Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Review
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman
director: Alfonso Cuaron
After the whole Dobby fiasco, Harry Potter seemed to be content with how his life was going. Until a man named Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban prison (kind of like Alcatraz in San Fransico), which no one had ever done before because it is heavily guarded by surrounding Dementors.
I felt nice and warm watching another Harry Potter movie again for the first time (which was a very long time ago). The moment that the Monster Book of Monster's started to open it's eyes and become alive underneath Harry's bed made me feel happy that I had finally fallen into another Harry Potter adventure.
Hogwarts never looked better, since after this movie, the whole series would take a completely drastic turn. I love watching the classroom scenes, the Quidditch matches, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione hanging out together. I wonder if this movie got approved for a bigger budget because it seemed like this movie looked more like an epic film compared to the first two, in a good way. The Whomping Willow, Sirius as Padfoot, Buckbeak, the Dementors, Remus Lupin, and the Marauder's Map all looked incredibly well done and fit perfectly with the setting and lighting of the movie.
I thought the director did an amazing job at portraying the whole back-in-time sequences. At first I was a little confused when Harry and Hermione were actually back in time watching themselves. I would question whether the dialogue that was being said coincided with what they were seeing, and after re-watches of the movie, they were perfect. Everything fit amazingly well, I thought it was completed spot on for how complex the story-line was for that particular portion of the film.
I really love the fact that John Williams (whom I am a big fan of) composed the music for the first three Harry Potter films. The scene where Harry was riding Buckbeak over the Black Lake with John Williams's music in the background was simply refreshing and touching. You could just 'feel' that Harry began to trust Buckbeak when he spread his arms out and shouted with excitement. I also thought the point where Buckbeak glided over and touched the water was a brilliant shot as well.
Some of the more powerful scenes to me in this movie was when Professor Snape got Expelliarmus'd by Harry while in the Shrieking Shack. Harry finally taking control and being the powerful wizard that we all wish for him to be glistened in that part. Another part was, of course, the scene where Harry used his Patronus Charm and blasted away hundreds of Dementors coming down on him and his godfather Sirius Black. Harry realizing it was himself that he saw saving them was spectacular, Daniel Radcliffe made me a believer.
The whole movie is amazing, and I wonder what the other Harry Potter movies would look like if either Chris Columbus or Alfonso Cuaron directed the remaining films. I believe they would have more of a sense of loving between the relationship of Harry and the audience, but I am not complaining at all, I cherish the movies immensely.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Review
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Robert Pattinson
director: Mike Newell
Along with the first three movies, I watched The Goblet of Fire before reading a single page out of the Harry Potter series. At this point, I had never missed the opening day of a Harry Potter movie and didn't plan to with this one either. The theater was packed with people, so I was lucky to get a good enough seat to enjoy the movie without hurting my neck from looking straight up.
With so many new characters coming on in this movie, it felt a little bit overwhelming at first, but after a few more times of watching it, everything fell in to order. The wizarding world opened up so much more during this movie than from the other three. The Quidditch World Cup, the Dark Mark, the Goblet of Fire, the Unforgivable Curses, dragons, and international wizards were all very new to the series that we as the audience didn't know before. I thought there could be no limit from here on out, this installment was the reason I wanted to start reading the books, beginning with #1 (The Sorcerer's Stone).
This was the first movie where someone had perished. Unfortunately, it was the Hufflepuff Hero, Cedric Diggory played by Robert Pattinson. It was a complete shock to me the first time I watched this movie, I would have never expected for him to die, let alone to Wormtail. I thought Robert Pattinson did an excellent job on playing Cedric, he can unleash intensity and kindness simultaneously whenever needed, which is how I had pictured Cedric Diggory to be.
