The review...
Before some people nag me to death, here is my very summarized review of PoA.
Well, as you could obviously tell from my last entry, I am among the few people that didn't like PoA. I know that is hard to like a movie when you're a fan of the book. But the reason I didn't like wasn't because it didn't repect the book. It was because the script didn't seem to care about the fact that some people haven't read it. I felt sorry for my friends who hadn't read PoA and missed important things of the whole Harry Potter plot.
The Main Flaw: The fluence of the story. It was as if someone had numerated all the scenes that had to be there and just throw them. There wasn’t a good connection, things happened without explanation. I mean, how Lupin knew about the Map? Why Pettigrew betrayed the Potters? I had to spend one hour explaining my grandfather all those things that the movie didn’t show. Things that would make GoF look even worse because of the lack of background.
Lost Feeling: To me, PoA was a book full of suspense. There was a dreadful feeling during the whole book, the idea that someone was close, that Sirius Black was watching... The awaiting for that encounter where Harry would be able to face that man that supposedly had betrayed his parents. While I imagined Sirius Black wasn’t as evil as it seemed, I must confess the idea of Scabbers being Peter Pettigrew never crossed my head.
Well, in the movie, that whole suspense was lost. They made the whole thing obvious! I don’t know how Mr. Kloves managed to do it, but my 11 year old cousin who hardly ever gets anything knew that Peter Pettigrew was alive the moment he was mentioned. And the whole scene in the Shrieking Shrak was too predictable. I never thought Harry Potter would be that.
Personifications:
--Dumbledore: Okay, I was really sad when I heard about Richard Harris’ death. He was a great actor and he captured Dumbledore’s escense in my opinion. I thought that Michael Gambon was a good replacement before I watched PoA.
But I didn’t like his portrayal of Dumbledore. I don’t think it was his fault. It was the script’s fault (again). I mean, he sounded like a self help book most of the time. And he didn’t have that air of wisdom, yet payfulness around him. Only the playfulness... I don’t know, but there was something missing there. And what’s with the long nails??
-- Flitwick: this is very picky of me... But the change of look of Flitwick was a shock. I know he almost doesn’t appear in this movie. But still, it’s a matter of congruence. I’m too keen on details, sorry! It’s one of the burdens that comes when you’re studying journalism.
-- Lupin: I thought Thewlis did a fine job as Lupin. But I would have done something different with his look. I heard someone describing him with a “drunk-look”. Maybe it was the hair. I think he would have looked better without the moustache.
-- Malfoy: Good thing I’m not a Malfoy fan. I mean, if I were one, I would be very pissed with his portrayal. I know Draco is not the bravest guy in the world, but he’s most definitely not a sissy like in PoA. They changed his malice with whining. His exaggeration with the Hippogriff attack was mostly because he wanted to upset Hagrid!
-- Trelawney: I couldn’t have expected less of Emma Thompson. She’s one of my favorite actress and I loved her portrayal of Sybill. I would have liked it if they had taken more advantage of her character, though.
-- Sirius: Nothing to say about Gary Oldman. He’s awesome. Although, I must say I was a little disturbed by the first part of the Shrieking Shrack scene.He was too crazy, and not in a good way. I know that is because somehow they were trying to make the people watching the movie to think he was a psycho killer. Wonder how mny people fell for that after they showed Peter in the Map.
Things I missed: the Firebolt as Christmas’ present from a “mysterious person” (the suspense gone, again), someone explaining who the Marauders were, the arguments with Hermione about Crookshanks and Scabbers. More Crookshanks! Sir Cadogan, Black attacking the boys room, Snape’s explaining how James saved him and the whole Animagus deal. My granfather kept saying that if Black was an Animagus they should have looked for a black dog too. I had to explain to him that no one knew he was one.
The two scenes that were totally ruined IMO were the whole Marge one and the way how Harry found out Sirius was his dad’s best friend. It was all too quick and hasty. People didn’t get the chance to understand what was going on.
I didn’t like the obvious R ---> Hr. I’m among the people that think that Ron hadn’t even think of Hermione as a girl before GoF. Although, I must say, if I were a R/Hr I’d be really angry... One of their main arguments to defend the Good Ship is how Ron always stands up for Hermione when she’s insulted. And while in the book he jolts up when Snape calls Hermione an “insufferable know it all”, in the movie he agrees with him!
I've never gone with great expectations to any of the HP Movies because I know I won't be able to not compare them to the book, at least in the first instance. But I was expecting a lot more than this.
Now I can still say that there is only one movie I've liked from Cuarón: A Little Princess.
Well, all of this is really my personal (maybe biased?) opinion and I'm willing to give this movie another chance when I see it again tomorrow
Well, at least I know that there are some good movie adaptations of books. LotR, Jurassic Park, Briget Jones' Diary and The Secret Garden are among my favorites.
In other note, I had forgotten what it is to feel that the day has to few hours. I find myself reaching midnight without having done any of the things I wanted. I must go back to writing, at least something...