puppetmaker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
puppetmaker) wrote2004-06-06 06:25 pm
puppetmaker) wrote2004-06-06 06:25 pm
Since Everyone is doing it...
My review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban
Over all I liked this one better than Chamber of Secrets. For one thing, the time flew by. I was surprised at how quickly we moved from scene to seen. I like the director’s “Little Princess” and I hope this revives that movie for all to see. So I would recommend this for almost all ages. Some of the visuals are much darker and scary (Yes, I do know that the book takes the same tone) and might be a little much for the kiddlings. There was a 4 or 5 year old near me when I saw it and she kept burying her head into her mother’s shoulder. I know that the little girl wanted to see the film because she babbled about wanting to see it before the film. Afterwards she said to her mommy, That was scary but Harry is OK so it’s OK.
It is amazing to see how much the kids grew up. I didn’t recognize Neville until I saw his teeth. And Malfoy took a growth spurt. I really thought they had recast the role. The new Dumbledore doesn’t have the gravitas that RIchard Harris did, but he did a good job. Did anyone else look at Maggie Smith and hope everything is OK? Her face looked very worn. I like Lupin and Black. Pettigrew was perfectly cast. What a rat face.
This was a director that assumed that you have seen the other Potter movies or read the books. There were no explanation of things. You either knew what they were talking about or you didn’t. “5 points Griffindor”. I think one of the best scenes is towards the beginning where Harry is in his dorm room with his friends and they are stuffing their faces full of junk food and joking around. Just like teenage boys all over the planet. It is a throw away scene since it doesn’t move the plot forward, but it does put you firmly into a time and place. I thought Buckbeak was well done. Lupin as werewolf was a bit off. I did like Lupin as a dog. There was not a lot of “fat” in this film and I think the director managed to tell the story with out the audience knowing how much was missing.
What I didn’t like. I think that the Harry Potter theme is still needed but John William’s score seem to go again the action that was on the screen. The scene with the aunt at the beginning comes to mind. Creepy visuals with a light hearted score. The Dementors...brrrrr...they gave me the serious creeps. The Patronus Charm. We should have seen the stag from both POV not just the first. Overall they did a good job with the time travel but this bugged me.
So if you like Harry Potter especially the books, this is a movie for you. If you don’t, well there is always Spiderman II, Shrek II, or another sequel to some film that was out about 2 to 3 years ago.
Over all I liked this one better than Chamber of Secrets. For one thing, the time flew by. I was surprised at how quickly we moved from scene to seen. I like the director’s “Little Princess” and I hope this revives that movie for all to see. So I would recommend this for almost all ages. Some of the visuals are much darker and scary (Yes, I do know that the book takes the same tone) and might be a little much for the kiddlings. There was a 4 or 5 year old near me when I saw it and she kept burying her head into her mother’s shoulder. I know that the little girl wanted to see the film because she babbled about wanting to see it before the film. Afterwards she said to her mommy, That was scary but Harry is OK so it’s OK.
It is amazing to see how much the kids grew up. I didn’t recognize Neville until I saw his teeth. And Malfoy took a growth spurt. I really thought they had recast the role. The new Dumbledore doesn’t have the gravitas that RIchard Harris did, but he did a good job. Did anyone else look at Maggie Smith and hope everything is OK? Her face looked very worn. I like Lupin and Black. Pettigrew was perfectly cast. What a rat face.
This was a director that assumed that you have seen the other Potter movies or read the books. There were no explanation of things. You either knew what they were talking about or you didn’t. “5 points Griffindor”. I think one of the best scenes is towards the beginning where Harry is in his dorm room with his friends and they are stuffing their faces full of junk food and joking around. Just like teenage boys all over the planet. It is a throw away scene since it doesn’t move the plot forward, but it does put you firmly into a time and place. I thought Buckbeak was well done. Lupin as werewolf was a bit off. I did like Lupin as a dog. There was not a lot of “fat” in this film and I think the director managed to tell the story with out the audience knowing how much was missing.
What I didn’t like. I think that the Harry Potter theme is still needed but John William’s score seem to go again the action that was on the screen. The scene with the aunt at the beginning comes to mind. Creepy visuals with a light hearted score. The Dementors...brrrrr...they gave me the serious creeps. The Patronus Charm. We should have seen the stag from both POV not just the first. Overall they did a good job with the time travel but this bugged me.
So if you like Harry Potter especially the books, this is a movie for you. If you don’t, well there is always Spiderman II, Shrek II, or another sequel to some film that was out about 2 to 3 years ago.
no subject
Yeah, the werewolf was just... it looked nothing like a werewolf.
Otherwise great, though!