Harry Potter people....

[lazypadawan]

What did you all think of the movie version of The Prisoner of Azkaban?

I rented it last night and watched it with my parents, brother, and his g/f. My mom thought it was all right, everyone else hated it.



Well, I didn't hate it. I think I liked Chamber of Secrets a little bit more, but overall, I'd give it 3 stars. (Note, I'm regarding it as a movie-watcher, not as a fan of the books.)

What I liked:

*A darker, angrier Harry. Finally he's had it with the Dursleys' crap. I also liked how he was willing to bend the rules and kill the ones he thought were responsible for his parents' death. He also has a miss my daddy complex like Luke Skywalker.

*Speaking of Harry, Daniel Radcliffe is growing up to be a handsome young fella. I'll say no more until after he turns 18.

*Hogwarts' cool gothic look.

*The theme of misunderstood outsiders, including Harry, Sirius Black, and that big flying birdlike thing.

*Draco gets his butt kicked. At last. Twice.

*The effects.

*The music.

What was meh:

*Is it just me, or did they make Ron look more foolish?

*The movie slows down significantly in the middle and I found parts of it a little confusing.

Comments

[foodsthatcan.livejournal.com]

DID NOT LIKE the movie x 100000000000. You can look up my comments in my LJ if you want to read the whole shebang of why.

I am seriously considering skipping the fourth movie, just because it's ridiculous of me to continue seeing these films and getting upset at all of them. Also, the books become increasingly difficult to adapt as they progress.

[maidenjedi]

They did horrible things to Ron's character, but that's been a trend throughout the films. HP book fans have been complaining loudly about it.

I wasn't thrilled with it, but I liked it better than Chamber of Secrets. I still say Sorcerer's Stone was the best one. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to Goblet of Fire or not.

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

It's a very beautiful film cinematically, but as an adaptation? MEH. It's my least favorite of the three films. (My favorite HP movie is Chamber of Secrets, which flowed much better than the first one yet still managed to stay very faithful to the book.) My main faulting lies - as with all the HP films - in the screenplay, and thankfully the current screenwriter is leaving after Goblet of Fire. (I think the guy who scripted the latest Peter Pan is doing the fifth one.) Of course, since the books only get bigger and more complicated, like foodsthatcan I'm not very optimistic about future versions. And Williams isn't even scoring Goblet of Fire. Wah.

The review in my local paper summed it up well: PoA merely dips a toe into the waters of the Potter world, making you wish for a swim. Way, way too much was chopped from the book or skimmed over and left unexplained, and Ron was reduced to less than comic relief while Hermione is a near-goddess.

I did buy it, but mainly to stare at the pretty. (Definitely included but not limited to Harry - damn, he's changed from the first film. <3) I can watch it and enjoy it, but only if I completely forget the book. For some reason it's easier for me to do that with the HP films than LotR. Go figure. *shrug*

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

I just read your review again. Good point about the stag; that's never explained.

My brother and dad found the film boring and confusing; bro's g/f felt that you probably had to read the book in order to get what was going on. Perhaps because I haven't read any of the HP books and perhaps because my expectations weren't all that high, I wasn't as down on it as they were.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Williams isn't doing the music anymore? Uh oh. That's not good.

You do have a point about Super Hermione. My dad kept calling her the little know-it-all. She's the one who of course had the time travel device and figures out everything.

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

Williams isn't doing the music anymore? Uh oh. That's not good

No kidding. Especially after the score for PoA - which, IMO, is the best of the three so far. Definitely listening to this next one online first.

You do have a point about Super Hermione. My dad kept calling her the little know-it-all. She's the one who of course had the time travel device and figures out everything.

Well, to be fair, she does have the Time Turner in the book. There was a whole theme of how the stress of taking so many classes on at once (as well as fighting with Ron and Harry, much of which was also cut from the movie) with the Time Turner was stressing her out (which is actually why she decks Malfoy in the book), but it's no stress for Movie!Hermione at all. Far as the knowledge spouting - well, that is what Hermione generally does, but at the very least, Harry himself is usually pretty smart thinking on his feet and coming up with plans. He's generally a decent foil for Hermione intellectually, but in this movie you'd think he was almost her stooge. Hermione is smart, but she's not Supergirl - it's a well known fact that she's the screenwriter's favorite character, and it would seem he's taken that love a little far. :P