The first thing that I noticed about the Trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione), was that they had soooo much hair. Hermione has an excuse being that she is a girl, but Harry and Ron had loads of hair which was kind of distracting for the first 15 or so minutes into the film. I think Mike Newell wanted to have the Harry Potter film franchise take a drastic 180 degrees into adulthood with some of the scenes. For example when Hagrid was dancing with the giantess Madame Olympe Maxime during the Yule Ball and he slyly slithered down to grab some giant ass. Another is the tug and pull relationship developing between Ron and Hermione, especially during the Yule Ball, which happened to silence the people who were rooting for a Harry+Hermione relationship to happen. I could keep going with this list but I can't stop without pointing out one more, the part where the lovely ladies from the Beauxbatons Academy were striding along the middle of the Great Hall in Hogwarts and a scene cut straight to their butts, bloody hell indeed Ron.
Despite having so much information, characters, and plot-lines to introduce to the audience, I thought the movie was made beautifully. Nothing seemed out of place, and I applaud everyone who worked on the film on how great it turned out. I also have to thank the talented author who made this entire series possible: J.K. Rowling, for with her incredible imagination, determination and success, I would not have the opportunity to have watched such a great film series.
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Robert Pattinson
director: Mike Newell
Along with the first three movies, I watched The Goblet of Fire before reading a single page out of the Harry Potter series. At this point, I had never missed the opening day of a Harry Potter movie and didn't plan to with this one either. The theater was packed with people, so I was lucky to get a good enough seat to enjoy the movie without hurting my neck from looking straight up.
With so many new characters coming on in this movie, it felt a little bit overwhelming at first, but after a few more times of watching it, everything fell in to order. The wizarding world opened up so much more during this movie than from the other three. The Quidditch World Cup, the Dark Mark, the Goblet of Fire, the Unforgivable Curses, dragons, and international wizards were all very new to the series that we as the audience didn't know before. I thought there could be no limit from here on out, this installment was the reason I wanted to start reading the books, beginning with #1 (The Sorcerer's Stone).
This was the first movie where someone had perished. Unfortunately, it was the Hufflepuff Hero, Cedric Diggory played by Robert Pattinson. It was a complete shock to me the first time I watched this movie, I would have never expected for him to die, let alone to Wormtail. I thought Robert Pattinson did an excellent job on playing Cedric, he can unleash intensity and kindness simultaneously whenever needed, which is how I had pictured Cedric Diggory to be.
The first thing that I noticed about the Trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione), was that they had soooo much hair. Hermione has an excuse being that she is a girl, but Harry and Ron had loads of hair which was kind of distracting for the first 15 or so minutes into the film. I think Mike Newell wanted to have the Harry Potter film franchise take a drastic 180 degrees into adulthood with some of the scenes. For example when Hagrid was dancing with the giantess Madame Olympe Maxime during the Yule Ball and he slyly slithered down to grab some giant ass. Another is the tug and pull relationship developing between Ron and Hermione, especially during the Yule Ball, which happened to silence the people who were rooting for a Harry+Hermione relationship to happen. I could keep going with this list but I can't stop without pointing out one more, the part where the lovely ladies from the Beauxbatons Academy were striding along the middle of the Great Hall in Hogwarts and a scene cut straight to their butts, bloody hell indeed Ron.
Despite having so much information, characters, and plot-lines to introduce to the audience, I thought the movie was made beautifully. Nothing seemed out of place, and I applaud everyone who worked on the film on how great it turned out. I also have to thank the talented author who made this entire series possible: J.K. Rowling, for with her incredible imagination, determination and success, I would not have the opportunity to have watched such a great film series.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Review
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman
director: David Yates
I give to the entire cast in the whole entire Harry Potter series. They do an incredible job and I thank them for giving me so many wonderful memories. The Order of the Phoenix is the first movie of the entire series that was directed by David Yates, and it is quite obvious, in a good way. The darker side, more... grown up side, of Harry Potter seemed to come out since David Yates took the lead on the Harry Potter film franchise. The dark blue shade captivated the essence of the film. I am particularly glad that David Yates still kept a lot of the classroom scenes in the movies because the classroom really started the exploration into magic as Harry learned through his interesting professors. I applaud David Yates on doing a wonderful job on his first Harry movie and I hope he continues to make more epic movies down the line.
