Harry Potter & The HBP Movie Review!
So... before I read any reviews that might change or color my opinion, I just want to say that I think the HP6 movie was great. I actually want to go back and watch it again, which never happens to me with HP movies, as I'm usually content to see them once and then just catch them on TV.
My favorite HP adaptation so far has been Prisoner of Azkaban because I think it did an amazing job capturing the theme and spirit of the book. Plus, it was just gorgeous. That wasn't a summer blockbuster, that was art.
And that's what I like about HP6: it does an amazing job of catching the feel and thrills of the book and manages to be more than just an adaptation, but an enjoyable movie. I wouldn't go so far as to call this Film with a capital F because it lacks the artsyness of HP3, but the character interactions were incredibly rich, the young actors seem to have gotten a lot stronger**, and the decisions of what to include and what to cut/alter due to time restraints were largely on the mark.
This is the benchmark to which all of the HP movies should strive. Or should have striven, since we are now on the sixth one.
As far as things I liked, we have...
Pacing: I'm still not over the pacing horror of the GoF movie *shudders* But here, the pacing was seriously good. And it definitely didn't feel like a 2.5~2.75 hour movie, which is always a good thing (I'm looking at you, Watchmen, ugh). I thought HBP did a good job of moving the story along; it was brisk but still took the time to touch upon specific plot points without getting bogged down.
For instance, I thought the trimming of the Quidditch sub-plot was really well done. They cut out the games of Ron playing horribly but still built up enough tension so that when Ron finally played well it had a good effect. I'm glad they left in little details like Luna in her awesome Lion hat and Harry tricking Ron into thinking he had liquid luck on his side. I was surprised, though, not to hear anyone chant "Weasley Is Our King." Did I miss it??
Acting: These kids have really grown in their abilities. Ron's character came across as very genuine to me and not overly goofy or forced. I also thought I noticed an improvement in Emma Watson's acting, especially in the scene where she launched the birds at Ron. I'm glad that Emma decided to go the impassioned but not psycho-hysterical route with that one because to be honest, hormonal Hermione kind of freaked me out in the book. And Harry... What was up with his hair? It made him look kind of douchey. Anyway, one of my favorite concepts from the HP books in general has to be Felix Felicis--I even owned that domain name for a while!--and DanRad was priceless in the Felix Felicis scene. His overconfident bravado reminded me of the exaggerated version he played of himself in Ricky Gervais's show Extras; it was soooooooo good! I would watch it again just to see that~
Also, was it just me or did everyone seem really cheeky? In a good way, I mean! The delivery of dialogue in nearly every scene had me giggling; it was like the actors were playing up to the audience, which I would expect from a live performance but not from something on film. It felt kind of like fan service.
The thrills: There were two moments that really stood out for me because they were very creepy and well-done, the cursing of Katie Bell and the Inferi grabbing Harry's hand from the water. The first scene seemed like it had come straight out of a horror movie, rather than Harry Potter, and in a good way. It gave me the chills. In the second scene, even though I knew that it was coming, I still jumped out of my seat. That was a good scare! singlebluenote teased me about it on the drive back home.
Other things I liked about the movie:
And just few things from the movie that I want to nitpick over:
Where did that go/come from? First, a disclaimer: I didn't bother re-reading HBP before the movie came out. The WB pushing the movie's release to summer for greedy reasons really bugged me, so for a while I didn't even care about seeing the movie, I was that disgruntled. However, I finally saw the extended trailers, which made me excited to watch HBP, but by that point I was so busy with work I haven't had time to re-read the books.
That said, WHERE DID THAT SCENE OF THE DEATH EATERS SETTING THE BURROW ON FIRE COME FROM BECAUSE I DON'T REMEMBER READING THAT!!! How are they supposed to have Bill and Fleur's wedding there next summer--oh wait, they won't because the Bill and Fleur subplot was cut out.
