tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634886419866749682.post6282294862831186137..comments2023-06-19T12:26:50.652-04:00Comments on Out 1 Film Journal: Harry Potter and the Continually Uneven NarrativeJames Hansenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650436008918093617noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634886419866749682.post-12199970095041803172009-07-23T14:00:02.262-04:002009-07-23T14:00:02.262-04:00OMG JAMES SPOILER WARNING WTF!!!!!1111
I just wat...OMG JAMES SPOILER WARNING WTF!!!!!1111<br /><br />I just watched this recently, and while I disagree with you somewhat about the scoring (I'd go for B-), I definitely concur with you about the film's myriad failings. I don't think David Yates is all that skilled at keeping a consistent tone, nor is all that good at pace and structure. I love the visual design of his Potter films -- but both this film and the last film suffered from the same set of problems, which are discussed quite well in your review. I especially felt the big, climactic deaths in both films felt surprisingly rushed and a little hollow, all sound and fury but surprisingly without any sort of resonance. <br /><br />And for the record, my favorite Potter movies are still the third and fourth films, in that order. I still wish good old Alfonso could have come back for the conclusion (I'd love to see how he'd recreate some of those menacing forest sequences). <br /><br />And has anyone read Ebert's latest writings on the Potter franchise? I'm a little worried about old Rog; anyone nostalgic for the directorial approach of Chris Columbus needs to reevaluate some things, in my opinion.Chuck Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08410430373012870491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634886419866749682.post-54318716560552280062009-07-17T09:34:32.922-04:002009-07-17T09:34:32.922-04:00Yeah, I love the books and while this was my secon...Yeah, I love the books and while this was my second favorite of the movies (after "Azkaban") that doesn't say much. The adaptations have been underwhelming at best, and absurd at worst. With HBP, I feel like there is an attempt to juxtapose not just love, but sex and humor, with death and destruction and despair. You can gain something from setting these forces off against each other as the polarities of each side, as it can give the story more to lean on than just "the badguy is evil because he is Snidely Whiplash with a wand." I often feel the books do this well, helped along by some of Rowling's narrative winks and nudges about the off camera activities of her characters. For a reason I can't put my finger on (and perhaps it really is nothing more than ham-handedness of the direction) the movie's attempts to gain emotional resonance out of this juxtaposition often fall flat, where the book's often succeed.<br /><br />My only point of disagreement is on Gambon. While Rickman and Broadbent are both joys to watch, and Maggie Smith wears her character like a comfortable pair of old socks, I feel like Gambon phones it in sometimes, and its most obvious when you have someone like Rickman on screen to compare him to. Every twitch of the corner of Rickman's eyes let's me know he's researched his character, know's full well what the man is about, and as a result puts on screen a character of tremendous compexity and depth. While Gambon does have some great chemistry with Radcliffe, I don't feel as though he knows his character well. He seems to have settled on "wise old hippie", and left it at that. But perhaps I am being nitpicky. He's not awful to watch, but I sometimes feel like he has no view of the scope or depth of the character he is playing. Perhaps he would know if he had actually read the seventh book.Mike Fnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634886419866749682.post-80305300920906163982009-07-16T13:12:43.760-04:002009-07-16T13:12:43.760-04:00Yes yes yes! I am such a HP fan and while the movi...Yes yes yes! I am such a HP fan and while the movie was funny, there was no ominous tone, no sense of rising darkness or tension and just an overwhelming sense of silliness. It felt like everyone on the film just said, oh those Harry Potter fans are so silly, let's just hurry up and end this while mocking the people who take this so seriously. The last scene was uplifting instead of a reflection on all the *hopefully* darkness and loss to come.<br />It was good for a few laughs at least.Kate and Jacobnoreply@blogger.com