Okay...first off, I did get my money's worth at the matinee. I know everyone that reads these words is thinking it is the best movie of your entire life, how will you ever live without another movie, the fact that you cried etc. for hours on end and yadda yadda yadda. I respect that and am not gonna even look at that. I just wanted to say that I didn't like it as much as everyone else but I have very solid reasons as to why.
Okay...Just to be clear...I haven't read anything past Azkaban. I decided that it was dumb to do so when the movies were being made and I'd just watch the movies and read other books. So this is only movies I'm talking about here:
1) Bellatrix Lestrange. I've been following this character some eight or nine years. Great villain. "I killed Sirius Black!" etc. prancing around like a mad-woman, played by a great actress Helena Bonham Carter. I came to the movie thinking...this will be great. I get to see how this villain gets the kabosh. Okay the fight with her lasted maybe five seconds and the person that killed her was momma Weasley who had less lines than Darth Maul had in Phantom Menace. REALLY? So dumb. She even stole a line from "Aliens"... /facepalm. This is not how Bellatrix should have died.
2) J.K. Rowling's World. I have never seen a world so full of magic. Let me repeat that. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A WORLD SO FULL OF MAGIC ANYWHERE. Literally, anything is possible. We got resurrection, teleportation, giants, dragons...you name it. You could bust out anything and it would be believable. So why in the hell was the battle of Hogwarts so boring? I saw the sparkle effect on the wands and I guess that all you have to do when a wizard throws the lightning red death beam from the end of the wand is to raise your own wand to create this shiny plasma sphere for five minutes where no one gets hurt and everybody can sigh and think...how pretty. Additionally, the walking golems that Professor Minerva McGonagall summoned got completely owned by the giants. Did they kill anyone? When the death eater wizards attacked Hogwarts there should have been massive traps and all sorts of creative zappos, blips, and massive death everywhere. I saw nothing but the wand lightning things and a person frozen in the air and then tossed back out the window. How stupid.
3) Voldemort. He's supposed to be this all-powerful bad ass wizard. Yet, he can't figure out his own wand? Really? He thinks he figures it out but gets it all wrong. I honestly thought perhaps he was the wizard with downs. Then he lets Neville completely monologue. Why would you do that? If I was an evil badass wizard, as soon as Neville started giving his speech and rallying the kids out front of the ruined castle, I would have zapped him dead as a doornail. But nope. That didn't happen. Let's let the young man monologue and get everyone all rallied up with gusto!
4) The Goblin Banker. He wanted the magic sword of Gryffindor even knowing that it teleports around to give itself to a person that is in need of its power. Yet, he's supposed to be a curator of treasures. This is a bad bad investment and doesn't make sense. Also, he's too short to wield the sword. It would be like me wanting a trebuchet for my one-bedroom apartment.
Anyway...don't egg me please. I got my matinee's money's worth and I know the movie is like 97% on Rotten Tomatoes so essentially it's considered a masterpiece. I just don't get it.
I don't. And that's my two cents.
SPOILER ALERT:
Okay...Just to be clear...I haven't read anything past Azkaban. I decided that it was dumb to do so when the movies were being made and I'd just watch the movies and read other books. So this is only movies I'm talking about here:
1) Bellatrix Lestrange. I've been following this character some eight or nine years. Great villain. "I killed Sirius Black!" etc. prancing around like a mad-woman, played by a great actress Helena Bonham Carter. I came to the movie thinking...this will be great. I get to see how this villain gets the kabosh. Okay the fight with her lasted maybe five seconds and the person that killed her was momma Weasley who had less lines than Darth Maul had in Phantom Menace. REALLY? So dumb. She even stole a line from "Aliens"... /facepalm. This is not how Bellatrix should have died.
2) J.K. Rowling's World. I have never seen a world so full of magic. Let me repeat that. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A WORLD SO FULL OF MAGIC ANYWHERE. Literally, anything is possible. We got resurrection, teleportation, giants, dragons...you name it. You could bust out anything and it would be believable. So why in the hell was the battle of Hogwarts so boring? I saw the sparkle effect on the wands and I guess that all you have to do when a wizard throws the lightning red death beam from the end of the wand is to raise your own wand to create this shiny plasma sphere for five minutes where no one gets hurt and everybody can sigh and think...how pretty. Additionally, the walking golems that Professor Minerva McGonagall summoned got completely owned by the giants. Did they kill anyone? When the death eater wizards attacked Hogwarts there should have been massive traps and all sorts of creative zappos, blips, and massive death everywhere. I saw nothing but the wand lightning things and a person frozen in the air and then tossed back out the window. How stupid.
