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mightyafrodite and I went to see it on Sunday so we could have the "HP Squee Team" viewing. And boy oh boy, did I squee. But also, after seeing it a second time, I had (nearly) cohesive thoughts about it.
This started out a comment to something else, but it started to go a lot longer than I'd anticipated.
I've been reading a lot of "OMG YOU LEFT OUT [insert the subplot of your choice here], HOW COULD YOOOOOOOOOU?!"
Admittedly, I thought I was going to be one of them, and while there are a couple of small bits I would have liked to have seen, I think that OotP is, by far, the best film adaptation of the books yet.
Naturally, it's not completely accurate to the book. It couldn't possibly be. At 38 chapters, OotP is the longest (and most convoluted) of the books. That being said, I think they did well with getting the best story they could into 2.5 hours.
They cut the "Weasley is our King" subplot, which devastated me for
I was kind of miffed that there was no mention of the fact that Ron, Hermione and Draco are all selected as Prefects, but it would really have been one of those "oh, by the way" sort of things, and I eventually accepted that it was probably better left out altogether.
It would have been nice to include the scene where Hermione blackmails Rita Skeeter into writing a positive article and it gets published in the Quibbler (I think). Umbridge bans it, and thus feeds right into that theory that kids have that if something is forbidden, it must be good. It helps gather much-needed support for Harry and would help explain why there were so many students there to meet at the Hog's Head for the DA sign-up. If the movie-goer isn't a reader of the books, it might seem kind of out of the blue that they showed at all, considering that a lot of them were treating Harry like he was syphilis.
I would have liked to have seen more done with Snape's Worst Memory. That scene does so much in the way of helping to explain why Snape has so much hate for Harry. I think they could expounded on that a bit.
I think my only other issue with this movie was that the adults were pretty much non-existent, when so much of the book involves the elder characters. And for being HP and the Order of the Phoenix, we didn't see very much of the Order. That was a bit of a letdown. More Shaklebolt, Moody and Lupin in the next movie, plz.
It was unfortunate that they left out the CAPSLOCK OF RAGE scene when Dumbledore is explaining the Prophecy and why he was shutting Harry out. I think DanRad could've nailed that.
Again, kudos to Michael Goldenberg for not turning Ron into some mopey, rubber-faced idiot.
Ron was finally Ron: funny, awkward and scared -- but still the first person to stand beside (not behind) his friends and do what's right. I cringe at the previous characterisations of Ron, and I hope that Steve Kloves took some notes. Steve, this is how Movie!Ron should be. WEASLEY IS KING.
And plz to stop giving Hermione all of his lines, kthnx.
I was really pleased to see other actors getting more face time than just the Golden Trio; particularly Matthew Lewis, who continues to impress me. I think he's got a lot of potential as an actor, and it was a pleasure to see more of him on-screen. I'm really hoping for a major showdown between Neville and Bellatrix in the final book, so I can watch it in the film version. :p
All in all, I think this was a great movie, and I'm looking forward to Yates' interpretation of HBP. I just pray that Kloves took notes from Goldenberg. Siriusly.
...
*tears up again*
These are all personal opinions/ramblings, and I probably add to them here and there as I think about them. I think I'll see it at least one more time, though.