The casting crew did an amazing job on acquiring Imelda Staunton for the roll of Dolores Umbridge. She played the part to perfection with her crack-whip dialogue and her little laughs that she did to herself. Her all-pink wardrobe completed the package as the perfectionist professor with a pleasant demeanor, but with a horribly cruel heart. I also thought that the little kitten plates in her office at Hogwarts was hilariously cute.
I look up to Gary Oldman a lot as an actor because the passion seems to intensely flow through him. Whatever roll he plays, he plays it remarkably well and I am glad he was chosen for the roll as our friend Sirius Black. Sirius's fate turned out to have a very sad ending, however, he went out in true 'Top Level Wizard' fashion. His dueling near the veil alongside his godson Harry had epic written all over it, it was truly Sirius's best moment of the entire series in my opinion, aside from escaping from Azkaban and 'catching' Wormtail.
As soon as the mind-blowing fall of Sirius Black was calculated in your head, you then see Harry running after the culprit: Bellatrix Lestrange. This quick chase changed everything because our favorite wizard of all time used an unforgivable curse! The torture curse, Crucio, was released on Bellatrix, which didn't affect her enough because Harry is a good guy of course (and he needs to mean it, not to mention that was his first time ever).
I think the best duel of magic in the entire film series happened right after, Professore Albus Dumbledore vs. The Dark Lord, Voldemort. The darkness, the epicness, the glass shattering awesomeness that is this franchise unleashed into a battle of good versus evil. I was waiting a long time to see this battle and I was certainly not disappointed, I loved it.
Overall, I think this movie won't be forgotten any time soon, as it is one of the top films of the franchise, considering how much information needed to be explained to the audience who haven't seen the books. I could see how it could be confusing for someone who has not read the books, but I think the extra information gives the audience more incentive to actually read them. Great movie, please watch the series from 1-7 if you have not already.
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman
director: David Yates
I give to the entire cast in the whole entire Harry Potter series. They do an incredible job and I thank them for giving me so many wonderful memories. The Order of the Phoenix is the first movie of the entire series that was directed by David Yates, and it is quite obvious, in a good way. The darker side, more... grown up side, of Harry Potter seemed to come out since David Yates took the lead on the Harry Potter film franchise. The dark blue shade captivated the essence of the film. I am particularly glad that David Yates still kept a lot of the classroom scenes in the movies because the classroom really started the exploration into magic as Harry learned through his interesting professors. I applaud David Yates on doing a wonderful job on his first Harry movie and I hope he continues to make more epic movies down the line.
The casting crew did an amazing job on acquiring Imelda Staunton for the roll of Dolores Umbridge. She played the part to perfection with her crack-whip dialogue and her little laughs that she did to herself. Her all-pink wardrobe completed the package as the perfectionist professor with a pleasant demeanor, but with a horribly cruel heart. I also thought that the little kitten plates in her office at Hogwarts was hilariously cute.
I look up to Gary Oldman a lot as an actor because the passion seems to intensely flow through him. Whatever roll he plays, he plays it remarkably well and I am glad he was chosen for the roll as our friend Sirius Black. Sirius's fate turned out to have a very sad ending, however, he went out in true 'Top Level Wizard' fashion. His dueling near the veil alongside his godson Harry had epic written all over it, it was truly Sirius's best moment of the entire series in my opinion, aside from escaping from Azkaban and 'catching' Wormtail.
As soon as the mind-blowing fall of Sirius Black was calculated in your head, you then see Harry running after the culprit: Bellatrix Lestrange. This quick chase changed everything because our favorite wizard of all time used an unforgivable curse! The torture curse, Crucio, was released on Bellatrix, which didn't affect her enough because Harry is a good guy of course (and he needs to mean it, not to mention that was his first time ever).
I think the best duel of magic in the entire film series happened right after, Professore Albus Dumbledore vs. The Dark Lord, Voldemort. The darkness, the epicness, the glass shattering awesomeness that is this franchise unleashed into a battle of good versus evil. I was waiting a long time to see this battle and I was certainly not disappointed, I loved it.