3) Voldemort. He's supposed to be this all-powerful bad ass wizard. Yet, he can't figure out his own wand? Really? He thinks he figures it out but gets it all wrong. I honestly thought perhaps he was the wizard with downs. Then he lets Neville completely monologue. Why would you do that? If I was an evil badass wizard, as soon as Neville started giving his speech and rallying the kids out front of the ruined castle, I would have zapped him dead as a doornail. But nope. That didn't happen. Let's let the young man monologue and get everyone all rallied up with gusto!
4) The Goblin Banker. He wanted the magic sword of Gryffindor even knowing that it teleports around to give itself to a person that is in need of its power. Yet, he's supposed to be a curator of treasures. This is a bad bad investment and doesn't make sense. Also, he's too short to wield the sword. It would be like me wanting a trebuchet for my one-bedroom apartment.
Anyway...don't egg me please. I got my matinee's money's worth and I know the movie is like 97% on Rotten Tomatoes so essentially it's considered a masterpiece. I just don't get it.
I don't. And that's my two cents.
Ha, so I guess her world is pretty "far out" eh? Goddamn it. Why can she do all that stuff and when I do it people complain? Not freaking fair.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if things like the last battle would have been better if they had hired one really good director to do all of these instead of changing directors for just about every movie? Just imagine what James Cameron could have done with that. Or maybe Peter Jackson or George Lucas.
Anyway, coming up sometime next month or so on my blog is a repeat entry that lists all the things I just don't GET why other people like it. Maybe Harry Potter should be on there.
Everyone's entitled to their opinions, and that's fine. I did like it, but then there were a few questions that puzzled me. One was about the resurrection stone. After harry made his peace with his coming death, he dropped it and abandoned it. I didn't quite know why, afterwards, it couldn't have been retreived and used on others - or did I miss something, considering I haven't actually seen part 1, lol.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the film though, but then I like films for their enjoyment factor. I rarely question that much and am easily pleased.
BTW, have you gone to see Captain America yet? Were you first in line or are you waiting for the matinee? I think in the Avengers movie they should have the Fantastic Four and then Chris Evans could play Cap and Human Torch.
ReplyDeleteteehee--You know what... I think had I only seen the movies and not read the books, I would agree with all of this. Having read the books, though, I know full explanation on each point. Probably you don't want me to lay it all out, so I will just say the movies only give about 60% of the story and only about 30% of the understanding. They really are SO WORTH the read, even with the movies out there...
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has read the books I loved the movie as director perfectly recreated the book in my head. You could make a pretty good argument that the movies weren't made for people that didn't read the books just by looking at the characters whose stories were never completely fleshed out. That was a bit disrespectful to the non-readers but it made the experience my favorite film of 2011 so far.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt HBO has a similar tough choice regarding Game of Thrones when they hit book 4.
Mutt: I haven't seen Captain America yet. I'm gonna go tonight.
ReplyDeleteDRC: I enjoyed the movie...I just think it fell flat in places. I liked all the other HP movies. This one could have been spectacular and just wasn't for me.
Hart: I tried reading the books but they just seemed too juvenile for me to get much enjoyment from.
Voldermort never read The Evil Overlord's Handbook thus he let Neville monologue. This is why villians can't be too evil for school.
ReplyDeleteI am not all that into the movies because the books are much better. They have not done justice to the books at all and I am not a huge HP fan. I didn't wait in any lines for any of the books or any of that. They were just enjoyable. I don't think I am going to even see the movie in the theater. I am going to wait until it comes out on DVD.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the books, and we have to thank the series for getting people excited about YA fiction. I'm sure JK worked very hard, and while the world has its flaws (In particular, the magic. Why is Ron's family poor? Why is any family poor?) it has great characters, and will be a classic.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as one who is aware of gender inequality, I have had some issues simmering, and until I read this article, I hadn't put it into words. Now I don't have to because this article has done it. (Note: I don't think the writer is knocking the series, it's a satire about the state of our society's values as reflected in popular fiction.)
http://globalcomment.com/2011/in-praise-of-hermione-granger-series/
Fascinating article Tamara. When watching the movies I wanted more screen time for Hermione and Draco personally than Weasley and Potter. I thought they were just cooler characters.
