Home
 
Previous | Memories | Tell a Friend | Next
 

asyndeta
12 July 2007 @ 07:01 pm
Thoughts on OoTP: The Moovee  


+ Imelda Staunton (Umbridge) and Evanna Lynch (Luna) were perfect. Umbridge made my flesh crawl, she was so delightfully repressing some deep psychosis. I was worried about Luna because she's my favourite character and I was expecting to be disappointed, but she nailed the 'dreamy and a bit mad but ultimately logical and pragmatic' air that Luna has perfectly. Plus, she's cute as a button and her costumes were great.

+ I'm sad about the loss of the Quibbler/Rita Skeeter subplot, but it was an acceptable loss. Having Seamus abruptly go 'oh, sorry mate, me mam and I believe you now' was a bit weird, but not too bad.

+ They cut out basically the entire Harry/Cho subplot. This is A Good Thing. When I was reading the book, I started glossing over Cho's whiny crying stupidity very early and I'm glad that it's pretty much absent from the film.

+ Ditto the CAPSLOCK HARRY ANGST. He still spent pretty much the whole thing being pissed off but at least he did it fairly quietly.

+ Loved the aesthetics. I imagined Grimmauld Place (the street, not the house) to be older, but it meshed nicely with my mental image. So did the house itself. I especially liked the family tree room.

+ Snape's Worst Memory got veeerrry little screen time and that was disappointing, but I suppose it's not really important to the plot. Oh well.

+ Sirius punched Lucius in the face! *utmost glee*

+ Voldemort in a sharp suit on Platform 9 3/4 = oh god yes.

+ Thank God they fixed the daft KKK-style Death Eater uniforms from the last movie.

+ The Occlumency was handled wonderfully. Harry looking in the Mirror of Erised and having Snape pop up behind him with a snide remark was a thing of beauty.

+ Loved Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix too. 'Crazy sadist' is a pretty easy role to play, I imagine, but she's ever so much fun to watch. Also, it's nice to see her in a film not directed by Tim Burton. :v But speaking of Bellatrix...

+ Serious Enquiry Time: Why did they change the Veil scene? Why? In the book, Bellatrix zaps Sirius with a non-specific red light and he goes sailing through the Veil, fuelling Potter theorists everywhere. In the movie, she Avada Kedavra-s him and we're invited to believe that he's dead before he goes through the Veil. WHYYY. Is this just JKR using the medium of film to tell us 'no, he's really dead, he's not coming back, quit with your stupid theories already'. But then they go to great pains to have Luna point out that things we lose, we can often get back. I Am Confused.

So, apart from that oddity, you've probably gathered that I really loved it. Despite being the longest book, it felt like the most coherent movie - unlike the previous movies where I was constantly thinking 'they could have cut ABC scene from the movie and kept XYZ scene from the book'. All the editing was sensible and it didn't feel like we'd lost any meaningful chunks from the plot.

Will probably add to this or do some more ranting after Saturday.

P.S: Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman and Jason Isaacs are still SMOKIN' HOT.
 
21 comments | Leave a comment
 
( 21 comments — Post a new comment )
Terra Firma: Harry Potter - Dust[info]last_archangel on July 12th, 2007 07:06 pm (UTC)
My favorite part: they cut out the 80 THOUSAND YEARS of Hagrid explaining the giants: the gurg and the uprising and he and Madame Maxime doing it in some cave. I never cared for that subplot; it bored me to tears, and I am thrilled that the screenwriter took some 40 odd pages of rambling and turned it into appr. 15 seconds of dialogue.

Oh yeah and this:
-"Tell them I mean them no harm!"
-"Sorry, Professor. I must not tell lies."