Also, I was really disappointed that we didn't get a Death Eater/Dumbledore's Army showdown at Hogwarts! Sure there are time constraints, but I'm surprised that Yates passed up the opportunity for a big fight scene =o The whole Astronomy Tower scene was slightly altered, as well, in a way that I don't really think was necessary to the story. The design of the tower was weird for no apparent reason, and I'm not sure why Yates decided not to have Harry stupefied beneath his invisibility cloak.
Other than that, my qualms with the adaptation side of the movie are pretty minor. I thought HBP did a good job of including as much of the story as possible without getting bogged down in complicated details that would detract from the enjoyment of non hardcore fans. I would have liked to see more about Tom Riddle's background, but I know that it would have disturbed the balance of the film. This is a movie about Harry Potter, after all, and while a book can wax on about other characters who are not Harry, a movie needs a little more focus otherwise it will be spread to thin.
Characters MIA: I did notice some characters missing from the movie, especially Rufus Scrimgeour. They were able to carry off the story just fine without him, but I can't help but suspect that there are a large number of moviegoers who haven't read the book and still think Cornelius Fudge is Minister of Magic. It doesn't really matter since Scrimgeour dies at the beginning of HP7 anyway, but they could have at least thrown a headline into Harry's newspaper at the beginning of the movie.
Romilda Vane's brief cameo was rather disappointing. I wasn't fond of her character in the book, but her lack of lines in the movie made Romilda come across as a nice girl rather than crazy and annoying! Besides the love potion thing, of course; that was crazy =D and the card that came with it was pretty awesome. ♥
Crabbe & Goyle... what happened to these guys? I seriously don't recall seeing them in the background; Pansy and Blaise got most of the screen time for the Slytherin team. The whole Polyjuicing them into first-year girls and Harry looking at them on the Marauder's Map would have bogged the movie down, for sure, but I would have at least liked to see them lurking in the background a little bit.
The Casting: For the most part, I have no problems with the casting in the HP movies, as most of the actors do a decent job, but there are a few that bothered me in HBP.
Tom Riddle, age 16 -- Originally played by Christian Coulson, teenage Tom was recast as Frank Dillane. If the goal was to recast teenage Tom with someone who looked more like Hero Fiennes Tiffin, the awesome child actor who portrayed Orphanage!Tom, then mission accomplished because the resemblance is incredible. However, I actually find that Dillane looks way too young to be teenage Tom--more like a 13 yr old version--and I really think that he lacks Coulson's charisma and good looks, both of which I attribute to teenage/young adult Tom Riddle.
Lavender Brown -- sure she was ditzy enough, but she was not cute. At all. What was the deal with her huge bushy hair that stuck out on top and that ugly bandanna she always wore in her hair? Also, she seemed a little bit on the thick side, if you know what I mean. @_@ Not that I promote Hollywood's obsession with stick girls, but Lavender just came across as looking very "average" rather than the popular, pretty, trendy girl I always saw her as. I was expecting preppy and fashionable and got country bumpkin. =( Then again, since my mental image of Lavender is a young Keira Knightley à la savethefurries, I guess it's a hard standard to compete with.
Dumbledore -- I don't dislike Michael Gambon, and I think he looks swell as Dumbledore, but I would so have loved to see Richard Harris's interpretation of the role in these last couple of movies. Miss him a lot.
A few other details I think could have been changed/added without bogging down the story:
Now it's time to go and read everyone else's thoughts and find out if I'm the odd man out. ^_^;
My favorite HP adaptation so far has been Prisoner of Azkaban because I think it did an amazing job capturing the theme and spirit of the book. Plus, it was just gorgeous. That wasn't a summer blockbuster, that was art.
And that's what I like about HP6: it does an amazing job of catching the feel and thrills of the book and manages to be more than just an adaptation, but an enjoyable movie. I wouldn't go so far as to call this Film with a capital F because it lacks the artsyness of HP3, but the character interactions were incredibly rich, the young actors seem to have gotten a lot stronger**, and the decisions of what to include and what to cut/alter due to time restraints were largely on the mark.
