Update: After a few days of thinking about the film, some of my previous thoughts have changed. See bold additions below.
Spoiler Alert: There will be significant details in the review that follows. You may want to watch the movie before reading.
General Overview
Let’s start with the overall impression: 85% of this movie is my favorite of the Potter films so far. From the opening scene to when the 6 jump on the thestrals, this movie is brilliantly done. It’s incredible how much Yates was able to pack into the 110 minutes or so without giving the movie the choppy and rushed feeling that Goblet had.
Visually, it still does not meet the standard set by Cuaron with Prisoner. But there are a few really chilling scenes, not least the Dementor attack on Harry and Dudders. The inside of 12 Grimmauld Place is almost exactly how I imagined it. The use of newspaper clippings and pictures to pan into what Fudge is up to is a nice touch. And Yates corrected, at least to some extent, the really weird thing that Newell did with Sirius’ head in the fire being formed out of burned wood. This time, we get Sirius’ actual head, albeit a ghostly, reddish version. Grawp looked way too cartoonish, but Kreacher, the centaurs, and particularly the thestrals are all great.
Overall, the plot choices were good (see “the specifics” below), and the movie was paced very, very well. Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Feinnes, Alan Rickman, and Imelda Staunton were absolutely brilliant. It’s a shame we got so little of the first three.
I think this will end up being my favorite overall, but I need to see it a few more times before I’m certain.
The Specifics
But it’s the plot details you want to know about, of course, so here goes. Let’s start with an overview of relevant and new characters:
- Harry: Daniel Radcliffe has become quite an actor. He did very well with the angry Harry scenes, and he was quite believable in the role. As the film needed to be incredibly Harry-centric, since it’s his “Dark Night of the Soul” experience, Radcliffe did do a good job of keeping pace with the better and more experienced actors and actresses.
- Ron and Hermione: Rupert Grint is getting better and better. Yates did a great, great job with the trio in this movie, and in particular, he did brilliant work beginning to build the connection and chemistry between Ron and Hermione.
- Snape: Not enough Snape, but more than Goblet. Rickman, of course, is a genius actor. Snape is unfortunately a victim of the time constraints of the films. We’re just not getting enough of him, so Rickman doesn’t have enough to work with. While I’ve come to interpret Snape differently than Rickman does, his take on the character is filled with subtlety that maintains his mystery.
- Luna: Couldn’t have been better. She’s not how I imagined her, but I loved her in this.
- Lupin: Loved Lupin in this. Wish there was time for more.
- Tonks: Not at all as I imagined Tonks, but she mostly served for good comic relief. Added: She did shine in her few moments on screen.
- Sirius: I definitely believed the Sirius-Harry connection, even if some of the dialogue was weak. Gary Oldman developed the character of Sirius very, very well. See below about the death scene.
- Bellatrix: Helena Bonham Carter’s brief performance as Bellatrix is probably my favorite part of the movie. She’s absolutely brilliant and deranged.
- Voldemort: The removal of almost all his dialogue really made me mad. Ralph Fiennes has tremendous potential as Voldemort, and I loved his performance at the end of Goblet. Give the man some lines, Yates!
- Weasley Twins: Loved them, but as usual, their lines were rushed. In fact, many lines were rushed in this film.
- Umbridge: Imelda Staunton was incredible. Not exactly how I read Umbridge, but a superb interpretation nonetheless.
- Dumbledore: Gambon was abysmal again, but not anywhere near as bad as in Goblet. I think Yates calmed him down a bit, and to some extent, wrote him out of more important scenes. Many of his lines came staight from the book. The unfortunate thing here is that with Gambon’s awful performance, Dumbledore is unable to be a central figure, and as such, does not invoke the awe and respect that he is supposed to. See below for more.
Hagrid, Lucius, Trelawney, and McGonagall were all, of course, very ably performed, but there’s nothing of particular note to say about them. Perhaps one of the ironically unforunate things about the films is that they have to be so centered on Harry. I’d love more room for the tremendous performances these great actors and actresses would deliver in these roles.
Now, for actual plot points.
There is definitely a lot hacked out of this one, as was to be expected. The choices were good, though, and where plot alterations occurred, they made sense. In this regard, it was better than Prisoner, which somehow managed to get all the way to the end without ever divulging the identities of the Marauders, and Goblet, in which priori incantatem went completely without explanation. Let’s hit a few plot points, and then we’ll spend some extra time on the film’s climax at the Ministry.
- Dumbledore’s Army: These scenes were great, filled with excitement and anticipation. There was a huge applause when Neville finally mastered Expelliarmus. Good decision to have Ginny throw some really powerful Reducto curses! There was great foreshadowing to her upcoming importance (would liked to have seen more Ginny in this).
- Kreacher’s Role: Which is zero. For all the hype about Kreacher’s being added to the plot on Rowling’s orders, that’s all he was. Added. I’d have liked to have seen him play his role in the Sirius plot to add a bit more to his character. That said, for the two times we saw him, he was done very well.
- Dumbledore’s Escape: I really wanted him to do the cursing everyone thing; but the phoenix escape was clever. And I loved the use of Kingsley for the “Dumbledore’s got style” line.
- Humor: Lots of it, and it was funny. Broke up the darkness of the film nicely, and was used well in trio dynamics.
- Weasley Twins’ Escape: Lots of fun. No swamp, but I expected that. Very funny use of the fireworks.
- The Prophecy: I didn’t mind that it was heard by Harry in the Ministry. I’m certain people will complain about this. It’s just rather odd that we never learned that it was Trelawney, and that she gave the prophecy to Dumbledore, because this is so crucial to Half-Blood Prince. Yates must be planning to introduce that in the next film.
- Occlumency Lessons: Very well-done, but too rushed! Especially “Snape’s Worst Memory.”
- The Possession: You can see my initial thoughts on this below. After a few days’ worth of thinking about i, I’ve come to really appreciate the possession scene. I remember sitting in the theater thinking, “How are they going to communicate that it was Harry’s ability to love that saved him from Voldemort’s possession?” Well, Yates did it, and he did it well.
Overall, the plot choices were good – except for almost everything that happened after the six (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny) entered the Ministry. It’s understandable that we don’t get the tour of the Department of Mysteries because of time constraints. But just like the rebirthing scene in Goblet, this crucial portion of the plot is rushed and divested of some of its central elements. Here are my complaints with this part of the film:
- Sirius’s Death: While it’s supposed to catch us by surprise, Sirius’ falling through the veil comes out of nowhere. And since Bellatrix cast an AK at Sirius, the veil actually became rather irrelevant, except that Sirius fell through it after getting AK’d.
- Just prior to Sirius’ death, instead of being in a long duel with Bellatrix, he was fighting side by side with Harry. I liked this a lot. It was a very good choice by Yates. But its importance to the Harry-Sirius relationship is kind of muddled by Sirius’s sudden proclamation after a particularly good hex thrown by Harry, “Nice one, James!” Sirius’ confusion about Harry and James is relevant to Book 5, but to have it suddenly thrown at us just before he died sort of ruined in the moment. Added: At the same time, I must admit that it was a brilliant piece of writing, giving us the entire internal conflict Sirius was having with one simple word: “James.”
- The Veil: It wasn’t an actual veil hanging from an archway; it’s some sort of magical-spiritual flowing thing inside the archway. I wanted to see a tattered, old veil.
- The Dumbledore-Voldemort duel: This was a killer for me. Almost all dialogue was stripped from this scene, and it was little more than a light show, which wasn’t really impressive in the first place. Once again Gambon’s poor portrayal of Dumbledore comes through. Dumbledore’s calmness in the atrium in the book makes the whole scene, as it is contrasted with Voldemort’s desparate attacks. We get no such dynamic in the massive display of power given us in the movie. The lack of Fawkes was the final straw for me, especially since it was perfectly set-up by Dumbledore’s Fawkes-escape from Fudge and Dawlish.