Overall, I think this movie won't be forgotten any time soon, as it is one of the top films of the franchise, considering how much information needed to be explained to the audience who haven't seen the books. I could see how it could be confusing for someone who has not read the books, but I think the extra information gives the audience more incentive to actually read them. Great movie, please watch the series from 1-7 if you have not already.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince Review
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman
director: David Yates
The dark side of the Harry Potter series was cemented from the very start of this movie in my opinion. The theme and story itself became incredibly dim, which showed in every scene. I know there were a lot of things that were different or changed in this movie from the book, but I have no problem keeping them somewhat separate in my review because it is what it is and it cannot be changed anyways. I have said this before plenty of times out loud and I will repeat it here: In my opinion, I think the casting crew should have chosen a different actor to play Dumbledore. The first Dumbledore played by Richard Harris was beyond perfect, and I think Michael Gambon is a brilliant actor, but maybe wasn't the right fit for playing Albus Dumbledore. The scenes after Dumbledore came back out from the restroom at Slughorn's place was awkward instead of the planned approach that Dumbledore supposedly set up. As a viewer, I felt a sense of secured protection with Richard Harris, like an all-wise grandfather who would look out for you and teach you right from wrong the correct way, unlike the emotional outbursts and insecure feelings that Michael Gambon expressed.
Daniel Radcliffe did a great job portraying Harry in this movie as usual, I especially liked the scenes when he confronted Slughorn, and took the Felix Felicis that he won for brewing a perfect draft of Living Death. It was a completely different side of Harry and I thought Daniel pulled it off hysterically. He definitely doesn't get enough credit for the different little things that he does while being Harry.
As I said in my Deathly Hallows Part 1 Review, I thought that Emma Watson controlled the emotional flow of the Trio and basically the entire movie. Her reactions to Ron getting affection from another girl were very believable and I could 'feel' her hurt inside. Rupert Grint also did a wonderful job in another HP movie. It is obvious that he is completely comfortable playing the role of Ron Weasley.
My huge criticism about the movie is during the moments of Dumbledore's death. I truly believe that the crew could have made it more... epic. One of the most powerful wizards of all time just got hit with the Killing Curse and it was pure silence and slow motion as he was falling, falling, falling down from the Astronomy tower. I have re-watched the movie several times and I always hope for something more significant to be shown. However, the very last time I watched the scene, I was watching and feeling every moment and I definitely could see how the moments could seem perfect to someone else. In my opinion, I would have liked to see something more powerful for what actually happened.
Overall I loved the movie and the books. They put me in such an incredible mood when I watch them which is why I have seen every Harry Potter movie way beyond more than five times.
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman
director: David Yates
The dark side of the Harry Potter series was cemented from the very start of this movie in my opinion. The theme and story itself became incredibly dim, which showed in every scene. I know there were a lot of things that were different or changed in this movie from the book, but I have no problem keeping them somewhat separate in my review because it is what it is and it cannot be changed anyways. I have said this before plenty of times out loud and I will repeat it here: In my opinion, I think the casting crew should have chosen a different actor to play Dumbledore. The first Dumbledore played by Richard Harris was beyond perfect, and I think Michael Gambon is a brilliant actor, but maybe wasn't the right fit for playing Albus Dumbledore. The scenes after Dumbledore came back out from the restroom at Slughorn's place was awkward instead of the planned approach that Dumbledore supposedly set up. As a viewer, I felt a sense of secured protection with Richard Harris, like an all-wise grandfather who would look out for you and teach you right from wrong the correct way, unlike the emotional outbursts and insecure feelings that Michael Gambon expressed.
Daniel Radcliffe did a great job portraying Harry in this movie as usual, I especially liked the scenes when he confronted Slughorn, and took the Felix Felicis that he won for brewing a perfect draft of Living Death. It was a completely different side of Harry and I thought Daniel pulled it off hysterically. He definitely doesn't get enough credit for the different little things that he does while being Harry.
