No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on July 16, 2009

I am going to put most of this behind a cut since I know of at least 3 people who are exploring Harry Potter through the films rather than reading the books and there is no way to write this up without spoilers and, for those who read the books, there are some serious changes that would come as a bit of a surprise that I don’t want to ruin for you.

Overall I think it is a good film. The cast is solid and it is interesting that the all kids have continued to grow as actors. Most of them are over 18 and most of them will go on to have healthy careers in film, television and the stage. A couple will probably end up signing autographs at conventions for extra pocket change but overall I was impressed at what I saw. Also Michael Gambon does great as Dumbledore. I miss Richard Harris but he really couldn’t have done in the film what Mr. Gambon does.

My biggest problem with the look of the film was the color choice. Blue and more blue for gloom and doom. I got it within the first 10 minutes and suffered through it for then next two hours. It would have been a better trick to keep the lighting natural when we were at Hogwarts and let the actors portray the concerns. It was a very dark movie and by that I mean the lighting on top of the subject material.

I did like Fred and George’s shop. It was great fun and a lot of work for that amount of film. The sense of humor and whimsy that was through out the film was nicely done. It made it so that the film wasn’t too heavy and emotionally dark.

Alan Rickman had more to do than he did in the past films combined. I think he played Snape a little more relaxed because everyone knows what he knows that Rowling told him oh so long ago as to what happened to Snape. He was a little more cuddly as Snape and I am still processing that. I don’t know if that is because I know all that information from the last book or Rickman changed his performance slightly.

But the person who wowed me was Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. He played this one just perfectly. And again he had more to do but he did a wonderful job with it. I almost want to see a film back when Harry’s parents were are Hogwarts but not really. His death was powerful and I did tear up quite a bit. Then Harry chasing Snape not realizing that Snape was saving his life by not fighting him. Wow.

It was nice to see Quidditch again after so long an absence. And Rupert Grint did a fine job with the wire work. I believed he was the keeper. It was just long enough to bring a smile to my face but not too long that it felt padded.

Relationships were forged. The role of Lavender Brown was well played by Jessie Cave. It was another character off the page and onto the screen. She was the right amount of annoying without me wanted to throw her off the Hogwarts express. Evanna Lynch continues to excel as Luna Lovegood. Ariel wants the dress that she wore to Slughorn’s Christmas Shindig. I felt sorry for Matthew Lewis (Nevil) because I think he had a total of 4 line although he was in a lot of the shots. But in the end Hermione ended up with Ron and Ginny with Harry. I do like that they used the word snogging and didn’t Americanize it.

(EDIT: I forgot Felton which is a crime because he did so well with Malfoy this go around. He was troubled and twisted and so unsure about what he has agreed to do. It was an incredible performance.)

And I know a number of people are down on Helen Bonham Carter over Bellatrix but I thought she did an excellent job of being a presence in every scene she was in but not stealing the scene away from the main characters.

So over all I give it two thumbs up. It is of such a scope that seeing it at least once in a Movie Theater would be worth the cash.

I am grateful that I saw Harry Potter in a good Movie theater with comfortable seats.

Category: Movies and TV
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