ReplyDeleteYou don't get it because you must have been an adult when the first book got published. People who were kids ( I mean elementary school kids) loved the first book and even though some of them are actually in their twenties and are old enough to understand that not every thing that happens in the movie is possible, they find the movie to be comforting. There is something soothing about what we saw as kids.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you all the way on this one Mike. I used my AMC Golden Experience ticket + $3.00 to see the 3D version, and STILL was not impressed. It was just "ok". I was feeling bummed out on Saturday and thought that this trip to see the Harry Potter finale would lift my spirits. Of course books are always better than the movies based on them; but if you're going to make a movie, it should stand alone and be spectacular. That's what movies are for, entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI was a little disappointed in the battle scene. And the part with Neville so didn't go as planned. I really wanted to see him just chop the snake's head off with Voldemort standing right there. -sigh-
ReplyDeleteOh, and DRC, in pertaining to the Resurrection Stone, you actually got it right. The point was for no one else to find it. Without it, the Deathly Hallows could not be complete and such, no one could be the ruler of death.
Haven't you seen Part 1 with the whole brothers' story?
I honestly fell asleep during part one. The last great Harry Potter movie was the Half Blood Prince. Man that was good. Then Part One was so boring... But Part Two just felt a little...underwhelming? hmmm. I don't recall the information on the resurrection stone because I may have been asleep during that part. Where did he get it from?
ReplyDeleteFirst, Mutt: They actually did -try- to get a good director for the whole series. Spielberg. Spielberg wanted Haley Joel Osment for Harry, but the producers wouldn't allow it. Spielberg said he'd only do it with Osment, and the producers called his bluff, and Spielberg walked.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen part 2, yet, but I agree with you in spirit. I think the movie is garnering more positive reviews than its due because it's the last one. Like Dark Knight because of Ledger's death. These kinds of things prohibit people from seeing objectively.
I have read each book, listened to the audio version and seen each movie...the books are SO much more than the movie, SO, SO much more...Of course the fact that I started reading these books to my kiddos when they were about Harry's age at the start of the series may make me a little more emotionaly vested...these books inspired my kiddos to read - and hopefully that will carry them through their adult life.
ReplyDeleteHehehe yeah... I'm not going to watch Harry Potter, for the very reasons you described. The movies always came out lamer than how I imagined it.
ReplyDelete:-)
You writing a review on Harry Potter movie when you haven't read the books is a little difficult. The problem with the movies is they leave so much out. In fact, the movies created plot holes that didn't exist in the books. Pretty gaping ones.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Part II yet.
I think Neville got to make his speech in the book because he's one of the few pure bloods left, and Voldemort is itching to get him to convert to his side. That's too bad about Bellatrix. I loved her in the books and movies. I didn't like the mom's line in the book either.
I have to say that you left the books series just before they went to a whole new level. Book 5 is excellent. It may be my favorite one.
Just because I'm a stickler for these things, the line in Aliens was, "Get away from her, you bitch." In Deathly Hallows, it's "Not my daughter, you bitch."
ReplyDeleteBut the execution in the movie was all wrong if you ask me. I pretty much agree with you on your points. The film was not what it should have been.
And you should read the books. I'm sure everyone has been telling you to, but they really are worth reading.
I haven't seen the movie yet myself. I'll catch it before it leaves theaters though. I never like the any of the movies that much, love the books though. I'm always ambivalent about adaptations though, especially if I've already read the books. Rarely do I enjoy the movies that much afterwards.
ReplyDeleteLOTR is an exception that comes to mind. Can't think of anything else though.
LOL: you are not the ONLY disappointed person. Here's the thing that I've thought through ALL the Harry Potter movies: if you haven't read the book, you'll never understand all the story plot.
ReplyDeleteThe movies are about the action and the magic. Fun and exciting on their own; but not so good for those looking for more story explanation.
Was that you in the theater with us on July 4 Michael? There was this dude snoring so loudly he almost drowned out the soundtrack :) How do you sleep through that much noise?
........dhole
Hey Michael, I wrote a blog post in response to some of your points. I didn't comment here before because I hadn't seen the movie yet. Anyway, I saw it this weekend and commented on your post and some others I read last week.
ReplyDeleteYour's was the only name I could remember thought. :)
I'm a big fan of the books, and I enjoy the movies, but I thought this once could have been done a little better. I thought Bellatrix was way more subdued then she should have been, and the special effects were only so/so. I was hoping they would really up the intensity for the last once, but they didn't. I may be a bit jaded though, because someone brought a screaming baby to the movie and I ended up missing half the dialogue. Sigh.
ReplyDelete