Airy Pottah

[sigma7]

Definitely the best of the movies so far. Nichols is fortunate in that he's able to use the previous movies' fleshing-out of the Potterverse and distill the less-critical elements from the film -- no Dursleys? No problem, because Christ, every time they're on the screen I feel like screaming "They're stupid! WE GET IT!" Ditto Malfoys, but well, they had to be on-screen this time, though honestly, Lucius should just get a handlebar mustache so he can twirl it around his finger and cackle every time he says something. I understand the compression from book to screen means compression and removing some subtlety, but c'mon. Also, thank God there's no Quidditch anymore, because it bores me, and to quote Andrew from Buffy, not just bored, but "Episode I bored." Quidditch = podracing to me -- seen it, been there, don't care and it rarely has the slightest impact on the story as such. GoF got the Quidditch content just right -- just enough and justified to make it relevant, not so much as to cause me to slump in my seat.

Also, no House Cup -- did they ever mention "points" at all? Or were "Slytherin," "Griffindor," "Hufflepuff" or "Ravenclaw" ever uttered? If so, I didn't notice, but I certainly didn't miss it. The houses still left their visual mark without becoming more repetition from the earlier works.

For all the exclusions, the movie did figure out something that's true for almost every substancial fictional universe: the more time you spend with the supporting cast, the more fleshed-out and genuine the result feels. More Ginny, more Neville than ever before, more of the twins, more Minerva than I've come to expect. Snape got the short end of the stick, but, of course, we've reason to believe he'll get his time in the spotlight soon enough. This movie got back to the best aspects of the Potterverse: discovery, wonder, camraderie, imagination and the nascent teenage angst and social awkwardness that this chapter introduces. Quite well-done.

Comments

[iamthemoon.livejournal.com]

*Gryffindor

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Good catch. This is what I get for (a) never having read the books and (b) trying to do this from memory....

[missmiah.livejournal.com]

Had to log in as me instead of a fictional character to reply. *snerk* You almost got a post from Severus or Daphne.

I loved the movie as a whole, I really really did. However, a few things made me stop and go "Huh?" as it went along and that made it harder to get back into enjoying it.

Perhaps I've spent too much time looking up canon for the RPs, but I missed the house-elves. Also, the Patil twins were both Gryffindors? WTF?

On the other hand? Pervy Moaning Myrtle rocks. She almost made me want to play that character again.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

I can handle a loss of house-elves, only because it's another reason to lose the CGI creatures that've just been overdone (he said, anticipating Kong). I just never liked them, for some reason, and I think to include them would've diluted the storyline a bit.

And I saw someone else mention the Patil problem, too....

And now I see what you like about Myrtle. I found that deeply amusing.