- Voldemort’s Possession of Harry: When Harry hunts down Bellatrix, he throws the Crucio at her, which does little more than knock her down. Harry has Bella at his mercy, and he begins hearing Voldemort’s voice in his head – tempting him use the cruciatus curse. It was almost as if he were trying to lure him to the Dark Side! What was unnerving about it was that it reminded me instantly of Luke Skywalker standing in front of the Emperor, who was tempting him to “strike him down,” completing his journey to the Dark Side. While Harry certainly battled with his own internal darkness in Book 5, the whole point of Harry’s “pureness of heart” is that he’s never been tempted that way. This was an unfortunate interpretation in the movie. When the possession actually happened, it felt like more of the same – although it must be said that “love” ended up being the thing that drove Voldemort out, and this was good. I’m still grappling with what I think about Harry’s statement, “I feel sorry for you.” Added: Above, I added this scene to the things I really liked about the movie. I’ve come to believe the actual possession scene was quite well done.
- The Dumbledore Denouement: I think perhaps Yates realizes what an abysmal choice Gambon has turned out to be. The whole scene in Dumbledore’s office is almost non-existent. It doesn’t happen until a few days after the Ministry. Harry doesn’t smash anything, and only a few brief lines, taken almost directly from the book, comprise the scene. Harry actually hears the prophecy in the DoM, so there’s not much need to discuss that in Dumbledore’s office. While I’m almost glad that Yates cut this scene, because I knew Gambon would kill it, it’s too bad that has to be the case. And Radcliffe has become quite the actor, so it would have been nice to see him smashing things.
Well, I’ll stop there. I’m usually better at complaining than saying good things, so let me say again: this will probably end up my favorite so far. I need to watch it a few more times before I say anything definitive, though. A good film overall, but like Goblet, it needed another half hour.
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Travis, mea culpa on divulging too much of my review in the previous post. At any rate, I agree with most of what you wrote. I thought it was even more choppy and “let’s cut stuff out and completely make up more stuff to put back in” than GOF. Gambon was better in this than in GOF for sure, but he had this tired bitter edge to him even more so. Left a bad taste in my mouth. Rickman (my favorite actor for a long time) does play Snape a bit more on the dark humor side than just cutting and sarcastic, but I was glad we got to see a little more vitriol about the bad blood between him and James. But ack, the Snape’s Worst Memory chapter is one of the most important of the book and it was like 15 seconds? And I couldn’t even hear the big showdown between Sirius and Severus in the kitchen in the Extendable Ears because too many people were laughing at Crookshanks eating the ear. *thumbs down* The acting was okay mostly overall, but the choppiness, lack of explanation, and kind of poor action sequences make me like it probably the least of the film offerings thus far. I worry for Half-Blood Prince.
I haven’t seen the film yet (won’t get to until next week – for shame), but I think your review will help me deal with the disappointment now so I can just enjoy the film when I do see it.
I am surprised at some of the cuts you mention, particularly the denouement between Harry and Dumbledore. It’s one of my favorite moments, and with some trimming, it would have worked well on film.
Movie franchises, particularly when they start getting into the later volumes, begin to focus more on box office receipts than the quality of story. A shorter running time means more times a movie can run in a day, which hopefully leads to a higher gross. Or so the reasoning goes. I have no idea if Harry Potter has become the victim of a studio desperate to earn more money. According to the numbers, box office returns seem to be running about even with last year. But when you factor in the raise in ticket prices over the last year, fewer people are actually coming out to see the movies.
You would think that, with the enormous success of Lord of the Rings, and the fact that the earlier films, based on shorter books, all ran over two hours, Warner Bros. would not have a problem with even a 150 minute cut of the film. But time is money. The businness end of Hollywood seems to be driving the ship for the time being.
Prefiera, no problem at all! Your comment just reminded me to do something I intended to do.
I worry for HBP, too. The Crookshanks eating the ear thing was funny, but you’re right – we missed some good dialogue there.
And I agree, and meant to post about that – Snape’s Worst Memory was WAY too short. Definitely needed to see more there.
taj, good points. It is sad to see the films suffering because of the desire to make more money. I think the first film (shortest book!) clocked in at 2 hours, 45 minutes, didn’t it? The films are getting better as movies, but worse as far as plot cohesiveness, due almost entirely to the shortening of the films.
I think Yates did a fairly good job on this and the kids had their best performances (other than Hermione — Emma Watson did better in both #3 and #4 but no disgrace here), especially considering that it’s the second-weakest book of the series to date. My main concern is that the far stronger HBP lends itself much less to adaptation into a movie (other than the two climactic scenes with the horcrux and the tower).
Travis, thank you for the review, I haven’t much to add.
Overall, it was a good, fast-paced movie, but I think it was missing the point somehow. I saw the film tonight with a colleague, who hadn’t read the book. She was under the impression, that Voldemort got the prophesy in the end, because she missed the moment when Lucius dropped it. It was a very short sequence and almost the whole conversation between Dumbledore and Harry about the lost prophesy had been cut out.
I spent quite some time explaining, how the prophesy was lost, what it was all about, why Voldemort wanted it so badly and why he needed Harry to take it from the ministry. It wouldn’t have hurt if they’d chopped some of the action scenes and added some dialogue instead to explain the context. Without that, it was a bit incoherent for someone who isn’t already familiar with the story.
Well i aint see da movie yet but i think iz gonna b bad neway, cuz after the 2nd movie, evything wasn’t as good, cuz i think the director changed afta that. I still gonna see the fifth though.
Monk, I have the same worry about HBP. There is very little action in it, save for the final two or three chapters, and I wonder how it will fit a Hollywood summer blockbuster.
The majority of the book is Harry pontificating and observing while Ron and Hermione gripe at each other and Ron makes out with Lavender Brown.
But, I do have to say that I very much look forward to the scene in the cave on Lake Inferi. That has the potential to be a stunning piece of film.
Monk, while I disagree with your assessment of Book 5 being the second weakest (I think it is the second strongest, HBP being the best-written; and OP is my favorite book overall), I do agree – HBP’s plot does not lend itself to film adaptation very well. It’ll be interesting to see how it’s written and how many lessons with Dumbledore are crammed together.
Mia, you’re right on – there was NO explanation whatsoever as to why Voldemort wanted that prophecy, and that made the film’s conclusion (and whole point, really) rather weak. Lucius even set it up by trying to tempt Harry into handing over the prophecy by explaining that it held the secret to his scar (which is weird…since Lucius wouldn’t know a thing about “mark him as his equal”), but no explanation was ever given. It was just left hanging at the end of the film.
Disappointing.
As i sayin not a big fan a da movies, the director probably cut short on it. The 6th movie’s comin out next year- i saw, they better make the cave part the main part, i even teared when the wise old DUmbdoor was dyin in the book, i aint know why, i’s a lil’ then. IN the 4th movie the director made the dancin seen a big thing, but in the book it wuzn’t, nd although some ppl like a lil’ humour and romance, many like the action.
Hope they put their money into a better director for Deathly Hollows. It’s too late for Half-Blood Prince: Yates has already been signed up. On a more cheerful note, Kloves is back as scriptwriter for both movies, so perhaps the plot will be more comprehensible.
I wouldn’t worry about the plot of HBP not being suitable for a screenplay. Kloves (and Cuaron) did a masterful job with the time-travel story line. Kloves will do at least a competent job. If he were paired with a different kind of director, it could be another masterpiece. The movie doesn’t have to follow the same sequence of events as the book, or even do the exposition (through Dumbledore’s pensieve) the same way.
