June17

Third Time's a Charm?

Things come in threes, right? Three blind mice. Three Stooges. 311. And now the latest "three" is the Harry Potter movie franchise. Two weeks ago, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was released in theatres and quickly made tons and tons of money. Not only was it monetarily successful, but it garnered many positive reactions from movie critics.

I'm a BIG Harry Potter Fan, so needless to say, I was VERY excited about this movie. On Monday night, I decided to go ahead and see it. My reactions were mixed, as you can see below.

On the positive side:

1. Effects
   This movie has some of the best computer-generated effects I've ever seen. In the first two movies, there were many times when I was not impressed at all with what they were trying to accomplish. The hippogriff is by far one of the best creatures I've ever seen made into a movie and it's only going to get better from here.
2. Story
   Of the three films/books, this is by far the best storyline yet. We're finally getting into the meat of Harry's past and setting up things to come. Very dark, very emotion-filled.
3. Actors
   At one time I was worried about the aging of the kids, upset that they may age too quickly for the franchise. That's clearly not the case anymore. I think rumors were that they would replace the kids for the 5th, 6th, and 7th books, I think that would be a great mistake as you see 27 year-olds playing teenagers these days.

On the negative side:

1. Casting
   Why did Richard Harris, the original Dumbledore, have to pass away? Michael Gambon, the new Dumbledore, is no where near Harris'. They look and sound nothing alike, it was almost as if this were that weird season of "The Dukes of Hazzard" where the Duke cousins came to live at the farm. The new Dumbledore seems cocky, and rigid, not at all like the fatherly figure I've always imagined him to be. Emma Thompson also doesn't fit in well here, and quickly this franchise feels like the once-doomed "Batman" series - let's throw a bunch of famous people in and see what happens. No thanks.
2. Continuity
   When did the Whomping Willow decide to move to a different part of the castle. And speaking of castle, when did they move to a different school? Also, why does Harry's scar seem to be on a different part of his forehead in nearly every scene?
3. Direction
   From the very first of the movie, you could feel that this was a different film from the first two. It doesn't feel as grand nor as vast as Columbus' vision. Though Alfonso Cuar

   + original post date: June 17, 2004 04:21 PM
   + categories: Movies