This is the benchmark to which all of the HP movies should strive. Or should have striven, since we are now on the sixth one.
As far as things I liked, we have...
Pacing: I'm still not over the pacing horror of the GoF movie *shudders* But here, the pacing was seriously good. And it definitely didn't feel like a 2.5~2.75 hour movie, which is always a good thing (I'm looking at you, Watchmen, ugh). I thought HBP did a good job of moving the story along; it was brisk but still took the time to touch upon specific plot points without getting bogged down.
For instance, I thought the trimming of the Quidditch sub-plot was really well done. They cut out the games of Ron playing horribly but still built up enough tension so that when Ron finally played well it had a good effect. I'm glad they left in little details like Luna in her awesome Lion hat and Harry tricking Ron into thinking he had liquid luck on his side. I was surprised, though, not to hear anyone chant "Weasley Is Our King." Did I miss it??
Acting: These kids have really grown in their abilities. Ron's character came across as very genuine to me and not overly goofy or forced. I also thought I noticed an improvement in Emma Watson's acting, especially in the scene where she launched the birds at Ron. I'm glad that Emma decided to go the impassioned but not psycho-hysterical route with that one because to be honest, hormonal Hermione kind of freaked me out in the book. And Harry... What was up with his hair? It made him look kind of douchey. Anyway, one of my favorite concepts from the HP books in general has to be Felix Felicis--I even owned that domain name for a while!--and DanRad was priceless in the Felix Felicis scene. His overconfident bravado reminded me of the exaggerated version he played of himself in Ricky Gervais's show Extras; it was soooooooo good! I would watch it again just to see that~
Also, was it just me or did everyone seem really cheeky? In a good way, I mean! The delivery of dialogue in nearly every scene had me giggling; it was like the actors were playing up to the audience, which I would expect from a live performance but not from something on film. It felt kind of like fan service.
The thrills: There were two moments that really stood out for me because they were very creepy and well-done, the cursing of Katie Bell and the Inferi grabbing Harry's hand from the water. The first scene seemed like it had come straight out of a horror movie, rather than Harry Potter, and in a good way. It gave me the chills. In the second scene, even though I knew that it was coming, I still jumped out of my seat. That was a good scare! singlebluenote teased me about it on the drive back home.
Other things I liked about the movie:
- I thought the focus on them growing up and developing relationships was well done.
- Luna! She had a lot fewer scenes than in OotP, but was still great. I love this actress.
- 11 yr old Voldemort -- so creepy! I was surprised to hear that the child actor is also the nephew of Voldemort's actor Ralph Fiennes.
- The scene where Harry touches the destroyed horcrux and jerks his head in the exact same way that Voldemort does. That was a subtle but brilliant touch and a great bit of acting on DanRad's part.
- Slughorn's pajamas! I want a pair like those. Slughorn, himself, was... okay. Not bad and definitely good in the Felix Felicis scene, but the actor's bulging eyes freaked me out.
And just few things from the movie that I want to nitpick over:
Where did that go/come from? First, a disclaimer: I didn't bother re-reading HBP before the movie came out. The WB pushing the movie's release to summer for greedy reasons really bugged me, so for a while I didn't even care about seeing the movie, I was that disgruntled. However, I finally saw the extended trailers, which made me excited to watch HBP, but by that point I was so busy with work I haven't had time to re-read the books.
That said, WHERE DID THAT SCENE OF THE DEATH EATERS SETTING THE BURROW ON FIRE COME FROM BECAUSE I DON'T REMEMBER READING THAT!!! How are they supposed to have Bill and Fleur's wedding there next summer--oh wait, they won't because the Bill and Fleur subplot was cut out.