I actually want Yates for DH. I thought he was superb.
I read somewhere wanting to champion Guillermo del Toro for DH, which I certainly agree. Pan’s Labyrinth was both beautiful and brutal at the same time. Sounds like what DH will be.
Maybe Travis u shoold put a vote on how many people disliked or liked the 5th movie. Just n option, not 2 eager.
This is an observation about the movie and a possible clue for book 7. Did anyone notice the actor playing Frank Longbottom in the OP photo Sirius gave to Harry, was the same actor who played Tony Blair in “The Queen”? Everyone else was either an extra (like Harry’s parents) or we have already met them. I wonder if this could clue us in to foreshadowing a bigger role of some sort for FLongbottom in the last book?
Travis,
I have to say your review is brilliant and I very much agree with all of your points, esp. those listed at the end.
I am sure Sirius said “good one, James.” You didn’t hear it wrong (I found myself reaching for my DVR remote — I’ve gotten used to being able to rewind TV and wished I could do it in the movie, but I’m sure I heard it correctly). This was an echo from the Snape’s memory scene, I’m pretty sure he said it in that scene too. I felt that, when I read OoP, the whole issue of Sirius’ state of mind was left ambiguous. I felt that he was lonely and bitter, to some extent, but not at all confused (“I’m perfectly clear who he is, thank you very much” is his response to Molly’s suggestion that he sometimes confuses James and Harry. I felt that the movie line “good one James” made it look like Sirius was indeed a bit unhinged at least in respect to who Harry was and I didn’t like that, though I do agree the scene of them dueling side by side, before that line was spoken, was great.
I was disappointed Neville’s parents weren’t more prominent. Maybe it would have been too much, but Neville could have explained where they are now when he was talking to Harry in the Room of Requirement, or something. The whole explanation that Neville could have been the boy in the prophecy was totally skipped, which I thought was unfortunate.
The cruciatus curse was another thing I thought was confusing. In the book, it’s clear that while Harry attempts the spell, he isn’t successful. He doesn’t cause her pain, don’t you think? I didn’t think it was clear in the movie, because whatever spell he used seemed to knock her down and make her cry out, though she wasn’t in agony. This is a big thing with me, I am bothered each time Harry uses or attempts to use these spells and I worry that he’ll end up AKing Voldemort in book 7, which I don’t want him to do. I think it should be clear whether these spells work for him and it mostly is in the book, but the movie didn’t get that across, I didn’t think.
I’ll have to re-read the final duel scene between Voldemort and Dumbledore again to see for sure, but the part of it where their wands connected, which looked very much like the priori incantatum part of GOF — I don’t remember that from the book. I thought it confused the issue. That was meant to be something very rare that happened when the two brother wands met each other and I didn’t see the point of having something so visually similar to that happening between Voldemort and Dumbledore. The rest was quite good, though.
I’m left feeling I’m going to have to go see this again in a theater, which I didn’t really want to do. I was hoping to just wait for the DVD. But I agree, it was better than PoA and GoF. That leaves hope that HBP will be good as well.
Oh if they get the guy how did Pan’s Labyrinth, I will squeel! THAT is how a movie needs to be done. One of my all time favorite movies.
In HBP they HAVE to leave in Spinners End and Lord Voldemort’s request. If they are both in the movie (or some version of them) I will be over the moon.
Yeah, you did not mis-hear it. He did say “Nice one, James!”. And (oh boy…) I know I’ll get loads of criticism from Sirius fans but…I feel it worked. It doesn’t mean he loves Harry less or that he doesn’t acknowledge Harry, at least for the most part, as himself. I just means that he has been allowing that line to blur a wee bit too much as Mrs. Weasley suspects. Goodness, I’ve called my sister “mom” occasionally when she’s being particularly bossy.
It’s a regretful mistake to make right before dying, though. Ouch. Sorry Harry!
Overall, though, this is probably my favorite movie out of all of them and some of the drastic changes made were sort-of quite spectacular. I don’t view them as changes so much as rearrangement. The story’s integrity was, overall, preserved, I think. So long as the movies portray the proper emotional conflicts I can pardon the editing out of the action.
I admire how the director fit messages in through alternative ways such as Harry hearing the prophesy, ministry newpaper clippings, etc. My favorite alteration has to be the conflict between Harry and Voldemort during Harry’s possession. “I pity you!” Wow. Perhaps even skipping a few books, but I loved the way that was handled even more explicitly. Brilliant and very emotional.
Great review, Travis. I’m pretty much where you are: I really enjoyed the movie, despite some of the deficiencies you mentioned. I actually thought the “Good one, James” line worked pretty well, but I agree that they messed up Sirius’ death with the way they handled the veil.
I also agree that the Dumbledore-Voldemort showdown at the Ministry could have been better. Plus, I was disappointed that Dumbledore didn’t use the statues! Curiously, though, I thought they did a decent job with Harry’s possession. When I was re-reading the book, I couldn’t really see how that would work in a movie, but it ended up being okay.
Other thoughts:
I really liked the broom flight through London (and later on the thestrals), of all things. I thought it did a good job of visually capturing the way that Harry’s previously-separate worlds (ie, life at Privet Drive vs Hogwarts) begin collapsing into each other.
Umbridge was fantastic, as was Luna. Actually, the whole cast turned in a pretty solid performance. Even for the minor characters, I’m glad they’ve been able to keep the cast fairly consistent throughout the series.
There was no mention of Percy’s estrangement from the rest of the Weasleys. I wish they had included that, especially since Percy was in the movie!
I thought some of the comic relief moments were well-done, too, like Mr. Weasley at the ticket booth. And who knew Filch could be so funny!
Random question: Did anyone else think that Mr. Weasley’s paper crown (that he wore when he came home from the hospital) was a subtle nod to the whole “Weasley is our King” Quidditch subplot that didn’t make it into the film?
I agree shadowquill. They did rearrange things but only for the purpose of the film and the story IT had to tell. And I’m glad it kept in a lot of the scenes from the books. It didn’t add any bogusness.
And I’m off now to re-read HBP! My favorite of the series. I love the first chapter. You immediately get the sense of how much damage Voldemort is now incurring. Yes it did drag on a bit BUT I love it. I also found that this and some of the following chapters, the ones in which Harry was out of Hogwarts, show us so much more of the war. In books five and four, the gang were still finding out a lot about what was going on. Granted there is SO much more happening now that Voldemort is in the open… but I can’t help but think Jo was weening us off of Hogwarts in book six. She gave us all this vital information about the war when Harry was away from school (Lupin’s role, important disappearances, etc.) and we saw so little of the class room (as she wanted to show us Tom’s past, and to not put anything else in cannon that would be too irrelevant and possibly confuse us.) I know we had the teen love going on but that was used for 1. to lighten up an otherwise dark plot, and 2. to take us away from anything important. She didn’t want us knowing too much AND Jo didn’t want the trio thinking too much about what was happening. So she decided to sort out the teen loving in six, to contrast against the dark over tones and to get us and the trio further away from anything that will be important.
Think about it, we had just gotten away from the Ministry in five, learnt of the veil, the prophecy, the power of love, and heard that curious gong like spell… in six she abandons all of that and only mentions it in passing… we also get very little in terms of back story regarding Snape, Dumbledore, Lilly or the Mauraders and only find out why Voldemort didn’t die when AK backfired. We also found out about who heard the first half of the prophecy (though Trelawney’s account totally contradicts this.) But in the scheme of things, I think most of the fan base went into HBP thinking they were going to find out pretty much everything in regards to the back story, leaving seven to reveal Snape’s loyalties and show how Harry could possibly defeat Voldemort (with the power of love, veil, etc.) Well that’s the impression I had from the fandom when going into six.
