Hry Ptr & t. Prsnr of Azkbn

[the_gneech]

Non-spoiler comments:

The movie feels very rushed, the same way those disclaimers at the end of radio commercials do. If you already know what's happening you can follow it, but only if. I don't care for the "new look." I thought the art direction on the first two movies was exactly right. The new thing has too much of the "dark carnival" shtick going on, complete with shrunken heads and leering hunchbacks. I don't particularly want to see "Rocky Horror and the Prisoner of Azkaban."

Also, only one minute and 45 seconds of Quidditch. What a gyp.

Spoiler comments:

One big plot problem: What's the deal with the "Grim in the sky" bit at the Quidditch match? The whole point of the Grim was that Harry was seeing Sirius -- particularly at the Quidditch match, Sirius was in the stands, which is why the dementors showed up on the pitch. Having a random apparition followed by a random dementor attack just throws all logic out the window.

And why cut out Lupin explaining the origin of the Marauder's Map? There's a lot of important backstory that was just plain deleted.

In all, disappointing; which is a shame, because PoA is my favorite book of the series.

-The Gneech

Edit: I should mention that the dementors were very good. I thought the "freezing" effect was a very clever way to depict cinematically the "creepily sucking the warmth out of you" feeling described in the books.

Comments

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

I did miss the explanation of the Map. I also missed the little tiny owl that Ron got at the end on the train.

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

So I guess I need to read the book. Because I thought the movie was *awesome*. And I would like to find out the origin of the Marauder's Map. It seemed interesting.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
"Mischief managed."

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Well, as much as I like the first two movies, the books are way better generally. :) I highly recommend them.

-The Gneech

[makovette.livejournal.com]

I'm in the same situation (haven't read the books) and I also enjoyed the movie muchly.

CYa!
Mako

[jamesbarrett.livejournal.com]

The books are great and this particular movie made me pick them back up again to brush up on my true Harry knowledge, given how much fell out of this last movie. -Frisk

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

The map was made by Harry's father and his 3 friends. They were all animagus, except for Lupin who was a real wolf. Prongs was the elder Potter, and a stag; Wormtail was scabbers the rat; Padfoot was Sirius Black, the black dog; and Moonie was Lupin the werewolf.

The Wailing Shack was so named, because that was where Lupin would go during his transformations when he was in school. The "ghosts" were the noises he'd make while imprisoned. The passage to the shack is beneath the Whomping Willow, because that's where it came out; the Willow was planted there when Lupin started using the Shack to stop people exploring near the entrance. That's also why he knew how to immobilize it.

Finally, Snape knew Lupin was a werewolf because he was the one making the potions that helped him control his transformation. This was a secret he may have known when he was a student with Lupin, but certainly was one he knew as a teacher. I feel this adds some depth to Snape, that he can be trusted with a secret, even though he tries to subtly reveal it as demonstrated by his "Page 394 Lesson".

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Hey! Don't spoil it!

-TG

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

I liked the new look for the movie; I liked that it was darker in feel than the previous films. But I agree that this movie felt both rushed -- and that it skipped over important parts. I'd love to see a 'director's cut' version of the film, to see whether it covers important, skipped material.

[trejaan.livejournal.com]

In addition to all the other changes and omissions there was something that made me cringe... in the VERY FIRST SCENE, Harry is doing his homework under the blanket BUT, he's not using a flashilight (as in the book)... he's casting a light spell!!! Wouldn't that violate the "Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C"? (I can only assume all of Malfalda Hopkirk's owls to tell him to cut it out were in one of the deleted scenes) ;)

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Good catch!

-TG

[wabbitcalif.livejournal.com]

I agree; I'd forgotten that Ron had gotten his Owl (Pigdewigeon, as I remember) at the end of the POA novel. I also felt it was rushed; however, I do feel that the "dark carnival" effect kind of worked for a changing point between the first two stories and what is to come - it's almost like this is the "Empire Strikes Back" of the HP series.

I did like the dementors - and was horribly dissapointed to see that they left out the explanation of the Marauders map.

I did like, however, seeing Hermione's concern at Harry's being able to project a full-blown Patronus during after projecting the Stag (which, in the book, made me realize that "The Stag" as portrayed by his dad sort of made sense, as though that were a part of his dad's gift to Harry).

[murrrmaiyd.livejournal.com]

<< I agree; I'd forgotten that Ron had gotten his Owl (Pigdewigeon, as I remember) >>

To be picky and annoying, it's actually "Pigwidgeon".....lol....I think I've read this series WAAAY too many times already.....

Mur

[wabbitcalif.livejournal.com]

No, go ahead and be picky! I've not picked it up since I'd read the first four back to back in about 1 month total. The fifth I'd read through in about 3 days after I'd gotten it.

[murrrmaiyd.livejournal.com]

Lol...yeah, well, all this talk about Harry Potter has made me start reading them yet again! I'm hopeless! :)

Mur

[wabbitcalif.livejournal.com]

I'll most likely read them through again in a couple of months. I have to be in the mood to read through a particular series, and I haven't developed enough interest to create the right mood for HP as yet - but I'm getting there!

[murrrmaiyd.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way about having to be in the right mood for a series, and the funny thing is that just before I read all of this discussion that got me started, I was just thinking, "I've been reading non-fiction for a while now trying to learn to program Access, and I'm too tired to concentrate now so I need some light and interesting fiction to read for a couple of hours before I go to bed..." Right after that thought, I read the HP discussion on here, and the light bulb went on....I said, "That's it!" lol.....so the timing managed to hit just right on that one! :)

Mur (already halfway through book 2)

[tygermoonfoxx.livejournal.com]

As I said earlier, I hadn't read the book (on principle...but now I shall be forced to do so as you've piqued my curiosity) but was able to piece together most of what was going on because I understand plot elements and where they lead (it's an English major thing).

However, I'd missed the bit about the "random" dementor attack. I had wondered why it was there since it didn't seem to make sense. I also wondered how they jumped from just having the dementors stationed outside the school to having them in the school and the escaped convict likely lurking on school grounds. I deduced the part about the map because of Remus' interest in it where it just didn't seem logical to be interested.

On the whole, I agree with you regarding this one --- a whole lot of vignettes but not enough to string them together coherently.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

If you are going to read it, I recommend you start at the beginning rather than with book three -- there's a lot more in the books than ever make it into the movies, even the first one. Dumbledore in particular is only hinted at in the movies compared to his strong presence in the books.

"Before we begin the feast, I should like to say a few words: nipper, twinkle, oddment, tweak. Thank you. Let's eat!"

-The Gneech

[darkwingpsycho.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree with you on most points. I still liked the movie all right, but I had more fun watching the first two. I know the third book was supposed to be "darker", but...eh. It just wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be. PoA is my favorite book in the series too.

[smrgol-t-kirin.livejournal.com]

As I said in my review post, I think each book from this one onward would do well as two movies, First term and Second term.

Film them together, release them a month or two apart.
There's way too much story in each book for one film to do it justice.

[rogue1717.livejournal.com]

you pretty much summed up my thoughts on it. it's a shame too. POA had the potential to be a kickass movie and came out only ho-hum

[wabbitcalif.livejournal.com]

Most of my concentration has been taken up in finishing the crocheting of three (count 'em, THREE) HP scarves. Once I'm done with that, I'll continue my current book "Don't Know Much About History" and then I may be ready for HP again.