Why, Movie Magic, Do You Suck So Hard Sometimes?
Back to that problem I have with the Harry Potter movie castings... I've been repeatedly and firmly against their decision(s) to use tried and true British actors and squeezing them into the roles, rather than finding any of the hundreds of capable actors out there who would have looked the parts. That's not a slight on the venerable actors they did pick, as I am a mild fan of Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, etc. I am also perplexed at why they decided to make some characters dead ringers for the books (Hagrid, McGonagall, Hooch, Voldemort) while making others bafflingly different (about 85% - I could go on for hours). But my focus today is narrow and brief: the casting choice of David Thewlis as Remus Lupin.
It puzzled me for a while, to wonder why he bothered me so so much. Yes, it was the duck lips, the mustache, and the jarring fact that he was taller than "Sirius Black" (let's not get me started on short, bearded, brown-haired, overacting-like-he-was-on-speed Oldman as Black...) BUT in terms of the acting job, I wondered if a different actor, who looked more like I'd expected, had acted those scenes exactly the same way, would I have minded? No, not really. It was passable. (The werewolf's acting, on the other hand, was quite atrocious, I believe we can all agree, and that makeup job, am I right?)
So he did the best he could, I think. And then, when I realized why he seemed so familiar, I realized why I could never accept him as a believable, trustworthy, kind and misunderstood mentor-type.
Because David Thewlis:
was also Einon, in Dragonheart:
who was about as ruthlessly, selfishly, disgustingly, desperately evil as any villain I've seen, and he always freaked me out.
Never mind that he was also the voice of the Earthworm in James and the Giant Peach, he was Einon. And seeing as HP, Dragonheart, and James and the Giant Peach are the only three samples of his acting skills I've ever seen, naturally I'm biased. I think perhaps it was that I enjoyed Dragonheart (keep in mind I was young when it came out) and watched it many times. I enjoy parts of it still. (And that CG dragon of yesteryear could kick the ass of the CG Lupin werewolf of recent times without batting an eye.) So it made more of an impression on me, and you know what they say about first impressions. And a huge factor is his very distinctive voice. Aged and styled very differently though he may be, I simply cannot like/trust/warm to a Remus Lupin who speaks with Einon's voice.
Huh. I realized just now that when I described Lupin earlier as a "believable, trustworthy, kind and misunderstood mentor-type", I didn't include "sympathetic". I almost corrected this, and then I realized that between the directing and the acting (which I blame on the directing), no one in the Harry Potter movies are sympathetic characters, with the possible exception of the main three. (And in the latest film, four, since they shoved Ginny into every scene they could.) Has anyone else noticed that every character in those movies other than the main three (four) have basically been walking, talking props? They're there so that the main characters can do and say what they're supposed to. But they never read as their own characters with lives and backstories and justifiable motives, as they do in the books. This bothers me greatly, although it explains a great deal why I have no love for these films. I'll give Draco Malfoy a pass in this last film, as he was an actual subplot, and they let him show some freakin' anguish, but you have to admit, the only part he played in the first five was a shallow, minor annoyance and comic relief. Not a great starting point to suddenly be a tortured sympathetic character.
(Also don't get me started on Dumbledore. I think this might sum up how I feel about his portrayal: kellywormtongue.deviantart.com/art/Comic-Book-vs-Movie-Dumbledore-51395716)
Alright, clearly I've fallen into that comfortable, pleasurable RANT stride, so I'm going to wrap this up. Sorry, I know I said it'd be brief and only about Thewlis. I think my point is made. Einon =/= Remus Lupin. Not for me.
Is it just me?
Edit: No, I didn't JUST figure this out. I figured it out ages ago when the film first came out. I'm just mentioning it now because it occurs to me.
Ciao...
It puzzled me for a while, to wonder why he bothered me so so much. Yes, it was the duck lips, the mustache, and the jarring fact that he was taller than "Sirius Black" (let's not get me started on short, bearded, brown-haired, overacting-like-he-was-on-speed Oldman as Black...) BUT in terms of the acting job, I wondered if a different actor, who looked more like I'd expected, had acted those scenes exactly the same way, would I have minded? No, not really. It was passable. (The werewolf's acting, on the other hand, was quite atrocious, I believe we can all agree, and that makeup job, am I right?)
So he did the best he could, I think. And then, when I realized why he seemed so familiar, I realized why I could never accept him as a believable, trustworthy, kind and misunderstood mentor-type.
Because David Thewlis:
was also Einon, in Dragonheart:
who was about as ruthlessly, selfishly, disgustingly, desperately evil as any villain I've seen, and he always freaked me out.
Never mind that he was also the voice of the Earthworm in James and the Giant Peach, he was Einon. And seeing as HP, Dragonheart, and James and the Giant Peach are the only three samples of his acting skills I've ever seen, naturally I'm biased. I think perhaps it was that I enjoyed Dragonheart (keep in mind I was young when it came out) and watched it many times. I enjoy parts of it still. (And that CG dragon of yesteryear could kick the ass of the CG Lupin werewolf of recent times without batting an eye.) So it made more of an impression on me, and you know what they say about first impressions. And a huge factor is his very distinctive voice. Aged and styled very differently though he may be, I simply cannot like/trust/warm to a Remus Lupin who speaks with Einon's voice.
Huh. I realized just now that when I described Lupin earlier as a "believable, trustworthy, kind and misunderstood mentor-type", I didn't include "sympathetic". I almost corrected this, and then I realized that between the directing and the acting (which I blame on the directing), no one in the Harry Potter movies are sympathetic characters, with the possible exception of the main three. (And in the latest film, four, since they shoved Ginny into every scene they could.) Has anyone else noticed that every character in those movies other than the main three (four) have basically been walking, talking props? They're there so that the main characters can do and say what they're supposed to. But they never read as their own characters with lives and backstories and justifiable motives, as they do in the books. This bothers me greatly, although it explains a great deal why I have no love for these films. I'll give Draco Malfoy a pass in this last film, as he was an actual subplot, and they let him show some freakin' anguish, but you have to admit, the only part he played in the first five was a shallow, minor annoyance and comic relief. Not a great starting point to suddenly be a tortured sympathetic character.
(Also don't get me started on Dumbledore. I think this might sum up how I feel about his portrayal: kellywormtongue.deviantart.com/art/Comic-Book-vs-Movie-Dumbledore-51395716)
Alright, clearly I've fallen into that comfortable, pleasurable RANT stride, so I'm going to wrap this up. Sorry, I know I said it'd be brief and only about Thewlis. I think my point is made. Einon =/= Remus Lupin. Not for me.
Is it just me?
Edit: No, I didn't JUST figure this out. I figured it out ages ago when the film first came out. I'm just mentioning it now because it occurs to me.
Ciao...