Now it seems seven will be jammed packed with all the big questions we’ve been burning to hear (and even a few smaller ones.) Some of the smaller niggling questions may be left out. And that’s okay. We’ll leave that to the fan-fic writers and avid theorists like us to play with.
What Jo HAS so cleverly done with the first six books is give us all the pieces to the puzzle. She did say that Harry knows a lot more than he thinks he does and has a lot at his disposal. Harry has so many people he can ask in regards to the back story. But what I love about the idea of the Horcruxes is that they will move Harry around. He will be getting pieces of vital information in regards to his parents and Snape, Dumbledore and everything else. If book seven plays out like book three (and I think it will) we’ll get pages of back story to find out Snape is innocent. The back story may even go far back as the Founding Fathers and find it’s way to Snape, Lilly, Tom etc (note that the back story in three in regards to Sirius, James, Lupin and Wormtail, went far back as well.) Harry and the audience will have all the pieces in place, have all the Horcruxes done and then go in and defeat Voldemort (just like when he used the time turner to go back and free Buckbeak and Sirius.) Or something to that effect. The powerful confrontation with Snape will be what helps Harry to defeat Voldemort.
And just a final note: If DH is to mirror PoA, expect to see a scene where Harry will be ready to harm or even want to kill Snape and Fawks will fly in, over Snape protecting him, showing Harry he IS Dumbledore’s man through and through. This scene would mirror the one in PoA in which Crookshanks crawls in front if Sirius’s heart and defends him.
My apologies to everyone… that was a piece of bile I have been wanting to bring up for the better part of a year. I hope it makes cohrent sense. I know it isn’t relevant. Sorry Travis.
Normally, I read everyone else’s comments first, but I want to just jump in here, Travis. Great review.
I agree–this IS my favorite already. I actually went to the theater five times to see POA, but now the omissions just kill me to watch–the lack of any explanation about the Map and who the Marauders were, plus the two faintly heard sounds of phoenix song–it was there, but not enough, and Cuaron’s obsession with that stupid talking head and the Knight bus now drive me crazy.
There were parts of Goblet that I really liked–more than a lot of people, I guess. But it was the ending that spoiled it as you said–no real explanation for Priori Incantatem, and no set up for the return of the Order, as in sending Snape on whatever mission.
At least with Order of the Phoenix, we find out that Hagrid was sent some where by Dumbledore. Grawp was not how I imagined him, but that’s a good thing, because the book Grawp annoyed me so much that I have trouble even reading it. So I was OK with that particular change.
As you said, there’s not enough Snape and they are going to have to do some major set-ups for HBP. They haven’t dealt with the real hatred between Snape and Sirius, which carries over to Harry, and that’s a big thing that has been left out. I suppose they can get it in there, but it’ll probably mean that something else gets cut from HBP.
I do think that Yates was wise to give Dumbledore lines straight out of the book, and to minimize him. But that’s another thing that’s going to be a problem for HBP, unless someone finally convinces Gambon to read the books to find out what Dumbledore is really like–because he doesn’t have a clue. But he was less irritating this time round, and I’m sure that was Yates’s doing.
You hit the nail on the head for my one big complaint, and that was that there was no phoenix to swallow up that AK curse that Voldemort sent at Dumbledore at the same time the snake was attacking him and he dispatched that as well. That, to me, was a huge imagery in the book, and it’s been left out. Very disappointing.
I took Harry hearing Voldemort’s voice differntly than you did. Wasn’t Voldemort already there (in the movie), but Harry hadn’t seen him? So instead of those thoughts coming from Harry, it was more of Voldemort goading him. And after Harry tried to curse Bella (well, he did, but it didn’t really work), he did keep fighting her and taunting her about Voldemort and the smashed Prophecy. So maybe that was the reason Yates did it that way. I do think that Daniel could have handled the scene more as it was in the book–he’s quite good now and very believable.
I loved Lupin in this, especially the scene when Sirius died–and though it was well done with the proper amount of suprise, it should have been a real tattered veil, instead of see-through mistiness. I would like to have seen the other rooms, but that would have taken another 20 minutes, so I’m OK with that cut. More time at Grimmauld Place would have been good–more Kreacher, who looked and sounded great. And where was Mrs. Black? Darn, we even got Tonks tripping over the troll umbrella stand, we should have had screaching Mrs. Black, to make that pure blood bigotry more evident.
Oh, and yes, Sirius did say James. I loved the reaction throughout the movie–every time there was a scene or there were lines straight out of the book, you could hear a collective sigh of approval, sometimes a “just like the book”. When Sirius said James, it surprised me, but I thouht it was really a good way to include that confusion that Sirius seemed to have about Harry, and it was done with just one word, by Sirius calling him James.
I was never too happy with Gary Oldman as a choice for Sirius in POA, but I loved him in this one. He was great and clearly understands the part and his relationship to Harry–absolutely spot on.
Umbridge was perfect as well–not like I pictured her. I actually know a woman who looks like my image of Umbridge and she’s scarier looking. But Imelda Staunton was even a better choice.
Luna was so perfect. I love the character anyway, and love the way she was portrayed. I also liked it that they included a little more of Luna–giving Harry the information about what the thestrals are instead of in Hagrid’s class, was a logical change and it worked.
You said 85%, I’d say for me it was more like 90% or even more. This film, more than any of the others, captured the essence of the book, and with a book the size of OP, that was quite a challenge.
Pat
Oh, and I forgot–I loved Snape in this, but there did need to be more, and they really needed to show more of the taunting that James did–some of the nastiness was there, but not enough, and no Lily to defend Snape. And I always like seeing Alan Rickman in whatever role.
Again Travis, I agree that it would be nice to see more of the very talented adult cast–they are all so good and it’s a shame that they don’t just add 20 minutes to include some more of the scenes like the one in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place or with Sirius and Harry at the station. They must surely have realized by now that these are not really appropriate stories for 9 year olds, so quit gearing the movies to that age group. Anyone older can sit still that much longer so more of Rowling’s wonderful details can be included.
Oh, question for y’all. On another forum, someone said that there was a Snow Cake Easter egg in this movie. I’ve seen Snow Cake three times and I’ve no idea what she’s talking about.
Pat
Question: Did anyone manage to see if all the Marauders were there in the *very* brief view of Snape’s memories? Can’t wait to get my DVD so I can pause it and take a good, hard look!
PS: Thought the special effects in the prophecy room and during DD/VM’s duel were superb!
Whole film left me breathless.
Eeyore, I agree whole heartedly about Gambon. You can really tell actors like Jason Isaacs love the books because he tries to make 110% of his screen time as Lucius Malfoy. Gambon’s “because I cared too much for you, Harry” or whatever the line was just almost devoid of emotion. How he’s going to do the tear-inducing “I am with you” line in the cave is just not something I’m looking forward to. It’s probably too late to switch actors, but it will always be something that could of been. Ah well…
At any rate…Guillermo del Toro for Deathly Hallows, I say!
Morganna, I know that I saw Sirius in Snape’s Worst Memory, and I believe the others were in that boat.
I’ve seen images of them online (and Lily too before she was cut!) from when they were filming.
Here’s Lily:
http://gallery.the-leaky-cauldron.org/picture/162142
Here’s James (I know that’s Sirius’ hair to the right):
http://gallery.the-leaky-cauldron.org/picture/162982
And there was a Marauders picture that I just can’t find right now. Darn. I’ll post it if I find it.
