We witnessed Potter-mania firsthand while passing the Del Amo Barnes & Noble on Saturday night. The giant mob crowding the parking lot well after midnight surely paled in comparison to the hordes crowding the aisles inside the store, but it was fitting as we had just seen the latest film adaptation, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
By far, my favorite of the bunch was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed deftly and wittily by the formidable Spanish director, Alfonso Cuaron. Teeming with subtext and adolescent tension, his film elevated the series beyond the recitations of Chris Columbus and brought it into the forefront of great pop culture cinema. The follow-up, Goblet of Fire, was deftly handled by Mike Newell, and where J.K. Rowling did a fine job of really increasing the literary stakes, Mr. Newell upped the ante cinematically. So it was with great trepidation that I sat in the theater awaiting a director I was not familiar with and a book of which I retained tenuous memory. With little expectation - retained by a lukewarm review from a friend - I think we really enjoyed ourselves.
Absent are the ubiquitous quidditch matches of old. Limited are many of the familiar supporting players. Obliterated is the notion that every character and plot point must be retained. What they've done with the movie is trim it down from a sub-900-page monster to a 2 and 1/2 hour sequel worthy of the series. Granted, it's most likely my third favorite of the five that have been released, but it's a close third to the Goblet of Fire.
We'll go with some of the good. The acting jobs by all the leads are superb. Especially stirring, for the small amount of time he is onscreen, is Ralph Feinnes as He Who Shall Not be Named. He's menacing and sanctimonious, but there's a measured elegance in how he moves, most evident in the way he handles his wand at rest. Even so, it's a shame that we don't get to see more acting by the seasoned veterans, I really do enjoy Emma Thompson's Professor Trelawney, but the 5 minutes or so we do see of her are too short. Also impressive are the visual effects. The climactic battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort really demonstrates how far the technology has come since the first film. Undoubtedly, it was the freshness of their appearance and explosiveness that drove home how truly dangerous and ingenious these two expert wizards are supposed to be.
What this means for anyone familiar with the franchise, is that the director behind the Half Blood Prince will have some mighty large shoes to fill behind three very committed visions. The best part for me is, I have a renewed vigor to tear through the 7th book as soon as possible.
Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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3 comments:
I loved how the bad guys turned into grey smoke while the good guys turned into white smoke. This lead to that one scene where the good and evil wizards twirled around each fighting in their smoke forms. It was quite beautiful
It also reminded me a bit of the ad campaign of the current colorful ipod nanos with their vapor trails.
hear hear!!!! we saw it yesterday and i immediately went to find a book.
PS: Luna Lovegood-cast perfectly!!!
I like that ipod connection. Although they also should have put all the evil wizards in black hats and the good wizards in white hats.
Funny, I don't even remember Luna from the book, but reading the new one, I think I'd have to agree.
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