After seeing PoA for the second time this weekend, I think I’m now capable of posting a kind of short review devoid of all the initial emotion I felt after the first viewing. They made a lot of changes, but I’m pleased with most of them. I’d like to try and organize my thoughts from positive to negative, and I’ll try not to ramble. Just bear with me.
First off, I must commend the fine skills of Director Alfonso Cauron. Masterful work. His understanding of the spirit of the films came through in the dark, emotional, and somehow casual state of it all. The cinematography was worked to near perfection. There was much more experimenting done with the camera – something I love to see. The theatrical license he took with shrunken heads and haunting choir worked well. Speaking of music, I was hard-pressed to find any used in the film that I didn’t like. The score was varied and appropriate throughout.
I was also impressed with how he used the castle and the grounds. The way he filmed the turrets (meek though they undoubtedly were compared to the ones I see when reading) was spectacular. There was a much better variety of paintings, though some of them seemed quite out of place (giraffe?). Not sure I liked the change of the Fat Lady and her location, but the scene with the drunken wailing (I can’t call it singing) and the glass was amusing. The clocks. What can I say about the clocks? I thought they were magnificent in their scale and all they symbolised with regard to Hermione’s situation (and it only being a matter of time before Sirius found wee little Potter and the Dark Lord’s servant returned to him). The giant pendulum was cool too; to break away from the clocks, however diverse they were. The grounds practically were the film. Everything seemed to revolve around them and the clocks. The lake and scenery were wonderful - very enchanting (as they should be). The mist-laden forest looked great as usual, with those huge ancient trees. But what made the grounds really look magical were the odd-shaped ruins scattered over the countryside like miniature Stonehenges. In my eyes, they added a lot to the setting. It actually looked like a hidden realm of wizards of Scotland.
In terms of acting, I enjoyed Emma Thomson’s portrayal of Professor Trelawney, though I never pictured the big hair. Whatever, it worked. Michael Gambon – a Dumbledore who can talk! The kids are getting better, save for Hermione, who seems to have regressed as an actress. David Thewlis made a great Lupin. Again, not how I pictured him, but the acting job made up for it. However, as for Sirius, it didn’t matter how well Gary Oldman could act, I still could never look at him and say the word ‘Sirius’…or ‘serious’ for that matter. I mean, could they have done a worse job casting? I think the Brothers Warner took the book and said, ‘Ok, it says tall - let’s make him short. Handsome? No, we don’t want this movie to sell. Straight black hair…to his elbows?! Aw, hell no! Let’s make it short and curly! Oh, and we’ll throw in a beard while we’re at it…just to piss off all the die-hard Sirius fans who love his image as well as his character.’ Good job, WB!
Having not read the book in a while, I didn’t get too picky about cut scenes and a lack of explanation for a certain four Marauders. I couldn’t have everything my way, after all. But later it started to bother me; I mean, why not? They could have devoted a few minutes to explaining something the audience would find thoroughly ironic and enjoy. But perhaps, if they had done that, it would have tapped too deeply into my fanhood and disappointed me the way the first two films had by making everything so simple and…seemingly stupid.
Speaking of which, it’s time I get into the negative. The scene in the Shrieking Shack would have been a huge disappointment if I had let it disappoint me. Yes, I was cringing through the whole thing, but I kept in mind that it would be a letdown no matter what (if I let it) because that is the scene that I’m most attached to in the series (not to mention the one I can recite by heart). But at least I can laugh when I say it was horribly portrayed. I couldn’t quite understand what was up with the werewolf; he still looked half-human, and he was…well…bald. Yeah. And Pettigrew? Not even going to touch on that one. The time-turner sequence was well worked, though less impressive the second time ‘round.
People seem to be confused by all the random stuff going on…like the bluebird in the Whomping Willow. Many think this is a poor attempt at a ‘humour break’, but if you’re thinking broadly, it’s not. Just goes to show how much deeper this film runs than its predecessors. The bluebird represents the bluebird of happiness, an archetype in literature, and the bluebird will crash into the Whomping Willow and explode whenever happy times are about to turn grim. If one pays attention, one will notice how little things throughout the film that one could easily label as ‘random’ actually stand for something a hell of a lot bigger than a bird flying into a tree.
Okay, that about raps it up. Again, better filming, direction, acting, music, dialogue, special effects, and imagery. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m getting used to seeing an extremely rough edition of my favourite story on the silver screen, and I’ve come to accept whatever it has to offer as entertainment, and not as a recreation of what’s firmly implanted in my mind as being true. There were things that could have been done better – such as the effect the Dementors have on Harry – but we can’t always win. I’m just thankful for what the filmmakers have improved, and I’m going to pretend GoF will be a fiasco so I won’t get let down when it is. Shhhhhhh.
‘You tell those spiders, Ron.’