I say we rally for Ian McKellan or James Cromwell for Dumbledore in the last 2 movies. Dumbledore should be this venerable wizard who seems kind of like he is right on the brink of evaporating before our eyes. Then, all of a sudden, he should be this bigger-than-life, take-no-prisoners, holy-crap-where-did-that-come-from mega wizard. Gambon just doesn’t do it for me. He is too cold…and I just can’t see him properly illustrating the relationship between DD and Harry. It is really disappointing, because it is SUCH a big part of this movie, and it was almost entirely cut because Gambon would have made it look forced and ridiculous. It irks me, too, that he doesn’t read the books. I am really almost not looking forward to the next movie, either.
I don’t know if anyone saw “The Count of Monte Cristo” with James Caviezel, but Richard Harris was Abbe Faria in that and he is completely DD in that role as well–compassionate, strong, and a heck of a fighter. Ah, Richard, we miss you!!!
Sincerely, other than Gambon’s DD, I enjoyed the movie. And, let me say, I LOVED Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix! She makes being bad look good!
wo- already in the 20’s n this review was made yesterday
Well, I agree with most of the things that you say, ALMOST everything, like Gambon’s poor interpretation of Proffesor Dumbledore, even though it was better in OoTP than in GoF. What I disagree with you is about Tonks, I think the actrees did Brilliant work doing the little parts that she represented. I didn’t picture Tonks the way the actrees looks, but she did a great job.
Gerj91, I agree with you about Tonks. I was commenting on how limited her role was, not how well she was portrayed.
Well, I broke down and we went to see the movie.
Travis, I agree with about 95% of what you wrote so I won’t write a lot.
I saw Gambon as deflated, ineffective and somewhat silly in his robes – mind, I’ve always found the way he lifts his skirts when he runs very ladylike. I think Yates (or Goldenberg) wisely kept his involvement to a bare minimum. I have moved from irritation and dislike to tuning him out until he goes away. It’s not hard, although the strategy won’t work for HBP.
Imelda Staunton was brilliant as Umbridge – I had thought tweed rather than pink boucle, and not as sweet, but her version was even more chilling and crazed. Give the woman an Oscar. Evanna Lynch was a more self-contained Luna than I’d visualized, but utterly unearthly. She looks and talks like she’s been beyond the veil and back.
I actually like the fact that the veil was wispy light effects rather than a tattered curtain. You can see right through it.
I feel Harry’s statement “I feel sorry for you” was somewhat premature. Two books premature to be exact. SOunds like Goldenberg has been doing his own conjecturing (or reading the websites – wouldn’t that be ironic!) and has come to his own conclusions about love and death and what it all means.
Sirius calling Harry “James” as they fought together was an inspired bit of writing. It says so much, so economically.
Agree that the relationship between Harry and Sirius was believable – more so than in the actual books, for me. Also there is a real sense of friendship and loyalty and team spirit amongst Harry and his posse -Hermione and Ron above all, but also the rest of the Weasleys, as well as Neville and Luna.
Wished Lupin (who had no lines I can remember but still was very expressive) and Petunia had more scenes. Snape was underwritten and – in the occulmency lessons – badly written. Or maybe because it was so rushed, and Rickman is best when he’s taking his time. It was frustrating, because we know how good he is.
Overall, the acting was good – inspired in places – and the scriptwriting wasn’t bad. The directing was competent. What I really take exception to is the cinematography. Too many closeups, giving the movie a claustrophobic feel, and the lighting didn’t flatter anyone. Too dark. I thought the style would be appropriate in a gritty urban drama. It made everything plain and grim. No glamour. No magic.
But the mistletoe was good.
I think Grint has turned out to be a very solid Ron, and Watson is believable as Hermione. And Matthew Lewis is doing a fine job of Neville. Radcliffe is the one I watched. Not because he’s Harry, but because he’s at a stage somewhere between child and adult, and he’s changing. He’s not the Harry of the first three movies – the innocence and directness and simplicity are gone. There’s a complicated person in there, and it shows. He’s going to be 18 and 20 for the filming of HBP and DH respectively. That’s going to be pushing it for playing a 16 and 17 year old, for him anyways.
On further reflection, I think I’ve come to like the possession scene quite a bit.
While I agree with Gaines and Reyhan that adding that simple word, “James” says a ton in a short time, and as such is a brilliant piece of writing, I’m just not sure that it was entirely necessary for the film. I agree with Reyhan that the Harry-Sirius relationship was even more believable to me in this film than in the book itself, which is quite an impressive feat. I think would have let that relationship stand alone, being the accomplishment that it was, rather than introduce that point of conflict from the book which is given only muffled precedent in the film (by “muffled,” I mean, we heard it through the door in 12GP just before Crookshanks ate the ear).
But I’m willing to reconsider that point. After all, it is kind of odd to find myself arguing that the film should not have followed canon on a point.
This movie’s been on my mind for two days, and I can’t wait to get back and see it again. I think that says a lot, as I didn’t have that experience with either Prisoner or Goblet. I only saw each of those once in the theater.
I want to see it again as well. There was a lot going on – visually and dramatically – that needs at least a second viewing for me to properly process: Grawp (who was very different from what I’d pictured, almost sweet in a befuddled sort of way), Fred and George comforting the younger boy after a session of Umbridge’s sadistic “detention”, Umbridge talking herself into using the Cruciatus, the first meeting of the DA’s when Harry almost unwillingly convinces his peers that they need to prepare for what’s coming, the entire posession scene, Luna and Hermione convincing Harry that he shouldn’t fight alone.
This is good stuff.
I’m afraid I’m going to have to take back any nasty or disparaging things I’ve said about Yates and Goldenberg. I’ll even forgive the muddy visuals. The movie works.
I saw the movie two nights ago and at first I was pretty disappointed because I liked the book so much, but then I decided that it did get the main points across… like the other movies, though, there have been things taking out that made the books worth reading, and stupid things were put in for no reason at all. I hate watching Dumbledore in the movies! In the books he’s the perfect mentor and someone that you feel safe, no matter what, when you are around him. In the movies he’s portrayed like a weak, sometimes confused old man who will probably spank you if you mess up. That took most of the magic away from the movie. I remember when I read the part about the battle in the DoM I literally stood up when Dumbledore came in because I was so excited and I knew it was going to be awesome and everything would be ok.
Another thing that they hinted to in the movies that I picked up on was how powerful they made Ginny out to be. I know they are trying to set up the relationship with harry in the future by making her a better a match then cho but [edited] She became like a Mega witch, I didn’t really understand why they felt that they needed to make that point. in the books she a good witch, but nothing like that… I love Ginny’s character to death but I was just kind of taken away by that… I also missed seeing lily evens and the others in the flash back scene but then in POA they never fully explained anything about harry’s dad and his friends..
oh well, if people who didn’t read the books love the movies, then I guess they know what they’re doing.. but they don’t know what they’re missing
I think the reason they showed Ginny as more powerful was because of something that Rowling said in an interview about Ginny being more powerful and that we should keep our eye on her, rather than just setting her up as Harry’s love interest in HBP.
I thought they did that very nicely with a few looks from Ginny any time Cho was mentioned or was hanging around Harry. Good bit of subtle, but not too subtle acting from Bonnie on that one.
I do find myself wondering what they are going to do with Gambon in HBP. Dumbledore is all through that book, and at times very funny (with the Dursleys at the beginning and with Slughorn part of the time), and at other times serious and/or powerful. He just doesn’t seem to have the acting range to pull it off. I know they feel like they can’t change actors again, but I really wish they would. I don’t think anyone would be unhappy to see someone else as Dumbledore in HBP. Someone, anyone else, please.
And I’m going to go see it again later today. I’m sure I missed some things at the midnight show just because it was after midnight.
I do wish we had seen more of the Marauders, but Cuaron ruined that back story by not making it complete in POA. It’s one of the things that irritates me the most about POA. Oh, well, that’s another topic altogether. (Except, please don’t bring back Cuaron for the last one, WB.)
