Author: latepaul

Which I’m a bit down about, but it’s ok. I feel like I haven’t lived up to my plan, but at the same time it was tough going and I needed a rest. The last thing I want is to hate the sight of anything Harry Potter at the exact moment the new book arrives on my doormat. I guess part of what took the wind out of my sails was the new movie.

In retrospect it was a mistake re-reading the book in time for the movie. By doing that I think I hyped myself up into thinking the movie was going to be better. The book is too long and the movie will be shorter and bring the story to life more. Not quite. Don’t get me wrong the movie is ok. It doesn’t suck, but it’s not great. There were moments I enjoyed but it’s funny how many of them weren’t in the book and many of my favourite book moments were done badly or missing (meeting Neville in St. Mungo’s being a prime example).

I also didn’t like Gary Oldman’s Sirius – which is odd because I really like Oldman as an actor. I can’t quite escape the feeling Oldman didn’t take it seriously enough. There’s a moment at the end where he turns up to fire off a defensive spell to save Harry, thus announcing the arrival of the ‘cavalry’ in the form of the Order. It should be a cool moment (a ‘I’d like to test that theory’ moment if you know your Buffy) but it falls flat because his wand movement looks a bit camp. Now I realise that’s an inherent danger of flourishing a small stick as a method of battle but the other actors, Gambon especially, managed much better.

There were other things too. There’s so much in the book that I felt like the movie was ticking off a checklist of must-have scenes and characters – so you’re left with a series of cool moments and set-pieces rather than a coherent story.

Stuff to like? Imelda Staunton just nailed Umbridge perfectly. The actress playing Luna Lovegood was perfect – strange other-worldliness but with a good heart and a connection with Harry that made you wonder if they could be a couple later on. I got that feeling when I read the passage in the book that the quote above is from. I got it from the equivalent scene in the movie.

On first reading this I was a bit taken aback by Hermione’s comment. Mostly ‘cos it comes from Hermione. That Harry’s being rash, not thinking about the possibility of a trap, acting more on emotion than reason is fair enough. That he has a messiah complex is an odd complaint. Harry normally detests anything that makes him different, he just wants to be a normal boy (much like Buffy in that respect). Hermione’s normally more shrewd than that. There are lots of valid criticisms of Harry’s behaviour but having a “saving-people thing” jars – and not just in the clumsy language.

Dumbledore’s behaviour on the other hand is more understandable but almost as unsatisfying. The explanation he gives for not wanting to interact much with Harry or for not telling him more about the Prophecy make sense, and from a writing point of view they allow Rowling to have the “no-one understands me” teenage thing going – but it’s just so frustrating. Also, why didn’t the Order of the Phoenix simply destroy the prophecy once they knew that’s what Voldemort was after. They knew the exact contents of it after all. They had people in the Ministry. These are things that seem to exist largely to create the story – which of course is always true – but when it’s so apparent the story suffers.

I suspect in the final book we’ll get more about James Potter’s schooldays – along with more information on Snape and Lily.

So you’ll notice the time and that means I didn’t write my blog at lunchtime, which means I didn’t read then either. That’s not a problem – I should easily finish Order of the Phoenix tonight. I hope I can make it not too late. The last thing I want is to be falling asleep during the film.

I’m excited about seeing the movie. For its own sake – it’s had good reviews – but also because it represents a break from such a punishing schedule. On Friday I’ll have one book left to read. At my normal reading speed it’ll be no problem to finish it by Monday which will give me the chance to do a movie a night before the new book comes out next Saturday. Which means it’s all a heck of a lot easier after tonight.

Also the “plot” is starting to kick into gear a bit more. It’s darker than we’ve had before. Cedric dying was harsh, Arthur Weasley nearly dying is much more so because we’re closer to him. So the stakes are being raised. Harry’s feelings about being the snake feel now less like him being bratty and more like a fear I can genuinely identify with. Though an excellent moment is when Ginny points out that he’s not bothered to talk to her about it, the one person he knows who has genuinely been possessed by Voldemort. Nevertheless I’m less inclined to be annoyed with Harry and more likely to feel empathy for him at this stage.