| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
C |
|
|
| Acting: |
A- |
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|
| Direction: |
A- |
|
|
| Visuals: |
B+ |
|
|
Fans of the book, take heed
by MonkeyJoe (movies profile)
Dec 4, 2007
1369
of
1837 people found this review helpful
Let me start my review by saying that I think it's safe to say that the movie I would have wanted to see would have cost at the very least 20-30 million more dollars to create and ran somewhere in the length of 4 and 1/2 to 5 hours. Now, on to the predictable complaining by a fan of the book about all the liberties that were taken.
The rushing/condensing/changing of the first half of the book was pretty shameless. I think that very important moments were lopped straight out. Others were played through by different groups of characters. In all, there were many of these moments that were forgivable... some were not. I fear for spoling, so I won't point out which scenes/moments were the ones I think were butchered. It is safe to say that a fan of the book will be dissapointed somewhere during this movie.
What really irked me was how there were a few scenes of the writing team's own creation that were inserted in willy nilly for nothing more than a cheap laugh. The original book is full of many such moments. I think they would have been better served in lifting those parts from the book, rather than making their own slapstick and/or wannabe british humor concoctions.
I have many other complaints with the story, but that's not all that makes up a film. The cinematography was very interestingly handled. At times you got the feeling that you were watching a low-budget independent film, using a lot of close quarters techniques and wipes that looked like they were taken straight out of Moulin Rouge. I appreciated this willingness to experiment and not trap Harry Potter into one type of film styling. This movie, if doing nothing else, has let there be more freedom in the future in what the public will accept. It will be interesting to see where this franchise goes from here.
The effects were good at times, and at other times stuck out like a sore thumb. Buckbeak was only semi-believable as a real and existing character, which I found to be unfortunate.
Gary Oldman and David Thewlis both had very good moments and places where they seemed out of place or were overacting. In general, the rest of the cast did their jobs admirably. Emma Thompson, especially, turned in a convincing performance as Professor Trelawny.
In the end, it wasn't a terribly bad movie, but Potter fans will need to chill their expectations. This was my favorite book so far and I came away in some ways feeling like this movie cheated me. I got to experience some great moments, but for every great moment was another I was let down by.
Come in expecting a bit less and you'll probably get more out of it. |
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