Tuesday, Jun. 08, 2004
I saw the new Harry Potter movie this weekend.
SPOILER ALERT ------ SPOILER ALERT
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I'm afraid I'm the only person who didn't really care for the movie. I have to look at it from two angles: as a stand-alone film, and as a film adaptation of a book.
As a film by itself, it has some problems. The acting is great, especially the kids; the special effects are wonderful; the scenery is magnificent, as usual. Dan Radcliffe, especially, portrays the conflicting emotions a newly adolescent Harry with unexpected skill. However, the film is missing a sense of continuity - it just doesn't flow. It's as if the director said "Here's this scene...okay, here's this other scene...okay, here's another, and the next one. What? Transitions? What are those?" I need to see it again to see if it is as disjointed as I remember.
As an adaptation of the book...just NO. This is, by far, my favorite book in the series, mainly because of the character development and little revelations that are key to the rest of the books. There is almost no character development in the film. It's entirely plot based. For a book such as "Azkaban," this is suicide. The beauty of the book lies in the subtlety of the characters' emotions, and that doesn't translate here. There are a few heartfelt conversations between Lupin and Harry, but it seems like they were tossed in as afterthoughts, and instead of being touching are just cheesy. I'm not going to get into all the little details that were changed, because even I know that's to be expected. But the film didn't come close to capturing the spirit of the book.
I'm planning to see it again, this time trying to put the book out of my mind so that I can judge it as a movie. In the meantime I'll reread the book and let my own movie in my head play along with it.
~Emma
"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."
--->Comment allez-vous?<---
break this - Tuesday, Mar. 01, 2005
long time no post - Monday, Feb. 28, 2005
give me a little credit - Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004
blink-free - Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004
end of days - Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004
