Post by Rosie on Jul 15, 2007 21:17:54 GMT -1
Okay, just saw it a few hours ago.
I was very dissapointed.
As they commented on Wikipedia (which has some very interesting Harry Potter articles--I'd reccomend the Plot Synopsis sections, if you haven't been able to reread the books before the release of #7) this was the shortest movie for the longest book. I knew that the screenwriters would have to make consessions in order to fit the whole general plot, but it was incredibly choppy, bouncing from one scene to another. The producers seemed to be in favor of nonverbal explanations; I think that it left some viewers (namely my parents and siblings, who never finished book 5) highly confused. The beginning half-hour was so much actions and no words--they could have explained much more in half the time, if they had added more speaking parts instead of just showing.
I did not like how they portrayed Umbridge's position at Hogwarts. Not only did they eliminate the fantastic details around Dumbledore's flight from the school, they also showed Umbridge maintaining strict order; in the book, it was quite the opposite. From the minute she declared herself Headmistress, the school fell into absolute mayhem. The film did not emphasize how dead set the staff, the entire school was against her--no Peeves, and the Weasley twin's fireworks and swamp thing was messed up. I missed McGonagall's role. There were some very amusing scenes in the book where McGonagall briefly puts Umbridge in her place that were cut completely from the movie.
I didn't have much of a problem with much of the cutting, but some of it went too far. They did not develop any of the characters besides the famous trio. Tonks was restricted to maybe, three scenes, and she did not have a major role in any of them. The Order of the Phoenix was virtually nonexistant; they didn't elaborate on much of anything. Even in the climatic battle scene, they just seem a group of ragtag wizards. All said, the movie wasn't so bad, but the ending was dissapointing. All lovey-dovey happy-pappy nonsense, we've got love and you don't...It seems like a kiddy Disney movie. This point in the series, the 'war' is getting serious. It was just... not right.
I was very dissapointed.
As they commented on Wikipedia (which has some very interesting Harry Potter articles--I'd reccomend the Plot Synopsis sections, if you haven't been able to reread the books before the release of #7) this was the shortest movie for the longest book. I knew that the screenwriters would have to make consessions in order to fit the whole general plot, but it was incredibly choppy, bouncing from one scene to another. The producers seemed to be in favor of nonverbal explanations; I think that it left some viewers (namely my parents and siblings, who never finished book 5) highly confused. The beginning half-hour was so much actions and no words--they could have explained much more in half the time, if they had added more speaking parts instead of just showing.
I did not like how they portrayed Umbridge's position at Hogwarts. Not only did they eliminate the fantastic details around Dumbledore's flight from the school, they also showed Umbridge maintaining strict order; in the book, it was quite the opposite. From the minute she declared herself Headmistress, the school fell into absolute mayhem. The film did not emphasize how dead set the staff, the entire school was against her--no Peeves, and the Weasley twin's fireworks and swamp thing was messed up. I missed McGonagall's role. There were some very amusing scenes in the book where McGonagall briefly puts Umbridge in her place that were cut completely from the movie.
I didn't have much of a problem with much of the cutting, but some of it went too far. They did not develop any of the characters besides the famous trio. Tonks was restricted to maybe, three scenes, and she did not have a major role in any of them. The Order of the Phoenix was virtually nonexistant; they didn't elaborate on much of anything. Even in the climatic battle scene, they just seem a group of ragtag wizards. All said, the movie wasn't so bad, but the ending was dissapointing. All lovey-dovey happy-pappy nonsense, we've got love and you don't...It seems like a kiddy Disney movie. This point in the series, the 'war' is getting serious. It was just... not right.