Oh SNAP. ^_^
[info]asyndeta on July 12th, 2007 09:50 pm (UTC)
Oh snap indeed. I loved that line. X3 I actually preferred the Umbridge vs. Centaurs scene to the one in the book. And yeah, the lack of giants (for the most part) was great. Grawp was kind of cute.
[info]puff_people on July 14th, 2007 07:20 am (UTC)
GASP
NAOMI... HOW COULD YOU they didn't say as much, yes, and i did love that line, the 'oh snap' thing, but im a book lover, it's just not right!
The Celestial Bureaucracy Complaints Office: Osaka Moogle[info]eslington on July 12th, 2007 09:46 pm (UTC)
I haven't seen the film, but here's a weird idea: What happens when a dead/dying person goes across the veil?
[info]asyndeta on July 12th, 2007 09:52 pm (UTC)
I was thinking about that too, but then my head started hurting. I'm not even that hyped for Deathly Hallows, but I'll read it just so these pesky questions get answered. ...or not, but at least then I know they'll never be answered.
[info]puff_people on July 14th, 2007 07:18 am (UTC)
hmmm...
i much prefer the book, yes i know im going against the grain here, but fred and george's scene wasn't done justice, IM SAD my altime favorite harry potter moment is when fred and george totally kick umbridge's ass (not physically of course, but with words) and all they did was set off some fre works and leave, the movie would have been fantastic if you hadn't read the book, or maybe if you'd only read the book once, i'm a dedicated harry potter fan and can't stand how much they leave out. also, did anyone else notice that hagrid's hut changed sides in the third movie.
Red: Psych - Buffy[info]red_in_leather on July 14th, 2007 08:44 pm (UTC)
*was also extremely gleeful about the Sirius-Lucius face-punch. And the accompanying dialogue. Tulry awesome.

And oh, hi, I just found you! I am a completely random person and will not be offended if you don't remember me - because you never knew me! So don't wrack your brain wondering if you're supposed to recognise me :-)
[info]puff_people on July 16th, 2007 07:05 am (UTC)
hi
hi, just wondering naomi, i there any chance that you'd be able to tell me what brand of paint shop pro you use/d for potterpuffs. because, myself and my freind ellie actually thats both of us. . . oh well. myself and my freind ellie also draw puffs but find it a bot diffisult with just regular paint. please reply to this comment. and could someone also tell me how to put a picture near my name, PLEASE im a LJ hopeless. help me out
Janis: The Snazzy Heart[info]coconutzo on July 17th, 2007 04:09 am (UTC)
I agree with absolutely EVERYTHING you've said. CRAZY ANGRY HARRY!! And I think that Imelda and Evanna were made for the parts of Delores Umbridge and Luna Lovegood. I'm so glad they fixed the robes for the deatheaters as well haha

btw, if you're wondering where in the world i came from, I'M NOT A STALKER lol, but i used to follow you're creativity on potterpuffs and admired your work greatly =]
simple, creamy English charm (playing tigers): Chamber of Secrets[info]akissinacrisis on July 18th, 2007 05:06 pm (UTC)
Word on the veil. I would have loved to see Sirius die with sort-of laughter on his face, rather than leaning back and floating away. Lame.

I agree about the editing. I didn't really have a problem with anything they cut, but I thought that they put the emphasis on the wrongs bits sometimes. Or something like that. Oh well. It was still great.
Audrey-hime: harry[info]fluxxie on July 23rd, 2007 02:42 am (UTC)
(stranger alert!)

I worried about the long book to short movie cuts - but it seemed as if they got them all..right. There were parts of book five I hated so much, including Harry's super teenage angst (which I think you put so well with the "CAPSLOCK ..." - which is actually why I replied: wow, yes, I totally agree).

Inquiry theory: in a way, Sirius does come back - and Rowling then goes totally mystical on us. Voldy's biggest weapon against Harry is taking away the people closest to him, but Harry's biggest defense is knowing that those people are still with him somehow. Look at what Harry's relationship with Sirius allowed him to do/see - although Sirius is dead, the lessons/gifts surrounding him aren't. Or, to take it from the Lion King perspective: "He lives in you" (he=Sirius; you=Harry).
[info]greendresswings on July 23rd, 2007 09:07 am (UTC)
hello naomi, we used to be friends (i think when my username was __girlwholived), friends again?
xx
[info]chibikat_wtf on July 24th, 2007 06:53 pm (UTC)
Word. Daniel Radcliffe can actually act - looks like his turn in Equus did him some good (once again proving that stage-trained actors are better than film-trained actors, lololol).