As I said in my Deathly Hallows Part 1 Review, I thought that Emma Watson controlled the emotional flow of the Trio and basically the entire movie. Her reactions to Ron getting affection from another girl were very believable and I could 'feel' her hurt inside. Rupert Grint also did a wonderful job in another HP movie. It is obvious that he is completely comfortable playing the role of Ron Weasley.
My huge criticism about the movie is during the moments of Dumbledore's death. I truly believe that the crew could have made it more... epic. One of the most powerful wizards of all time just got hit with the Killing Curse and it was pure silence and slow motion as he was falling, falling, falling down from the Astronomy tower. I have re-watched the movie several times and I always hope for something more significant to be shown. However, the very last time I watched the scene, I was watching and feeling every moment and I definitely could see how the moments could seem perfect to someone else. In my opinion, I would have liked to see something more powerful for what actually happened.
Overall I loved the movie and the books. They put me in such an incredible mood when I watch them which is why I have seen every Harry Potter movie way beyond more than five times.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Review
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes
director: David Yates
Like I said in my Deathly Hallows Part 2 Review, I thought that all of the creators of Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 did an amazing job at capturing the tense urgency of what needed to be done within the story and the importance it all meant to the wizarding world as well as the muggle world. The opening of the movie was perfect, except I didn't quite understand why they didn't show the farewell interactions between Harry and The Dursley's. Although it was in the book, I wasn't that taken aback since only a couple minutes later, the whole crew shows up and they start turning into the 7 Harry's.
I thought that one of the saddest parts of the movie was when Hedwig came out of no where to help protect Harry on her own will, and unexpectedly to Harry, receiving the most god-awful spell in wizard history (The Killing Curse). Movie-wise, I thought it was a brilliant shot because it captured the quickness, sadness, and bravery of Hedwig, the beautiful snow-white owl that has been by Harry's side since he turned 11 years old.
I thought Rupert Grint did a great job in this film, it seemed like he was especially comfortable in some of the parts he was doing. For example: parts where he was angry and yelled at Harry, and the fighting scenes it finally felt like 'yeah, thats Ron MF Weasley'. Another example was when he had the Sword of Gryffindor and became livid after the Horcrux showed Harry and Hermione aggressively kissing and holding each other while naked.
Emma Watson did a fantastic job on the entire movie series in my opinion. In this movie, she was the glue to how the movie flowed and it was through her that showed the type of emotion that was supposed to be felt at any given moment. I think that kind of talent comes natural to her, and it really shows up on the screen. While Daniel Radcliffe had the tough task of being in almost every shot and having the mindset of a hero.
The saddest scene, in respect to Hedwig, definitely has to be awarded to the free Elf: Dobby. I believe that CGI has come such a long way that instead of just having monsters created, it can produce some of the most touching moments of a movie. If you didn't have your eyes watering while Dobby was drifting away, I suggest you check your emotion level because that was just plain heart breaking. It was devastating in the book as well as the movie, and I believe that Dobby's death was a foreshadow of what was to come and that there were zero boundaries on who could perish in the great war between good and evil.
I thought this movie was incredibly refreshing leading up to Part 2, and I am very grateful that they decided to have The Deathly Hallows made in to two parts.
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes
director: David Yates
Like I said in my Deathly Hallows Part 2 Review, I thought that all of the creators of Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 did an amazing job at capturing the tense urgency of what needed to be done within the story and the importance it all meant to the wizarding world as well as the muggle world. The opening of the movie was perfect, except I didn't quite understand why they didn't show the farewell interactions between Harry and The Dursley's. Although it was in the book, I wasn't that taken aback since only a couple minutes later, the whole crew shows up and they start turning into the 7 Harry's.
I thought that one of the saddest parts of the movie was when Hedwig came out of no where to help protect Harry on her own will, and unexpectedly to Harry, receiving the most god-awful spell in wizard history (The Killing Curse). Movie-wise, I thought it was a brilliant shot because it captured the quickness, sadness, and bravery of Hedwig, the beautiful snow-white owl that has been by Harry's side since he turned 11 years old.