Pat
rachelrabbit, I think the brilliance of this movie is how much it was able to communicate with short lines, simple words, and actions. That’s what I really liked about having Ginny be so powerful. It communicates the same thing as all the discussion in the books about her bat-bogey hex with just a few simple actions.
Also, you’ll notice that whenever there’s a Harry-Cho scene about to happen, Ginny pauses and looks on for a moment. The most noticeable is just before the kiss. As everyone is leaving the RoR, Ginny pauses and looks back, noticing that Harry is drawing closer to Cho.
I think Ginny was done quite well for the very limited time she had.
Yeah, supposedly Ginny is developing into a very powerful witch. I think JKR said it had to do with Ginny being the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. I really enjoyed her few parts in the movie. When she performed the Reducto spells, everyone in the theater let out an audible “Whoa!”. I have heard that Ginny’s full name, Ginevra, is the Italian form of Guinevere, who, if I recall my Arthurian legend correctly, was quite a warrior in her own right. Again, love JKR for her choice of names and what they reveal about the characters. She is brilliant.
The looks Ginny cast at Harry and Cho did not go unnoticed by me, either. I thought that was a great touch. There was so much communication going on non-verbally, and it really showed me how the characters have improved in their acting, and it also added a great deal to the movie.
I have really mixed feelings about the film. The scope of the stories from the books has become so huge (and I’m not just talking page count) that the omissions are becoming that much more glaring. If the movies can succeed on their own terms, I’m fine with them. But there are some things left from the film that seemed rather important. There’s no mention of the rift between Percy and the Weasleys. Other elements were handled so quickly, they were easy to miss. The Prophecy could have been left out of the film all together without taking that much away from the story of the film. And the “Scar-o-scope” connection is so rushed.
David Yates as a director presents a dilemma to me, creating moments in the film that worked exceptionally well, while others seemed to fail miserably. His eye toward scenes uses a kind of quiet, character driven subtlety that really worked in developing many of the characters, even as most of them were minimalized quite a bit due to time constraints. And I think he improved the performances of many of the actors, especially the kids. Ron was much more natural to me here, instead of the corny goofball every other director had turned him into.
The exceptions to this are Snape and Dumbledore. Snape’s problems are his lack of screentime and the way the memory is handled (and I never pictured Legilimency as a spell cast with a wand). Dumbledore’s are, I agree with everyone here, entirely derived from Gambon’s performance. I’ve been able to pass over Gambon for the most part. But when he yells at the student body after Umbridge’s dismissal of Trelawney, it was 180 degrees diametrically opposed to the character Rowling created. To me, Gambon’s deficiencies as Dumbledore were even more glaring because his screentime is so focused on critical junctures. And they must do something about him for HBP, even if it means tying him down Clockwork Orange-style and forcefeeding him a steady diet of Richard Harris performances and the books as audio files.
What bothered me most though was to see Yates’ talents as a director get submarined by his own choices. His eye for quiet subtlety was completely sunk by the fact that he was at the helm of a summer blockbuster. Each scene really worked in and of itself for me, but I thought you had to know the book before you could understand the story of the movie. The scenes aren’t tied together by a narrative thread other than “Harry is at Hogwarts again and things are really bad because of Umbridge and Harry is really ticked off…occasionally”. The central narrative thread of the book’s plot, the Prophecy, is never mentioned until they get to the Ministry, and it’s handled as an afterthought. They chose to focus on Umbridge’s imperialism of the school, which was done well and with tons of humor. But the choice was a bad one in terms of the story and themes, I think.
I really can’t help but wonder if audience members who weren’t familiar with the books knew what was going on. I felt better grounded in the plot of Transformers, and I never thought I’d say that about a Michael Bay film.
But I also think Yates can handle HBP quite well. His eye and directorial sense fits that novel much better than OotP.
Dave, my thoughts exactly. Very mixed feelings.
They could’ve left out the prophesy as well as the opening scene with the Dementors, without taking too much from the plot, because they weren’t properly explained in the film anyway. In the end, who cared? It didn’t really seem to matter. The prophesy was central in the book but almost peripheral in the film.
Yet there are such strong, emotional moments and brilliant actors, strong wonderful images, this could have been a great movie. WOW, there’s so much potential! But I felt as if they didn’t really make the film they wanted to make, but tried to meet the expectations of a broad audience, to create a summer block buster.
In the quieter moments I was touched by the performance and especially warmed to Sirius and his relationship with Harry. I hope to see more of that emotional quality and intensity in the following movies.
Anyway, this is just my first impression, and I haven’t seen the film in English yet. I plan to see the original version next week and perhaps I’ll change my mind.
OK, a couple of things. I’m in the middle of re-reading all the Occlumency lessons with Snape. Harry is allowed to use his wand, which is the deviation from the book, and Snape casts Legilimency with his wand. It isn’t until HBP that we see that Snape is using Legilimency against Draco without a wand or a spoken spell.
Snape tells Harry that he needs to learn to repel him with his mind and without his wand, but Harry never gets to that point. It’s a nice set up for the non-verbal magic that they are supposed to learn in HBP.
I’m not sure how why the prophecy needs to be brought up more in the movie, except at the end–and yes, it needs a much better explanation and the tie in with Trelawney having overheard it. But Harry doesn’t know anything about the prophecy or what’s in that Hall until they get there in the attempt to rescue Sirius. There’s that whole scene where Lucius keeps demanding that he hand it over, but Harry has no clue what it is or why they want it–and of course, Bella tries to take it, unsuccessfully.
I was OK with Harry hearing it, but I wondered if anyone else was meant to be able to hear it, or if it was like the Sorting Hat, where what was said was only for the ears of the one meant to hear the message.
LOL–force feeding Gambon performances of Richard Harris and the audio books! I love it. There are so many brilliant British actors out there, why couldn’t they have picked someone else, and why didn’t Mike Newell make the change. Now we do seem to be stuck with him, unless Yates plucks up the courage to just get someone else. Oh, how I wish he would.
Well, I’m off to go see the movie a second time–now that it’s day time, I’ve had some sleep and I’m actually wide awake. I love going to the midnight movies, but I’m always sure that after the long wait, I’ve missed a lot.
Pat
I wish we could edit. I want to clarify a few things.
When I was talking about the revelation of the prophecy, I’m referring to the book, not the movie, except the part where Harry hears it and everyone is standing around, as in the movie. My comment about the Sorting Hat is that, in the book, it’s quite clear than only the person under it hears what it says, but my husband who won’t read the books, thought that everyone in the Great Hall could hear what the Hat said. So, I’m wondering if it’s the same with the Prophecy–did only Harry hear it (in the movie), or did they all hear it–because that makes a difference. (And I’ll have to listen again, but I don’t think they gave the whole thing in the movie, did they? Not word for word from the book, anyway. Hmmmm.)
And with Occlumency in the book, it’s pretty much like the movie, where Snape explains it, then casts the spell verbally, using his wand. The part they changed was that Harry can use his wand in the book; having him wandless in the movie points out how vulnerable he feels, without our being able to “hear” his thoughts, so I thought that worked well–especially since we don’t see all the different times he goes for lessons.
I just realized today though, that one of the things omitted was the whole part about the broken vanishing cabinet. So for HBP, they’ll need to go back to Harry seeing that cabinet in COS and have some mention of a cabinet at Hogwarts. Or, maybe they’ll just come up with another way for the Death Eaters to get in–the cabinet works so well for that because it gives Draco something to be working to repair all year, while Harry is trying to catch him at it.
