Harry Potter and the Fluffy-Fluff Fluff...
I understand for certain that time constraints are an issue.
But there are things that need to be considered when making a film in a series of films based on a book series with a highly developed plot and many important characters. One of them is the plot, period. This was the worst film since Goblet of Fire. Hands down.
Things that chapped my ass...
• Voldemort's story wasn't told. We didn't see his parents, family, or even the man himself. Honestly, his beginnings are the most interesting part of him, in my opinion. The fact that he's Slytherin's descendant... all of it.
• Snape's story wasn't told... He is the title character of the book and not only was his story not revealed (which includes crucial pieces of plot that changed the books/Wizarding history), but the Trio didn't even try to figure out who he was. Hermione went to the library, apparently, then they hid the book and Snape muttered that he was the 'Half-Blood Prince' before he trounced off to burn stuff.
• No one mourned Sirius Black - not even Harry. He was mentioned once by Horace and then we were expected to move on.
• The Death Eaters entered Hogwarts unchecked. Greyback was never mentioned to be a werewolf, let alone the one that turned Remus, or the one that was supposed to turn Bill. The Order wasn't at the school, when Tonks (at the very least) could've been there as an Auror/security.
• Albus was sold so short he might as well have not been in the film. Michael Gambon doesn't help matters - he's overweight, has had the exact same wardrobe for four films and doesn't wear Albus' glasses. I'm surprised they even make him put the beard on. He's a fine actor, but he isn't Dumbledore. And Albus deserved a funeral. Period.
• None of the side characters got to speak - Neville, Dean, Molly, Tonks, McGonagall... others.
• The mystery around Draco's plans/task wasn't there. We knew straight away he was trying to kill Dumbledore. It was clumsy film-making. And boring.
• The general lack of charm. The Wizarding world might have been dark and at war, but we didn't get a sense of that, and we certainly didn't get a sense of magic, or anything to endear the film to us or remind us 'where we were'. It was empty and dull.
• The wooden acting. I think Bonnie Wright and Alan Rickman did the best, but they were still weak - having to work with what they were given.
• The forced sexuality/romance. The book itself was very fluffy at parts, but going OUT OF CHARACTER with Harry Potter is crossing a line. However cute she was, the girl in the train station shouldn't have existed, nor should Harry have been attempting to date her. And Dumbledore shouldn't have given two craps about where Harry wanted to plant it - concerning that girl or Hermione (which I found odd and wasteful, unless they were trying to disprove Hr/H exists once and for all, which isn't the film's job).
• Tonks and Lupin; the fact that neither of them got screen time, neither of them mentioned Sirius, and they were already together. Of course, in the next film(s) they will have a child, so I can see why they'd want to push things along with their story arc, but at the same time, they're cheapening the pair, their son, their individual stories and their deaths.
• NO MENTION/APPEARACE OF THE DURSLEYS, KREACHER, DOBBY, BILL, FLEUR, CHARLIE, THE PATILS, SPROUT or TRELAWNEY.
But there are things that need to be considered when making a film in a series of films based on a book series with a highly developed plot and many important characters. One of them is the plot, period. This was the worst film since Goblet of Fire. Hands down.
Things that chapped my ass...
• Voldemort's story wasn't told. We didn't see his parents, family, or even the man himself. Honestly, his beginnings are the most interesting part of him, in my opinion. The fact that he's Slytherin's descendant... all of it.
• Snape's story wasn't told... He is the title character of the book and not only was his story not revealed (which includes crucial pieces of plot that changed the books/Wizarding history), but the Trio didn't even try to figure out who he was. Hermione went to the library, apparently, then they hid the book and Snape muttered that he was the 'Half-Blood Prince' before he trounced off to burn stuff.
• No one mourned Sirius Black - not even Harry. He was mentioned once by Horace and then we were expected to move on.
• The Death Eaters entered Hogwarts unchecked. Greyback was never mentioned to be a werewolf, let alone the one that turned Remus, or the one that was supposed to turn Bill. The Order wasn't at the school, when Tonks (at the very least) could've been there as an Auror/security.
• Albus was sold so short he might as well have not been in the film. Michael Gambon doesn't help matters - he's overweight, has had the exact same wardrobe for four films and doesn't wear Albus' glasses. I'm surprised they even make him put the beard on. He's a fine actor, but he isn't Dumbledore. And Albus deserved a funeral. Period.
• None of the side characters got to speak - Neville, Dean, Molly, Tonks, McGonagall... others.
• The mystery around Draco's plans/task wasn't there. We knew straight away he was trying to kill Dumbledore. It was clumsy film-making. And boring.
• The general lack of charm. The Wizarding world might have been dark and at war, but we didn't get a sense of that, and we certainly didn't get a sense of magic, or anything to endear the film to us or remind us 'where we were'. It was empty and dull.
• The wooden acting. I think Bonnie Wright and Alan Rickman did the best, but they were still weak - having to work with what they were given.
• The forced sexuality/romance. The book itself was very fluffy at parts, but going OUT OF CHARACTER with Harry Potter is crossing a line. However cute she was, the girl in the train station shouldn't have existed, nor should Harry have been attempting to date her. And Dumbledore shouldn't have given two craps about where Harry wanted to plant it - concerning that girl or Hermione (which I found odd and wasteful, unless they were trying to disprove Hr/H exists once and for all, which isn't the film's job).
• Tonks and Lupin; the fact that neither of them got screen time, neither of them mentioned Sirius, and they were already together. Of course, in the next film(s) they will have a child, so I can see why they'd want to push things along with their story arc, but at the same time, they're cheapening the pair, their son, their individual stories and their deaths.
• NO MENTION/APPEARACE OF THE DURSLEYS, KREACHER, DOBBY, BILL, FLEUR, CHARLIE, THE PATILS, SPROUT or TRELAWNEY.