Also, I really posted to share this link: http://wists.com/weeping_cloud/35fd042f1fed24b2f5732226f582e884 I know Potterpuffs has been dead for a bit, but...dude, they're selling a t-shirt with your art on it.
[info]asyndeta on July 24th, 2007 08:15 pm (UTC)
She....doesn't seem to be selling anything, just showing it off.
cinnamon_baka: yes indeed[info]cinnamon_baka on July 26th, 2007 03:06 am (UTC)
I pretty much agree with, like, everything you said. I loved all the new people they cast for the movie ('specially Staunton and Lynch, of course). I wasn't at all sad to see Harry's complete failure at love being broadcasted on screen, either. I got tired of Cho's "wah wah, oh Cedric" whining very quickly.

I've always thought that Bella Stupefied Sirius, because doesn't the Stupefy spell produce a red light? Maybe I'm wrong. (Probably.)

I'm kind of sad at how the movie breezes past Snape's Worst Memory, actually. (First of all, you don't get to get a good look at Alec Hopkins as teenybopper!Snape, and that kid's a cutie pie. ♥)

(Heh, Voldie in a snappy suit...now THAT'S what awesomeness looks in the flesh. And Ralph Fiennes is a hot, hot man, BTW. But, yes, so are Gary and Alan. ♥)
Emily: Harry Potter Always[info]tenshi789 on July 29th, 2007 08:44 am (UTC)
I think Evanna Lynch was pretty cool too xD

I'm kinda sad that they took out this part in the Luna and Harry talk scene at the end. She was like "it's not as though I'll never see Mum again, is it?" and I don't think she said that in either of the Harry and Luna scenes ;_;

Bah, but yeah, still a good movie xD
(Anonymous) on August 7th, 2007 03:33 pm (UTC)
Ooh! The Worst Memory thing was always very important to me. It was the first time we knew for sure that J.K.'s Snape was someone we could be sorry for. Not just Rickman's.

Oh and your Voldemort in a suit thing - I never really stopped to think about it. Stopping to think about it was...good. ; )
Keith Samuel Losechester[info]bubl on August 7th, 2007 07:57 pm (UTC)
:(
How sad is it that I even have you on my flist?
</form>
How will you be suspended from LJ? by Anonymous LJ User
Username
Years on LJ
SnapeHotNot
Hours left until your suspension33
Your crimePosting drabbles longer than 100 words.
Who reported younaomi_noelle
Your fateOn usenet, kicking it old school.

[info]morningpeasant on August 13th, 2007 09:03 pm (UTC)
I agree with the fact that it felt like a 'whole' movie. They did a pretty good job cutting down one hell of a big book into just two and a half hours. There were things I was dissapointed with, I would have killed to have Snape's Worst Memory longer, but I was impressed. Mainly I just fell in love with Umbridge's cat plates, those things are friggin' AWESOME.
jnifr: Momma of Monkey[info]jnifr on August 21st, 2007 09:04 pm (UTC)
My step mom and I have read all the books, and when we go to the movie my dad, who has read none of them goes with us. He says the movies are okay, but doesn't want to read the books because they are not GREAT. I know it's just one of those sucky things that you have to deal with, but I think if the movies could include more from the books, more people would start to read them.

I could see the lack of Rita Skeeter coming from the last movie. They didn't include enough of her then, so they couldn't fit it in this one. I'm always watching thinking "they didn't mention this, how are they going to explain that now?"
Anne[info]lionore on August 23rd, 2007 08:25 pm (UTC)
Well, the movie does have its good points, but they SKIPPED most of the Department of Mysteries part (i.e. the brains and etc.).