Hey folks, Harry here with a review by Quint of Harry Potter. Now, contrary to my approach, Quint immersed himself in the mythology of Harry Potter prior to the film. He's read the books and is an absolute Potter freak, as is his mermaid (think half-tuna). Does it mean he can't judge the material objectively? Oh no. He can look at the film as a work of adaptation, whereas all I could do was see what the movie had, not carrying the crutch or plague of the book. Sometimes the knowledge you get having read a novel allows you to excuse a lack of development or a missing plotline, because... well you already know that and bring that with you. Quint had the advantage of knowing was was going on between scenes and in the character's heads as well as seeing and understanding the foreshadow of things to come in future films. See if you agree with his assessment...
Ahoy there, squirts! 'Tis I, the humble yet crusty seafaring muggle, Quint, here to let you folks know my thoughts on the much anticipated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
My background on the world of Harry Potter: I had avoided the books for a while, lumping them into recent kid's fads like Pokemon. That was until I found out I was interviewing Steve Kloves, the screenwriter of Harry Potter, as he was out there to help spread the word on the rerelease of another film he penned, Wonder Boys.
I figured I had to at least read the first book before the interview, so I borrowed a paperback copy from my little brother. It was 2 days before the interview that I cracked open Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (it was an american edition... I know full well that it's Philosopher's Stone originally, but I was introduced to it as Sorcerer's Stone). By the time the interview came up, I was halfway through the third book. You can read that interview here, by the way... lots of fun. http://www.aintitcool.com /display.cgi?id=8111
Needless to say, I'm a fan of the novels. I'm partial to Chamber of Secrets, but I do agree that Goblet of Fire is the most mature, involving and awesome installment in the series thus far. My anticipation of the film was incredibly high, especially since Kloves alleviated most of my fears by saying that Chris Columbus is actually taking the original source material seriously and that JK Rowling herself has a say in every aspect of the film.
Cut to today, 3 hours ago. I didn't have a ticket to the press screening, but luck, chance and a few very nice people got not only me into the screening, but also my lovely mermaid, Auntie Meat, as well. She also got sucked into the books, but hasn't finished Prisoner of Azkaban yet.
The trailers started. No Episode 2, but the cool Scooby Doo trailer came up. Good trailer. Still think the film is going to blow huge, bloody chunks. The Majestic trailer played next. Great little trailer. Looks like a charming, heartstring-tugging film. No Bruce Campbell, though. Then the Warner Bros. logo pops up with John Williams great main theme.
Everybody out there should know the basic premise of the film... if you don't... then I can't imagine why you're reading this review. I'm going to go into some detail here, but it's nothing surprising to anyone who hasn't read the novels. I will put a warning before any super spoiler, though, so if you're trying to stay pure you'll have a bit of a heads up.
The great: The three kids. Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley... fantastic. I had heard early reports of him almost stealing the movie and I have to concur. He has a great sense of timing and delivery. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger. Again, a bang up job. People have been knocking her performance, saying it was over the top. Wrong. I knew many, many girls like her in my elementary school days and she nailed the prissy, anal retentive teacher's pet character spot on. Sure, there might be a few lines that you might think should be underplayed instead of overplayed, but that's her character.
That leaves us with young Mister Daniel Radcliffe who shoulders this huge title role extremely well and with great care. He's an underplayer by nature, which is what Harry Potter is supposed to be. Harry is timid. Harry is kind. Harry isn't one to show off or boast or brag. Columbus found the real live Harry Potter and he can actually act.
The supporting cast is also terrific. Alan Rickman in particular is great and runs with the dark character of Professor Snape. He chews the scenery with ease. Great, great casting. Richard Harris provides a strong backbone to the school as the headmaster, Dumbledore. John Cleese is funny as ever in his cameo sized role of Nearly Headless Nick. Maggie Smith brings great class to Prof. McGonagall. Robbie Coltrane just rocks the earth as Hagrid. All these guys (and gals) are great and do justice to their characters, but the movie never forgets who the stars are: the three kids, Harry being the frontrunner, obviously. I'm leaving off a bunch of great smaller characters here (like the Quidditch captain, Malfoy, etc), but if I talk about everything you'll be bored with the movie, right? hehe
The movie isn't without flaw. A lot of the CG is noticeable. Although... I do have to say that the Troll looks better in the film than he did in the trailer. While there was never any doubt that he was a CG effect, they did a great job of adding character to his face and body language. That having been said, I've seen the Cannes Reel with the Lord of the Rings footage... and he doesn't even hold a candle to the Cave Troll.