Well, I’m not going to worry about it. Overall, I liked what Yates did with the movie. I watched Daniel Radcliffe on some show the other day, and he said that on the plane, Yates was sitting with the book in one hand and the script in the other, comparing them. So at least he’s aware of how things are different. (I never felt sure that Cuaron (who’s to blame for Gambon, now I think of it) really knew what was in the book.)
Pat
I agree with much that has been posted above – excellent review, Travis! I can’t tell how much I appreciate your thoughtful insights about all things Harry.
Gambon was indeed a bit better, especially in that last short scene with Harry where I actually could feel a bit of his love for Harry in the emotion of his voice. What I dislike about Gambon’s usual portrayal of Dumbledore is that he so often seems to be confused or unsure of himself, which he shows us by his slightly open mouth at times. Sort of a “duh” look. Well, ’nuff said about him.
Loved Harry and Ginny, for all the reasons others have noted. I have always felt that Ron and Hermione were portrayed adequately at best, but they did quite well in this, although they were never really the focus of the movie, of course. How I would have loved it if there had been time for Quidditch and a chorus of “Weasley is Our King”!
I must disagree on Bellatrix though. Helena Bonham Carter is a wonderful actress and played her take on the character brilliantly, but it was not at all how I picture Bellatrix. It seems to me Rowling once describes Bellatrix as having “sleek” black hair and I always pictured her as very cold with her evil heart showing through just under the surface, like black ice; I just don’t see her as a mental patient. Not to say that she isn’t crazy or that she can’t explode in wild expressions of hatred and evil, but with sleek coldness as a backdrop, I think it just would make those outbursts scarier.
Wish they hadn’t cut Lily! I am a believer in some form of the Snape loves Lily theory, but we’ll see about that soon…!
One scene that was alluded to that I would have loved to have seen more like the book was the Umbridge vs McGonagall verbal duel. The scene on the staircase was similar, but much weaker than the passage in the book where the two of them argue over Harry’s future. A small thing, but it made me laugh out loud when I read it, and I missed it in the movie.
Very good Umbridge portrayal. (But I kept thinking about how much my daughter would love those meowing cat plates! I chuckled when the one cat left its plate through a cat flap – clever!)My husband (who hasn’t read the books) really wanted to see Umbridge get torched.
All in all, I really enjoyed this movie, and can’t wait to see it again. Along with the rest of us, I just wish it had been longer!
Pat, I see your point about the Prophecy, and my take on Legilimens as a Spell just had a more subtle bit of action as opposed to wands flashing across a room while Harry looks as though he’s being tortured.
My main issue is that the film makes Umbridge the main plotline without really developing Harry’s nightmares/visions and his interests in the Department of Mysteries. And the vision of Sirius’ torture is so quick that if you blink, you’ll lose it.
The other films, despite any other deficiencies, have done a good job of balancing the main storyline as a metanarrative for the real story that takes place elsewhere. This one just didn’t do that for me. I felt like Harry’s real villain in the movie was Umbridge, and then we ran off to the Minsitry of Magic to do something else once she was taken care of.
The best moments in the film were those that Yates took time to pace: Harry’s discussions with Sirius; The trio’s discussion in the Common Room; the meeting at the Hogshead (the goat behind the counter was a hilarious touch!); the final discussion with Dumbledore in which Gambon got closer than ever to the nature of the character. I liked the confrontation between Voldemort and Dumbledore, as well, even though they nixed the statues in the fountain kicking butt. I liked the possession scene, too.
Sirius was developed very well. And I was suprised at how impressed I was with Tonks’ character. Natlia Tena is on screen for all of four minutes, but I thought she nailed Tonks’ goofiness/confidence pretty well. And for the first time, Ron felt like a character that I liked and respected; in earlier movies I had sympathy for Snape smacking him on the back of the head.
I do like the movie. But the artistic ambition of the director combined with the ambitions of the story and the limits they were working under as a mainstream summer film made the disappointments a bit more bitter. Mia said it best above: there was so much potential here that was so obvious. The movie just needed another good half hour to slow its rush of plot of details.
Dave (the Longwinded), I started responding once to your point about the real story ve. the main story, stopped, but now I’m going to try again.
The main story is Umbridge and her Fascist take-over of Hogwarts. The real story, of course, is Voldemort’s attempt to deceive Harry into bringing him the Prophecy. The objection you and others have voiced is that in the movie, the real story gets short shrift and is incomprehensible.
I agree that the emphasis is on the Umbridge storyline. And that it’s difficult to make sense of the real story as it develops, and to have much of a reaction to the disclosure that either Harry or Voldemort must die. To this I would add that Sirius’ death, which is the real emotional punch of the story, is given short shrift by the movie. So aside from the Umbrdige storyline, there is no strong narrative thread. Nothing like PoA, for example.
What I wanted to say in defense of the movie is that these problems are also problems with the book. First off, Umbrige is a much more compelling villain than Voldemort. We have discussed it on these threads, and at 37% she was our best love-to-hate villain, beating Snape and Voldemort combined ! The character is so well written (and so beautifully acted by Staunton) that she takes over in any incarnation. It’s a pity that she relegates the real story to the background, but such is the price of the writer’s genius.
Second, the real story doesn’t take off in the book either. Harry has bad thoughts, impulses and dreams, everyone badgers him to keep attending his stressful and useless occulmency classes with Snape, and he ignores Hermione’s prescient advice and ends up in the trap which Voldemort has set up for him. A trap which could easily have been avoided if Dumbledore had just spoken these words: “Voldemort is trying to control your mind, Harry”. We have discussed this too, on these threads, endlessly. At the risk of alienating those who love the book, I believe that the “real” story of book 5 is not very believable. Certainly nowhere as believable as the “main” story of Dolores Umbridge and her attempts to grind down the children’s growing power and independence.
I suppose the scriptwriter and the director could have tried to construct a more compelling storyline, but the nature of the climactic revelation, and the fact that JKR doesn’t give too many clues along the way, makes that difficult. And unlike we on this website, who spend endless hours conjecturing about motive and opportunity, the characters in OotP do not speculate about why Harry is having these nightmares and where they’re coming from. They just exhort him to block his mind to them. Movie critics have noted – approvingly – that Harry’s journey is mainly an internal one in this movie. So it is, and it’s hard to give a narrative line to an internal journey, especially when the destination is still two books away. This, btw, explains Harry’s premature statement to Voldemort that he feels sorry for him. The scriptwriter wanted to see Harry to his ultimate destination. I wanted to say: Wait for it, Harry.
HOwever, I do agree with just about everyone that things might have become a bit more comprehensible if the movie had been longer, say by about half an hour. I say this, but I know I’m lying to myself. The real reason I want the movie to be longer is to see more of Rickman, and Thewlis, and Smith, and Lynch and Gleeson and Oldman bringing my favorite characters to such perfect life. But there’s always the hope that a lot of scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, as they say (I think it was digitally shot so there would be no actual film) and will be put together in a much-longer Director’s Cut. I’ll be the first in line for that DVD.
Reyhan, I agree that the real story wasn’t that prominent for most part of the book as well, but it did reach a conclusion in the end. That’s what I expected in the movie and I was somehow waiting for the final scene that would tie everything together. But then the story ended rather abruptly without giving the audience any clue.
Perhaps I wouldn’t have paid so much attention to it, if I hadn’t seen the movie with someone unfamiliar with the book. She was rather confused and didn’t really get the whole prophecy-storyline. I guess a lot of people who haven’t read OotP will feel the same way.
But of course there’s much to be said in defense of the movie. Harry’s internal journey was well represented, though I also wonder about his pity for Voldemort. Like you’ve said, it seemed to be premature and just a bit too reflected for a 15 year old boy.
