottermovie, and it grossed 193 BILLION dollars so far, and there would be lines and lines and lines, wouldn't there..."

Nope. No lines. When we got there the theatre we were to see the show in - and it was showing in three separate theatres - was empty, and I mean EMPTY, of anyone other than ourselves. By the time the show started the place was half full. Hmmmm.

But anyway.



rdeck's comment was succcint, as usual - "Too many special effects, too little story.".

This being one of the longest books, it was astonishing that they managed to stuff, what was it, more than 700 pages into two hours of movie - and that was an achievement. There were some luminous moments (I particularly loved it when the cat ate the eavesdropping ear. Giggle.) But on the whole - whether it was because they left too much out or because I am just not enough of a Potterphile to know the details that everyone else on the planet already knows - I felt vaguely adrift. The movie is called "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" - but we got pretty short shrift on the Order, really, and were left to fill out the rest by inference. And most important, for me, was that the storyline seemed to hinge on something of an idiot plot. ALl sane people could see that the minister of magic was kind of losing it (that huuuuuuge banner picture of himself, anyone?... And nobody cares?). The transparent plot to frame, destroy or neutralise Harry. The idea that the kids band together to learn defense from the dark arts by themselves is great, fine, but... "Dumledore's army"? After DUmbledore has basically blown off Harry to the extent that he is shown to have done so - Harry's wounded feelings let him call this group "Dumbledore's army"? And even if he did - what's the point of everyone signing that damning piece of paper, with Dumbledore's Army prominent on the top, no less? Just so that the minister could "corner" Dumbledore with it? As long as we're on Dumbledore, he thought that distancing himself from Harry at this crucial juncture would help him be less tempted by the Dark Lord (blink, how does that work, again? At a crucial time in the life of a boy who had hitherto been a treasured protege, he thinks distancing himself will HELP?) And his reason - he doesn't tell Harry anything that could help him because *he didn't want to cause him any more pain*? Just what did he think would happen?)

And oh, by the way, seeing Harry's Daddy torturing young Snape...? Much becomes clear...
Yes, Harry is hormonal and angsty. He didn't need to be misled and lied to by the very people he trusted.

Oh, and one more thing, and it's something my OWN YA editor is always pulling me up on.

This is a young adult novel - or at least HP started out that way. But even if it wasn't one, it's the PROTAGONIST who should solve his or her own problems, and in this instance, it's the kids. Having the best of the best of the youngsters basically mousetrapped by the deatheaters - only to have the "Order of the Phoenix" adults pop in conveniently with Sirius saying menacingly to Malfoy, "Get away from my godson"... well, it's the cavalry. It's the ADULT cavalry. It felt like... cheating.

And that last line? "We have something the Dark Lord doesn't... something worth fighting for."

Sorry. So does he. What he feels to be worth fighting for may not have value for or even be comprehensible to Harry and Co., but it's worth something to Voldemort or else he would not be there.

One sweet moment in the show - when the minister shows up, at the end, and says, sounding astonished, "he IS back!" - a male voice somewhere in the back of the theatre said into the silence, "Well, duh!" Kind of summed it up... [grin]



Verdict: "Azkaban" remains my favourite movie. This one... entertaining, but I'll give it a C.

Comments

[abygael.livejournal.com]

Given how much they left out (and it was a lot - enough to change some of the ideas/themes in the book) they probably should have also dropped that piece of paper. If you don't mind the spoiler, I can explain what happens in the book version at that bit (which, believe me, makes a whole lot more sense).

The cavalry was also less cavalry-ish in the book.

As for Dumbledore distancing himself from Harry it was because he was afraid that Voldemort would possess Harry and use him to get at Dumbledore. The reasoning being along the lines of "If Harry isn't near me, there's less chance Voldemort will hurt him to get to me." That was quite badly relayed in the movie, though.

When I saw it, I spent most of it silently screaming "No, that's not what's meant to happen!"

[anghara.livejournal.com]

Please do. I haven't read the book, as I said, and at this point I probably won't - so if there's something that I SHOULD know which would give me a better idea of what happens, please do tell. If you don't want to spoilerfy in public here, as it were, feel free to email me with it (anghara at vaxer dot net)

Thanks.

[abygael.livejournal.com]

Well, regarding Dumbledore's Army:

In the book, Hermione curses that piece of paper and makes everyone sign it so that if any of them blab, they'll get what's coming to them (and no, she doesn't quite tell all of them that; only Harry and Ron). In the book, it also wasn't Cho that blabbed, it was Cho's friend and she ended up with "SNEAK" written across her face in pimples - permanently.

The reason they call it Dumbledore's Army is because near the start, when Harry finds out that the Daily Prophet has been making a joke of him and Dumbledore (and no, in the book, it wasn't on the front page, it was just references alluding to Harry being a crackpot. "A tale worthy of Harry Potter" that sort of thing), he remarks "What are they scared Dumbledore's training an army at Hogwarts?" and it turns out that's exactly what they're scared of. So later, the kids decide to validate the Ministry's fears by naming themselves Dumbledore's Army.

I hope that's enlightening. :-)

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Also, you complained about Dumbledore's bad strategy in distancing himself from Harry; in the book, Dumbledore's final conversation with Harry is much longer and more acrimonious. Harry yells and trashes Dumbledore's office (Book 5 is Harry's book to be hormonal, angsty, and obnoxious, which was considerably tonesd down in the movie). Dumbledore acknowledges that H. has a right to be furious, and basically says, Ï made the wrong decision". I am old and beginning to lose it."

OK, that's not *quite* what he says, but nearly; the actual words are more like (from memory) it's more like "Youth cannot possibly know how old age feels and thinks, but old age is at fault when it forgets the feelings of youth. I made an old man's mistake.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen the movie yet, will go soon, (not today, it's raining small amphibians, cats and dogs would long have sought shelter), but book five is my least favorite book. I felt it could have profited from being rigorously edited. Too many repetitions of older motives, and while I, like half the nation, will get book seven early tomorrow morning (queue? Don't be ridiculous!) I don't think it will fulfill the promise book three made.

I still read them, but after five I no longer read them eagerly.