The CG was most obvious when trying to duplicate human characters, which is quite a lot of the Quidditch match. It nagged on me a bit, but in the end the pacing of the scene, the performance of the actors and motion of the sequence was more important to me. They handled it great, buy the way. Nice adrenaline pumping sequence, although I don't think it should be compared to the pod race from Episode 1. That'd be like saying NASCAR was more exciting to watch than a soccer game. It's a different sport and it'll appeal to different people.
Williams's score is also a bit flawed. While I love the title track and some of the good ol' fashioned energy bits during the film (especially at the chess match at the end) his score is still extremely repetitive. I don't think it really detracts from the movie, but it sure doesn't add to some sequences.
Now I'm sure Master Knowles is going to go into great detail about his feelings on the film, which differ a bit from mine... Matter of fact, we argued a bit afterwards. You see, he had a problem with the last 30 minutes of the film. There are a few SPOILERS from here on in for those not wanting to know anything more about the film. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Harry didn't like the switcharoo ending or how everything is explained in the end. While I agree the ending of the film wasn't handled too well and felt a bit rushed, like they realized they were already at 2 hours and 10 minutes and had to wrap everything up, I have to disagree with his opinion about the revelation of Voldemort. I love the red herring's a-plenty.
The main difference between us is he didn't read the book. I read the book and had the ending perfectly revealed to me, where it didn't feel cliched or too far out there. Same goes for the not very surprising Gryffindor win of the house cup. It comes off unearned in the film because unlike the book, they didn't have time to incorporate the many unfair point deductions that Hermione, Ron and Harry kept getting hit with. They didn't incorporate the growing hostility toward our heroes by members of their own house. They didn't have time to include the final threat of expulsion if our heroes were caught outside one more time, thus the heroics Harry showed in the end doesn't pay off as much without the overall threat of possibly having to return forever to the mean Aunt and Uncle Dersley and never see Hogwarts again.
In the book the ending comes off as right and just. They took the chance, saved the day and got rewarded for it. In the film, it looks like Dumbledore just likes Harry more and vetoes the count, letting Gryffindor win unfairly. I saw what Harry (Knowles, not Potter) was talking about, but unlike Harry I had the ending perfectly played out for me so I was able to brush off what was lacking in the film. Harry was stuck with what he saw.
It makes me wonder... Even though I adore the slow pace at the beginning and the fact that they stayed true to the novel almost chapter by chapter up ‘til Hogwarts... I have to wonder if that was why they cut so much out of the Hogwarts part of the film. Cutting Peeves out entirely and most of the Norbert stuff is understandable. A bummer, to be sure, but they really don’t have a large impact on the main story. But cutting out the growing sense of dislike by the mass of students, by cutting out Snape using the littlest excuse to knock points off of Gryffindor and add points to Slytherin... I don’t know if it was worth keeping some of the earlier extrenuous scenes. While they found a great pacing, was it worth the loss of steam at the end? That’s up to you to decide.
Various bits and pieces: I have to say I loved the snake scene at the beginning. I loved the hints of things to come throughout the film (ie seeing Ron's little sister, seeing Ron's rat, the revelation of the Phoenix feather wand taking to Harry...) There are lots of little things that will come to play in a major way in the next few films and I'm glad Columbus took the time to include them in this, the first chapter of a greater series.
My expectations for this film were high, very high indeed and while they weren't blown away, my expectations were indeed met. I'm excited about the series. I'm excited about the direction the series is going in. I can't wait to see how Columbus and team handle the films as they get darker. I'm a little bummed that the last 15 minutes of the film don't live up to the promise of the first 135 minutes, but at the same time I'm glad that they got the important things right, like the pacing (the incredible... spectacular slow but steady pacing...) and the actors.
Agree with me or don't. That's up to you. I can only say that I'm excited to take my little brother this weekend. I know he's going to love it to death and the mere fact that Columbus made a 2 and a half hour movie that not only kept the children enthralled (I had the greatest kids sitting behind me... they would go "Wow!" or "Oooooooo" at just the right moments, giving me a bit of their uncynical, childhood enthusiasm with me during the film) but also garnered a very healthy round of applause at the end.
As I wrap this up, I urge all of you who have not picked up the novels to do so. If you have any heart whatsoever, any sense of wonder leftover from your childhood, then you'll get sucked into the books just like I did. They ain't Lord of the Rings, but a great read nonetheless.
It's about time I shove off, squirts. I got a lot of work to do netting you fine folks some cool interviews and even an exclusive set visit to tell y'all about. 'Til that day, mates, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
email: aicnquint@aol.com
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