I thought Rupert Grint did a great job in this film, it seemed like he was especially comfortable in some of the parts he was doing. For example: parts where he was angry and yelled at Harry, and the fighting scenes it finally felt like 'yeah, thats Ron MF Weasley'. Another example was when he had the Sword of Gryffindor and became livid after the Horcrux showed Harry and Hermione aggressively kissing and holding each other while naked.
Emma Watson did a fantastic job on the entire movie series in my opinion. In this movie, she was the glue to how the movie flowed and it was through her that showed the type of emotion that was supposed to be felt at any given moment. I think that kind of talent comes natural to her, and it really shows up on the screen. While Daniel Radcliffe had the tough task of being in almost every shot and having the mindset of a hero.
The saddest scene, in respect to Hedwig, definitely has to be awarded to the free Elf: Dobby. I believe that CGI has come such a long way that instead of just having monsters created, it can produce some of the most touching moments of a movie. If you didn't have your eyes watering while Dobby was drifting away, I suggest you check your emotion level because that was just plain heart breaking. It was devastating in the book as well as the movie, and I believe that Dobby's death was a foreshadow of what was to come and that there were zero boundaries on who could perish in the great war between good and evil.
I thought this movie was incredibly refreshing leading up to Part 2, and I am very grateful that they decided to have The Deathly Hallows made in to two parts.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Review
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes
director: David Yates
The end of one of my most favorite stories has ended with this concluding Harry Potter film. I am sad to see that there will no longer be anymore Harry Potter movies to gleefully wait for, however, I am happy to have been raised with the movies being only about a year older than Daniel Radcliffe. I read all of the books, so I already knew what was going to happen, but I was still almost in tears at about 10 different parts of the movie. I definitely loved this movie and I think that this one was the best Harry Potter movie since the first 3 were made for many reasons.
One reason I thought it was one of the best Harry Potter films was because the movie stopped dumbing down the audience. In my opinion, movies 5-6 went a different direction and focused more on trying to educate the viewers on the wizarding world, the characters, and wizard dialogue rather than just tell the story at face value like The Lord of the Rings movies had done. They should have just spoke and talked about things in the wizarding world like it was normal and the viewer (mostly having read the books themselves) would have picked up on it instantly, or after watching it multiple times. In The Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2, they through all of that away and just spoke and went on with the movie like it was all normal and the story was told the way it is supposed to be told, which is why I really loved this movie.
My second reason was that the filmmakers seemed to go back to the Harry Potter roots and had more 'emotional' scenes. Like the scene at the beginning of the film with Head Master Snape overlooking the students of Hogwarts as they were entering the castle while a deep ballad was playing in the background. The theme of darkness survived the entirety of the movie, which I thought was perfect for what was to come.
Although I thoroughly loved this movie, I was disappointed that we didn't really get to see Fred & George Weasley, Tonks & Remus, and some of the other Order fight during the big battle at Hogwarts. I would have loved to see them in their time of glory, especially since their fate was tragic. Also, John "Dawlish" Noe predicted a huge part in the final Harry Potter book which translated onto the movies where Professor Minerva McGonagall used a spell to summon most of the statues of Hogwarts to 'come alive' to defend and protect its home from the evil threat of Lord Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and the rest of his army.
A beautiful way to end the book was also the best way to end the film series. 19 Years Later you see the Trio, Draco, and Ginny all sending their own children off to Hogwarts for the first time. I thought it was a real touching sequence after the violence and chaos that was previously shown. It was wonderful to see them grown up with the wizarding world back to 'normal' like it was when Harry first got on the Hogwarts Express via platform nine and three quarters.
starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes
director: David Yates
The end of one of my most favorite stories has ended with this concluding Harry Potter film. I am sad to see that there will no longer be anymore Harry Potter movies to gleefully wait for, however, I am happy to have been raised with the movies being only about a year older than Daniel Radcliffe. I read all of the books, so I already knew what was going to happen, but I was still almost in tears at about 10 different parts of the movie. I definitely loved this movie and I think that this one was the best Harry Potter movie since the first 3 were made for many reasons.
