OotP--The Movie!
Jul. 15th, 2007 02:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mysidI finally made it to see OotP. I've been reading it to my children in preparation, and we're almost done. We arrived an hour early at the theater to snag good seats, so my hubby wisely suggested that I bring the book with us. We ended up being the first ones in, and the theater staff cleaning up after the previous showing seemed to get a kick out of me reading the second to last chapter to my kids while we waited for the movie to begin.
I'm very glad that I had read it to them before we went. K and P are only seven, and I was worried that the movie would be too frightening. P did cower a bit during the dementor attack (hid inside his hooded sweatshirt and peeked out), but I whispered a reminder that Harry would be fine. From that point on, he didn't seem frightened even once. K usually pesters me with "Why....?" every five minutes during a movie, but she got all of her questions out during our reading.
Does anyone still need this spoiler protected? Probably not, but just to be on the safe side...
Overall, I liked it. They did an excellent job condensing a very long book into movie-length. The entire sequence of educational decrees going up on the wall interspersed with D.A. meetings made neat work of the middle of the book. Also, good use of Daily Prophet headlines. (Very retro.)
Luna was wonderful. The girl who played her was perfect in the part. I did appreciate that Luna's little scene with Harry and the thestrals nipped Harry's moody emo-teenagerness in the bud; she saved us much suffering through caps lock-Harry. (Unfortunately, she came off so quirky-sweet that I foresee a veritable tsunami of Harry/Luna fics about to crash down upon us.)
Neville really came into his own this time around, didn't he? It was good to see. He even got a few of Ron's lines. (ex. In the book, it's Ron who points out that Harry's name is on a prophecy; in the movie, it's Neville. It's not important who says it, but it was obviously done to give him a line in the scene.) I loved that it was Neville who convinces Harry that they should all go to London together; it's as much Neville's fight as it is Harry's.
I was dreading that we might get hit over the head with hints of Remus/Tonks, so I was relieved to be spared. Missing out on seeing Remus/Sirius's joint Christmas gift to Harry was a small price to pay for being spared a theoretical Remus/Tonks snuggling on the sofa drinking Christmas eggnog. But why didn't Remus get to be part of the "rescue party" who save Harry from Privet Drive? That was just blatently unfair to poor Remus.
Regulus? They included the Black family tree and no mention of Regulus? Idiots.
My one pet peeve in the movie--"James." In the book, Sirius never calls Harry "James," nor, despite Molly's accusations, does he act like he thinks Harry is James. So for the movie makers to have Sirius misspeak in that way--and at that moment is just plain wrong. Horrendously wrong.
Did you notice? In the movie, Bellatrix hits Sirius not with a Stunning Spell, but with the Killing Curse. It may not be canonically correct, but it's a more dignified death than being "done in by drapery."
Oh, and I loved that when Voldy tried to use the shattered glass against Dumbledore and Harry, Dumbledore de-evolved (if you will) the glass into sand. It looked cool, and it was a nifty reminder that Dumbledore used to be a transfiguration teacher.
PS--Almost forgot to mention: Bellatrix liiicking the Dark Mark on her arm. It really captures the idea of her obsessive devotion to Lord Snake-eyes, doesn't it. (And puts me in mind of all those fics in which Bella loves making her lord happy--very happy.)
I'm very glad that I had read it to them before we went. K and P are only seven, and I was worried that the movie would be too frightening. P did cower a bit during the dementor attack (hid inside his hooded sweatshirt and peeked out), but I whispered a reminder that Harry would be fine. From that point on, he didn't seem frightened even once. K usually pesters me with "Why....?" every five minutes during a movie, but she got all of her questions out during our reading.
Does anyone still need this spoiler protected? Probably not, but just to be on the safe side...
Overall, I liked it. They did an excellent job condensing a very long book into movie-length. The entire sequence of educational decrees going up on the wall interspersed with D.A. meetings made neat work of the middle of the book. Also, good use of Daily Prophet headlines. (Very retro.)
Luna was wonderful. The girl who played her was perfect in the part. I did appreciate that Luna's little scene with Harry and the thestrals nipped Harry's moody emo-teenagerness in the bud; she saved us much suffering through caps lock-Harry. (Unfortunately, she came off so quirky-sweet that I foresee a veritable tsunami of Harry/Luna fics about to crash down upon us.)
Neville really came into his own this time around, didn't he? It was good to see. He even got a few of Ron's lines. (ex. In the book, it's Ron who points out that Harry's name is on a prophecy; in the movie, it's Neville. It's not important who says it, but it was obviously done to give him a line in the scene.) I loved that it was Neville who convinces Harry that they should all go to London together; it's as much Neville's fight as it is Harry's.
I was dreading that we might get hit over the head with hints of Remus/Tonks, so I was relieved to be spared. Missing out on seeing Remus/Sirius's joint Christmas gift to Harry was a small price to pay for being spared a theoretical Remus/Tonks snuggling on the sofa drinking Christmas eggnog. But why didn't Remus get to be part of the "rescue party" who save Harry from Privet Drive? That was just blatently unfair to poor Remus.
Regulus? They included the Black family tree and no mention of Regulus? Idiots.
My one pet peeve in the movie--"James." In the book, Sirius never calls Harry "James," nor, despite Molly's accusations, does he act like he thinks Harry is James. So for the movie makers to have Sirius misspeak in that way--and at that moment is just plain wrong. Horrendously wrong.
Did you notice? In the movie, Bellatrix hits Sirius not with a Stunning Spell, but with the Killing Curse. It may not be canonically correct, but it's a more dignified death than being "done in by drapery."
Oh, and I loved that when Voldy tried to use the shattered glass against Dumbledore and Harry, Dumbledore de-evolved (if you will) the glass into sand. It looked cool, and it was a nifty reminder that Dumbledore used to be a transfiguration teacher.
PS--Almost forgot to mention: Bellatrix liiicking the Dark Mark on her arm. It really captures the idea of her obsessive devotion to Lord Snake-eyes, doesn't it. (And puts me in mind of all those fics in which Bella loves making her lord happy--very happy.)
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-16 02:09 am (UTC)If this were real life, I'd agree; I call my kids by each other's names all the time, but this isn't real life. They deliberately wrote that slip of the tongue into the movie script although there was no similar slip anywhere in the novel. I can only interpret that the screenwriters agreed with Molly that Sirius sometimes forgot that Harry wasn't James. I, however, do not agree and resent that they wrote it in.
And yes, Regulus is RAB. Of that, I am 100% certain.