Surely, Harry is very much capable of compassion for his enemies, Snape, Draco, and in HBP there was even a touch of empathy for Tom Riddle, though he denied it. Is Voldemort to be pitied? In a way he is, I think, for not knowing love and friendship. Maybe in book 7, when Harry has completed his journey, he’ll grow into recognizing Voldemort as the destroyed human being he truly is.
Reyhan, I agree with your response, but the internal conflict Harry has is reflected in his “visions” of the Ministry and the Department of Mysteries. This was the part that just seemed so rushed and underdeveloped to me.
Mia, I also agree there’s much to be celebrated in the movie. It’s just that one of the main narrative hooks established in book 5, the Prophecy and Harry’s decisions about the Ministry, are easy to miss in the film version.
I wonder how they’re going to reinforce them for the 6th film. This might also be the film equivalent of the dilemma at the end of book 6: it’s clearly only part of a whole. I think it’s possible OotP can be redeemed by what might happen in HBP, especially because I think book 6 is better written and it’s plot lends itself a little better to the sensibilities Yates evidenced in this film.
Some thoughts.
Tom Riddle is to be pitied for many things. Lack of friendship and love in his life and his lack of ability to love. But even more so for his (resulting) fear of death. But we shouldn’t forget that he is still actively evil. I think the time for pity will be when his power to hurt others has been taken from him.
My other thought is that Harry’s internal journey spans the course of seven books. The end of that journey, I think, will be his realization that death has no more fear for him (because of the love which fills his life.) That realization will lead to a “flight into death” in order to save himself and the world from Voldemort. Which will make him the antithesis of the man whose name means “flight from death”.
Unless Goldenberg and Yates have deeply pondered the meaning of Harry’s journey, they can not know that this is where he’s going. I think they’re half the way there – they know it’s love which gives him the power against Voldemort. But they haven’t connected the final dots. Which, if you think about it, is not a bad thing. We don’t want them giving the whole show away when there are two movies left to make.
Also, unlike Peter Jackson who was given all the the LOTR trilogy, they were not given the whole seven book saga. They didn’t even know what the seventh piece looked like. They had to make a movie which stands alone.
I actually think they did pretty well with the piece they were entrusted with.
What is interesting now is that filming on HPB will start in the fall. DH will come out in a few days. Much like Travis reviewing everything that’s he’s prepared for Prophecy 2007 in light of the revelations of book 7, Steve Kloves will be feverishly reading, reading, to make sure that what he’s written for HBP fits what is to come.
Here is a word of advice to Mr. BArron and Mr. Heyman: film HBP and DH in one go, like Jackson did with LOTR. That way the script will have continuity, the actors won’t get too old for their roles, and the two movies will reflect the fact that the two books are two parts of one whole.
Great review, Travis. And I’m so happy to read that OP is your favorite book. It’s mine, too, and so many people seem to hate it that at times I feel a bit beleaguered for feeling that way!
Anyway, very excellent review…
Reyhan, I don’t think they could film it in one go. Even though the trio are old enough to do that, there are a lot of younger children that aren’t. In LOTR, there weren’t that many children in all of the movies, or even in that many scenes.
I do think it would be interesting to see what the movies would have been like had they waited till the last book was done. But when they started filming them, Rowling had been turning out a book a year and they probably expected her to keep that pace. And then they would have had all the books for the last two movies.
I did see it again on Friday afternoon, and liked it even better when I was wide awake. It didn’t seem as fast as it did on first viewing; I’m not sure why. There were so many times that Yates conveyed something crucial about a character or an event with a word or a glance or a wink, and I loved that.
I just wish that the directors would figure out that as much as they all hate exposition, they have to do Dumbledore’s bit at the end of the movie, to really convey the point of the books. And none of them seem willing to go there. Of course, it takes a good actor to do that, and they are handicapped with that, but they must be some way to do it.
Harry did more talking that Dumbledore in their meeting at the end, and I think that was a good choice. It was interesting that throughout the movie Harry was more introspective than angry and shouting. And I think that’s probably a good thing–a yelling Harry in the book was sometimes hard to “listen to”, but a yelling Harry on screen might have felt way overdone.
I’m listening to Stephen Fry reading Half-Blood Prince right now. I like the way he reads Dumbledore–can we put a wig and a long white beard on him for the 6th movie?
Pat
Reyhan, regarding the translation of “vol-de-mortâ€: The French “vol†is “flight†in English, but only with the meaning of “flyingâ€, not “escapeâ€. It may also mean “swarm†or “flock†(of animals) or, interestingly, “theftâ€. So, for example, “vol de retour†would be “return flightâ€, and “vol de voiture†would be “car theftâ€.
But this doesn’t necessarily affect your conclusions. If you take “gift†as antipode to “theftâ€, Harry may welcome death as a gift, as something desirable, when “death has no more fear for himâ€, as you said.
Was it just my imagination, or was that Trelawney’s voice telling the Prophecy in the DoM?
Question:
In the Hog’s Head, is the barkeeper also played by Gambon? He showed up too briefly for me to be sure, but as Albus’s brother is the owner…and is said to look a lot like Albus, I wondered.
Robin
I hated the movie. Sorry.
I thought it was pretty ham-handed directing. The Nazi newspaper theme got old after the first few times, and I got very tired of trying to read the twisting headlines. I think perhaps that resonates better with the British audience than Americans. There were opportunities to tie into modern day terrorism (and Bush fascism) that would have been more effective and subtle.
I thought the scene with Umbridge and McGonagal on the stairs was embarassing. Reminded me of high school direction, with all the changing of heights on the stairs. We get it already.
It seemed to me that key things were left out of the movie as well. Perhaps JKR was too busy writing the final book to review it carefully? Isn’t the finding of the locket at Grimmald Place in this book? The tapestry must be important because it was rammed down our throats – we spent as much time looking at it as at anything else in the movie! Must have been Regulus burned out of the big hole they focused on at the end of the scene.
And WHAT is in Dumbledore’s beard? That bugged me the whole movie. Looked like something a teenage girl would wear in her ponytail. Costumes were very good in this one though, especially Petunia’s dress at the beginning.
I agree about Luna and Tonks. Neither was how I pictured. However, both will make it work. I do agree about Dumbledore – I have no idea how that actor will pull off HP6, where “presence” is so much more important. Other than the office scene, he was essentially just a placeholder in this movie.
I thought it was rather important that the Weasley children go to St. Mungo’s. It’s the moment they cross over from innocence to being active participants in the war. I’m sad it never happened. The paper crown thing with the father (Weasley is the King or no…) was stupid…and again, ham-handed directing. It detracted from the seriousness of the attack.
And what about Grawp? When did he get all nice and kind and ring the little bell at Hermione? It was just too contracted – we needed another scene where he was more out of control to understand how Hagrid had been brutalized.
I blame a lot of this on a poor script, but I certainly hope this director learns a little subtlety before the next movie. I agree with whoever posted that the Pan’s Labarynth director is the way to go.
P.S. Most kids don’t use tongue on their first kiss. Looked like he was chewing her lip off.
Maybe the director didn’t want to blame the WW’s problems on “Bush facism” because he’s not Alfonso Cuaron, who someone managed to turn “Children of Men” into a movie about the same thing…
Maybe it’s best to let the movie be about Harry Potter and not about a political agenda.
Seriously, I thought the film was brilliantly directed, far better than GoF or the first two, anyway.
I agree that both Dumbledore and his beard are ridiculous.
Unfortunately, we all have scenes that we think were important for inclusion, but the director made the choices he made, and I think they were good ones. Even Mr. Weasley’s hat. I’m not as convinced that a trip to St. Mungo’s was vital to the plot for film purposes. If they were going to add scenes they cut, that one would probably be way down on my list.
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