Also, I was really disappointed that we didn't get a Death Eater/Dumbledore's Army showdown at Hogwarts! Sure there are time constraints, but I'm surprised that Yates passed up the opportunity for a big fight scene =o The whole Astronomy Tower scene was slightly altered, as well, in a way that I don't really think was necessary to the story. The design of the tower was weird for no apparent reason, and I'm not sure why Yates decided not to have Harry stupefied beneath his invisibility cloak.
Other than that, my qualms with the adaptation side of the movie are pretty minor. I thought HBP did a good job of including as much of the story as possible without getting bogged down in complicated details that would detract from the enjoyment of non hardcore fans. I would have liked to see more about Tom Riddle's background, but I know that it would have disturbed the balance of the film. This is a movie about Harry Potter, after all, and while a book can wax on about other characters who are not Harry, a movie needs a little more focus otherwise it will be spread to thin.
Characters MIA: I did notice some characters missing from the movie, especially Rufus Scrimgeour. They were able to carry off the story just fine without him, but I can't help but suspect that there are a large number of moviegoers who haven't read the book and still think Cornelius Fudge is Minister of Magic. It doesn't really matter since Scrimgeour dies at the beginning of HP7 anyway, but they could have at least thrown a headline into Harry's newspaper at the beginning of the movie.
Romilda Vane's brief cameo was rather disappointing. I wasn't fond of her character in the book, but her lack of lines in the movie made Romilda come across as a nice girl rather than crazy and annoying! Besides the love potion thing, of course; that was crazy =D and the card that came with it was pretty awesome. ♥
Crabbe & Goyle... what happened to these guys? I seriously don't recall seeing them in the background; Pansy and Blaise got most of the screen time for the Slytherin team. The whole Polyjuicing them into first-year girls and Harry looking at them on the Marauder's Map would have bogged the movie down, for sure, but I would have at least liked to see them lurking in the background a little bit.
The Casting: For the most part, I have no problems with the casting in the HP movies, as most of the actors do a decent job, but there are a few that bothered me in HBP.
Tom Riddle, age 16 -- Originally played by Christian Coulson, teenage Tom was recast as Frank Dillane. If the goal was to recast teenage Tom with someone who looked more like Hero Fiennes Tiffin, the awesome child actor who portrayed Orphanage!Tom, then mission accomplished because the resemblance is incredible. However, I actually find that Dillane looks way too young to be teenage Tom--more like a 13 yr old version--and I really think that he lacks Coulson's charisma and good looks, both of which I attribute to teenage/young adult Tom Riddle.
Lavender Brown -- sure she was ditzy enough, but she was not cute. At all. What was the deal with her huge bushy hair that stuck out on top and that ugly bandanna she always wore in her hair? Also, she seemed a little bit on the thick side, if you know what I mean. @_@ Not that I promote Hollywood's obsession with stick girls, but Lavender just came across as looking very "average" rather than the popular, pretty, trendy girl I always saw her as. I was expecting preppy and fashionable and got country bumpkin. =( Then again, since my mental image of Lavender is a young Keira Knightley à la savethefurries, I guess it's a hard standard to compete with.
Dumbledore -- I don't dislike Michael Gambon, and I think he looks swell as Dumbledore, but I would so have loved to see Richard Harris's interpretation of the role in these last couple of movies. Miss him a lot.
A few other details I think could have been changed/added without bogging down the story:
- More Neville! Poor "Boy Who Almost Was The Boy Who Lived," he's really been gypped and deserves a lot bigger role in the story, in general. Hopefully they don't cut out his awesome big scene in Deathly Hallows.
- Just a little more analysis of Voldemort's character. I don't think they stressed his vanity or habit of collecting "treasures" enough. Even a single line thrown into the Horcrux conversation would have sufficed.
- Dumbledore coming to rely on Harry as an equal. One scene I really like in HBP is when Dumbledore, who has always been in charge and giving orders, tells Harry that he knows things will be all right because "I am with you."
- Umm... I guess I'll add more here as I remember them.
Now it's time to go and read everyone else's thoughts and find out if I'm the odd man out. ^_^;