One reason I thought it was one of the best Harry Potter films was because the movie stopped dumbing down the audience. In my opinion, movies 5-6 went a different direction and focused more on trying to educate the viewers on the wizarding world, the characters, and wizard dialogue rather than just tell the story at face value like The Lord of the Rings movies had done. They should have just spoke and talked about things in the wizarding world like it was normal and the viewer (mostly having read the books themselves) would have picked up on it instantly, or after watching it multiple times. In The Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2, they through all of that away and just spoke and went on with the movie like it was all normal and the story was told the way it is supposed to be told, which is why I really loved this movie.
My second reason was that the filmmakers seemed to go back to the Harry Potter roots and had more 'emotional' scenes. Like the scene at the beginning of the film with Head Master Snape overlooking the students of Hogwarts as they were entering the castle while a deep ballad was playing in the background. The theme of darkness survived the entirety of the movie, which I thought was perfect for what was to come.
Although I thoroughly loved this movie, I was disappointed that we didn't really get to see Fred & George Weasley, Tonks & Remus, and some of the other Order fight during the big battle at Hogwarts. I would have loved to see them in their time of glory, especially since their fate was tragic. Also, John "Dawlish" Noe predicted a huge part in the final Harry Potter book which translated onto the movies where Professor Minerva McGonagall used a spell to summon most of the statues of Hogwarts to 'come alive' to defend and protect its home from the evil threat of Lord Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and the rest of his army.
A beautiful way to end the book was also the best way to end the film series. 19 Years Later you see the Trio, Draco, and Ginny all sending their own children off to Hogwarts for the first time. I thought it was a real touching sequence after the violence and chaos that was previously shown. It was wonderful to see them grown up with the wizarding world back to 'normal' like it was when Harry first got on the Hogwarts Express via platform nine and three quarters.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Up
Up Review
starring: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger
director(s): Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
For the people that have seen Up, I don't have to tell you how sad the first 10-13 minutes of the movie is. The Pixar crew definitely summed the life of a childhood couple in love up quite quickly. The heart-warming scenes were, in my opinion, way more powerful than the whole movie put together. The scenes put time in perspective, and made everyone kind of realize how little they actually have on this wonderful Earth of ours.
Anyways, the movie then progressed slowly afterwards with a great idea for a plot, but it never captured my emotions the whole time like other Pixar films (like Finding Nemo). The 'talking' dogs, and huge colorful bird made it a little too unrealistic, even though it is an animation film. Not to mention the scenery and setting of the barren wastelands / semi-jungle was just not fun to look at or 'be at'. The little problems that Carl and Russell faced didn't capture my worry too much either.
Overall I didn't particularly love this movie as I do with almost every other Pixar film ever made. It seemed like not a whole lot of thought was put in to the story line and it could have definitely been improved, in my humble opinion. However, because it was Pixar, I still enjoyed my time watching Up, it's always relaxing to watch a good animation film made by the best animation studio on the planet.
starring: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger
director(s): Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
For the people that have seen Up, I don't have to tell you how sad the first 10-13 minutes of the movie is. The Pixar crew definitely summed the life of a childhood couple in love up quite quickly. The heart-warming scenes were, in my opinion, way more powerful than the whole movie put together. The scenes put time in perspective, and made everyone kind of realize how little they actually have on this wonderful Earth of ours.
Anyways, the movie then progressed slowly afterwards with a great idea for a plot, but it never captured my emotions the whole time like other Pixar films (like Finding Nemo). The 'talking' dogs, and huge colorful bird made it a little too unrealistic, even though it is an animation film. Not to mention the scenery and setting of the barren wastelands / semi-jungle was just not fun to look at or 'be at'. The little problems that Carl and Russell faced didn't capture my worry too much either.
Overall I didn't particularly love this movie as I do with almost every other Pixar film ever made. It seemed like not a whole lot of thought was put in to the story line and it could have definitely been improved, in my humble opinion. However, because it was Pixar, I still enjoyed my time watching Up, it's always relaxing to watch a good animation film made by the best animation studio on the planet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)