Spoilers. Lots of spoilers.

[beatriceeagle]

I saw an advance screening of the fifth Harry Potter movie today.



Okay, so first off, it was amazing. Especially for a Harry Potter movie. The kids can act. They didn't used to be able to act, but now they can. The change is most pronounced in Dan, but it's evident in all of them.

Several scenes were cut for time, but trust me, you won't care. They convey the point all the same. One thing I didn't like was Sirius's death. For the most part, it really worked, but they took a lot of the ambiguity out, and I think that was a mistake. Cut scenes include the Howler to Petunia, the interview with Rita, H/G's talk at headquarters, and the St. Mungo's scene. Trust me, you won't miss them.

The score and visuals were beautiful. I want to keep this composer. Forever. I can't explain.

New characters: Bellatrix and Luna rocked. They were both exactly right. There was a small added subplot with Luna that worked amazingly, though it was not in the book. I'm not going to spoil it because it's cute and a little surprising.

The showdown between Dumbledore/Harry and Voldemort is just amazing. I can't explain quite as well as I'd like, but it gets the book right.

Edit: Now that I've had some time to think on it, here are a few more things.

For one, there's not a ton of Ron in this. There's not a ton of Hermione, either, but she gets more than Ron. But Grint does very well in his scenes, I think.

The movie was very DA-centered. Much more than the book was. OWLs and classes are de-emphasized -- we only ever see one class, and it's Umbridge's, and one OWL session, which is interrupted by Fred and George. Most of the movie centers on Umbridge's reforms, Fudge's politics, and the DA's rebellion. I think that a lot of observant fans will have already guessed that this would be the case, based on how the movie was promoted.

It pushed the theme of going it alone vs. accepting help a lot. I think there's definitely a basis for that in the book (and I think that it was also a nod to the "united we stand" thing), but it was emphasized a lot in the movie.

It got a lot of the feel of the book right. Dark days ahead, a general sense of foreboding and danger, and a lot of unhappiness and anger.

I'm kind of shocked. I can't believe this was a Harry Potter movie.



Okay, there you have it. Something to keep you going.

Comments

[victoriabloom.livejournal.com]

a;glskdj;jagsd I LOVE YOU, BEA. ♥

Wow. WOW. This sounds ... I was so excited, and then I started actually reading things about the movie and got worried, but now I'm not anymore. *huggles* I just can't wait.

It's too bad that Sirius's death was changed for the worse, but I can understand wanting to remove the ambiguity. It's an important element, I think, but remember how disappointed people were when there was no further explanation in HBP? (Of course, I personally like to believe that we'll get more explanation in DH.)

I'm sad about the cut scenes, but, yeah, I'm sure I won't miss them. Not everything can be there. Though, I do hope since the H/G scene is cut, there will be other scenes with them.

Out of curiosity -- how is the script? Kloves didn't do this one, I believe.

[beatriceeagle.livejournal.com]

Trust me, you won't miss the H/G. It's there, and you'll see it. There's very little outright interaction between the two, but you can see the tension.

I want to keep this writer. The script is miles better than any of the other ones.

[victoriabloom.livejournal.com]

Eee. SO excited. *g*

Thank you so much for posting this! ♥ *huggles*

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I'm not looking at the spoilers, but it's so tempting. However, as I'm seeing it with two of my friends who I've never seen a HP movie with before, I'd rather not have anything ruined.

Maybe when we're both on IM you can at least tell me if I'll be disappointed or pleasantly surprised?

[seraravi.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that it was good, especially since I think the same people may be making the next two as well. I'd been kind of worried about how they'd do at condensing 800+ pages into a 2-3 hour movie, and I'm glad to hear that they managed so well.

Man, now I'm really excited to see it! Other than the lack of Sirius ambiguity, was there anything else that didn't quite work, or is it just that amazing?

Thanks for writing that review!

[beatriceeagle.livejournal.com]

There wasn't much Ron, which was disappointing, but I lived. There were a lot of cut scenes, some of which I was looking forward to, but I understood the reasoning for all of them, so I was okay.