Fabmacca
22-Dec-05, 09:24am
I've had a love-hate relationship with the Harry Potter movies ever since I watched the first one before I'd even read the book. And I hated it....... Actually that's not quite true. I liked it, but I hated being in a cinema filled with people who'd read the book(s) and audibly reacted with delight every time something new popped up on the screen that they'd previously only been able to imagine. So here I was in a crowded cinema continually being made to feel inadequate compared to everyone else who was like
"Wow! That's what Diagon Alley looks like!
Wow! That's what professor Sprout looks like!
Wow! That's what a boggart looks like!".
I just wanted to punch everyone in the cinema and tell them to keep the self-indulgent public glee to themselves. Except my sister in law was there and she'd punch back. Also, she is a big Harry Potter fan.
Anyway, since then I've jumped on the bandwagon, read and enjoyed the books, and watch these movies going "Wow! That's not how I imagined Professor Moody at all!" and "Ugh! Why didn't they put in the Bulgaria vs Ireland Quidditch Game". But quietly, and mostly to myself.
This Harry Potter is darker than the previous one, which was in turn darker than the one before that, which in turn was considered 'edgy' in comparison to the first. At this rate, then, the next one will be darker still and involve no scenes set during daylight, the one after that will be largely satanic in nature filmed entirely at midnight during the new moon, and the finale won't be so much a dark movie as it will be an unlit screen in a cinema with all the lights turned out, with all the fans nudging at each other and saying "I knew Snape dressed in black, but baby this is ridiculous".
All that aside, this was a good movie. The action is good, the characters are still enjoyable, and if you see it as a visual summary of the much more detailed books, you should enjoy it. If you're walking off the streets going "I hear these movies are okay" then chances are you'll like it but not really understand much of the ending. Hell, I read the book and even I think the ending is a bit strange and under-explained.
Also, if I'm going to be petty (and that's what I am) there are a couple of things that are not just glossed over, but changed from the books in ways that aren't good. The film is long, and they've cut out a lot, but they've kept the school dance in for romantic reasons which is nice, except I don't think the "love" between certain characters is as unambiguously displayed as it is in the books.
Finally, and on a personal-rant note, I'd like to comment on the soundtrack by Patrick Doyle, who took over from John Williams in this outing. Williams composed some really memorable themes in the first three films, but due to other commitments was not available to work on this one (also, he collaborated with another composer on the second film in the series). Now I'd not heard of Doyle, but he actually did a stunning job in this film. The music is great, full of bombast and energy, menacing, exciting.. It has the lot. However, inexplicably, he chose to discard just about every theme John Williams created in the prior three films.
The tinkly xylophone opening? Gone.
The Harry Potter theme? Played once.
The friendship theme? Gone.
Other character themes? Unused.
The main bad guy theme? Replaced.
All the other incidental music? Changed.
Absolutely inexplicable, and in my opinion inexcusable. You don't destroy the thematic unity of a series of films like that. It's also an affront to John Williams, whose themes for the movies deserved to be maintained.
I'd be even more annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that Doyle's work is really, really good. But the point is that this movie is not a stand-alone film. This book was not so different to its predecessors that it necessitated a whole new direction in musical styles. Puzzling, annoying, vexing. And yet the soundtrack is really is good dammit!
Otherwise, the acting is good (not from all the kids, but most), the direction is good, a couple of scenes are a bit weaker but much of the emotion is good, and all up it's very enjoyable.
I give it 7.5 out of 10.
"Wow! That's what Diagon Alley looks like!
Wow! That's what professor Sprout looks like!
Wow! That's what a boggart looks like!".
I just wanted to punch everyone in the cinema and tell them to keep the self-indulgent public glee to themselves. Except my sister in law was there and she'd punch back. Also, she is a big Harry Potter fan.
Anyway, since then I've jumped on the bandwagon, read and enjoyed the books, and watch these movies going "Wow! That's not how I imagined Professor Moody at all!" and "Ugh! Why didn't they put in the Bulgaria vs Ireland Quidditch Game". But quietly, and mostly to myself.
This Harry Potter is darker than the previous one, which was in turn darker than the one before that, which in turn was considered 'edgy' in comparison to the first. At this rate, then, the next one will be darker still and involve no scenes set during daylight, the one after that will be largely satanic in nature filmed entirely at midnight during the new moon, and the finale won't be so much a dark movie as it will be an unlit screen in a cinema with all the lights turned out, with all the fans nudging at each other and saying "I knew Snape dressed in black, but baby this is ridiculous".
All that aside, this was a good movie. The action is good, the characters are still enjoyable, and if you see it as a visual summary of the much more detailed books, you should enjoy it. If you're walking off the streets going "I hear these movies are okay" then chances are you'll like it but not really understand much of the ending. Hell, I read the book and even I think the ending is a bit strange and under-explained.
Also, if I'm going to be petty (and that's what I am) there are a couple of things that are not just glossed over, but changed from the books in ways that aren't good. The film is long, and they've cut out a lot, but they've kept the school dance in for romantic reasons which is nice, except I don't think the "love" between certain characters is as unambiguously displayed as it is in the books.
Finally, and on a personal-rant note, I'd like to comment on the soundtrack by Patrick Doyle, who took over from John Williams in this outing. Williams composed some really memorable themes in the first three films, but due to other commitments was not available to work on this one (also, he collaborated with another composer on the second film in the series). Now I'd not heard of Doyle, but he actually did a stunning job in this film. The music is great, full of bombast and energy, menacing, exciting.. It has the lot. However, inexplicably, he chose to discard just about every theme John Williams created in the prior three films.
The tinkly xylophone opening? Gone.
The Harry Potter theme? Played once.
The friendship theme? Gone.
Other character themes? Unused.
The main bad guy theme? Replaced.
All the other incidental music? Changed.
Absolutely inexplicable, and in my opinion inexcusable. You don't destroy the thematic unity of a series of films like that. It's also an affront to John Williams, whose themes for the movies deserved to be maintained.
I'd be even more annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that Doyle's work is really, really good. But the point is that this movie is not a stand-alone film. This book was not so different to its predecessors that it necessitated a whole new direction in musical styles. Puzzling, annoying, vexing. And yet the soundtrack is really is good dammit!
Otherwise, the acting is good (not from all the kids, but most), the direction is good, a couple of scenes are a bit weaker but much of the emotion is good, and all up it's very enjoyable.
I give it 7.5 out of 10.