(no subject)
Whee! Just back from the midnight screening!
Loved it! Quite possibly my new favorite. My group of friends all seemed to like it too, though I was sad to hear some people hating on it as they were leaving the theatre. Sure the acting (I'm referring here to the kids, the adult actors were all brilliant as usual, and horribly underused) was a bit wooden, but I was very satisfied with everything else. They kept the plot mostly intact (the exception of course being 'Weasley is our king,' but I forgot it was even missing until the movie was over), and the only noticeable plothole was a general ambiguousness towards the reasons Voldemort wanted the prophecy and how it was the catalyst for the Godric's Hollow murders.
Random thoughts in no particular order:
1. Maybe it was because my theatre was full of college students who giggled at the slightest provocation, maybe it was that my own maturity has suffered from the influence of friends and/or bad fanfiction, but the innuendo in this movie was crazy. "You can't just whip your wands out anytime" sticks in my mind especially. I think that almost tops last year's "Potter is[n't] a piece of meat."
2. Evanna Lynch is a PERFECT Luna. Exactly how I pictured her. And she has awesome taste in shoes; argyle Chucks FTW!
3. I actually felt quite bad for Cho. I know the majority of fandom dictates that we must hate her and all, but after Snape absolves her of blame for outing the DA you couldn't help but pity her. Of course, in the book she isn't (directly) responsible for Umbridge finding out and she still manages to balls everything up, so I may be being too kind. As for the kiss, AWKWARD. How do you stand there and full on make out with someone without touching any other part of their body? If they were trying to make the audience massively uncomfortable, then way to go.
4. I'm glad that they included the Black family tree... but why, exactly? They didn't mention Regulus, who I, along with almost every other member of fandom, assume is going to be important later on. They didn't really show Sirius's connection to the Malfoys, the Lestranges, or even Tonks. We could have found out Sirius had been branded a traitor from his mother's portrait, which I was very sad we didn't get to see except in passing.
5. I find it hilarious when I think back about all the obsession over who was going to play the young Marauders, only to have James and Snape be the only ones with face time. If you can call 30 seconds face time, that is. Cedric was in this for longer.
6. I'm going to get hit for saying this, but I really like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. Richard Harris's Dumbledore was too, I don't know... tame. Granted, some of Gambon's shouty bits were over the top in GoF, but I thought his performance was excellent here. I just wish he'd lose the beard string.
7. Fred and George's exit was great. Aww, Flitwick.
8. Kittens! So creepy. The meowing that underscored every office scene actually managed to make it more ominous. That's quite an accomplishment, there. And Imelda Staunton was pitch perfect as Umbridge. Her horrible comments in that sicky-sweet voice got more reaction out of the audience than almost any other part of the movie. And the whole theatre recoiled when she hauled off and slapped Harry. So good!
9. Grawp was almost cute. His love for the bicycle bell was quite endearing.
10. OMG the fight sequence! Other than the light and dark swirls of whatever that were the Order and Death Eaters respectively, I loved all of the effects they used in the Ministry. The fire/water/shockwave/glass/sand bit was AMAZING! That was the one time I missed the IMAX.
And so, so much more which I can't even begin to discuss since it's 4:30 am and I, sadly, have to wake up for class tomorrow. Boo.
Loved it! Quite possibly my new favorite. My group of friends all seemed to like it too, though I was sad to hear some people hating on it as they were leaving the theatre. Sure the acting (I'm referring here to the kids, the adult actors were all brilliant as usual, and horribly underused) was a bit wooden, but I was very satisfied with everything else. They kept the plot mostly intact (the exception of course being 'Weasley is our king,' but I forgot it was even missing until the movie was over), and the only noticeable plothole was a general ambiguousness towards the reasons Voldemort wanted the prophecy and how it was the catalyst for the Godric's Hollow murders.
Random thoughts in no particular order:
1. Maybe it was because my theatre was full of college students who giggled at the slightest provocation, maybe it was that my own maturity has suffered from the influence of friends and/or bad fanfiction, but the innuendo in this movie was crazy. "You can't just whip your wands out anytime" sticks in my mind especially. I think that almost tops last year's "Potter is[n't] a piece of meat."
2. Evanna Lynch is a PERFECT Luna. Exactly how I pictured her. And she has awesome taste in shoes; argyle Chucks FTW!
3. I actually felt quite bad for Cho. I know the majority of fandom dictates that we must hate her and all, but after Snape absolves her of blame for outing the DA you couldn't help but pity her. Of course, in the book she isn't (directly) responsible for Umbridge finding out and she still manages to balls everything up, so I may be being too kind. As for the kiss, AWKWARD. How do you stand there and full on make out with someone without touching any other part of their body? If they were trying to make the audience massively uncomfortable, then way to go.
4. I'm glad that they included the Black family tree... but why, exactly? They didn't mention Regulus, who I, along with almost every other member of fandom, assume is going to be important later on. They didn't really show Sirius's connection to the Malfoys, the Lestranges, or even Tonks. We could have found out Sirius had been branded a traitor from his mother's portrait, which I was very sad we didn't get to see except in passing.
5. I find it hilarious when I think back about all the obsession over who was going to play the young Marauders, only to have James and Snape be the only ones with face time. If you can call 30 seconds face time, that is. Cedric was in this for longer.
6. I'm going to get hit for saying this, but I really like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. Richard Harris's Dumbledore was too, I don't know... tame. Granted, some of Gambon's shouty bits were over the top in GoF, but I thought his performance was excellent here. I just wish he'd lose the beard string.
7. Fred and George's exit was great. Aww, Flitwick.
8. Kittens! So creepy. The meowing that underscored every office scene actually managed to make it more ominous. That's quite an accomplishment, there. And Imelda Staunton was pitch perfect as Umbridge. Her horrible comments in that sicky-sweet voice got more reaction out of the audience than almost any other part of the movie. And the whole theatre recoiled when she hauled off and slapped Harry. So good!
9. Grawp was almost cute. His love for the bicycle bell was quite endearing.
10. OMG the fight sequence! Other than the light and dark swirls of whatever that were the Order and Death Eaters respectively, I loved all of the effects they used in the Ministry. The fire/water/shockwave/glass/sand bit was AMAZING! That was the one time I missed the IMAX.
And so, so much more which I can't even begin to discuss since it's 4:30 am and I, sadly, have to wake up for class tomorrow. Boo.