HP III Review

So, Mrs. X and I went to see the third Harry Potter movie on Saturday. We were both very excited having heard lots of good things about it and having enjoyed the first two quite well. Our final opinion? Some good, some not so good.

The Good
I personally really enjoyed the darker tone of the movie and its edgier quality. Right from the beginning it kind of grabbed you and said that we were going for a left turn down this road. I also think that the acting quality of the three heroes has improved greatly over the years. Dan Radcliff still needs a little education on truly grabbing a scene and chewing it for his angst moments, but for the most part, I was quite impressed. I also liked the brief looks at their lives outside of classes and adventures. It really gave you the impression that he was where he belonged.

The Bad
Alfonzo Cuaron and Steve Kloves are a good director and writer team, but they did a bit of injustice to the movie in trying to trim it down. Two or three plot points were glossed over and a couple of things were never even addressed. Many of those things would have added barely 10 minutes to the movie and would have solved a lot of little problems that Mrs. X and I had. A perfect example is an explanation of how Sirius knew that Pettigrew was at Hogwarts. In the book we know its because he saw the picture of him in the photo the Weasley family in Egypt. So he knew he was passing himself off as an ordinary pet rat. In the movie, Sirius just knows and the point is never explained. Another point that was omitted and was quite noticeable was the explanation of how Lupin knew about the map and who Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail were. It could have been done quite easily at the end during that little session Harry had with Lupin. Five minutes or less of explanation. It also would have cleared up the Stag point. Instead, Cuaron deferred it to GoF which is going to be crowded enough without having to cover missed points from PoA.

The Ugly
The simple and most overwhelming flaw with this movie is that the director and scriptwriter are operating from the perspective that the audience already knows the whole story and from that, they can cut corners. As a result, anyone who doesn't know the story will be quite lost on several major points unless its explained to them. That is not a good movie making technique. I had similar reservations when The Phantom Menace came out back in 1999. There was never that explanation scene as in Episode 4 of what the force is, what a jedi knight is, and how the force is used. Lucas simply assumed that everyone knew the points from watching the first trilogy and didn't have to hit them again, despite the fact that from now on, a person will have to watch Episode 4 first and then go back to the beginning to clear up things. Not exactly what George had in mind I think.

Summary
Despite my strong language, I did enjoy the movie. I just felt that if a little extra care had been taken, it would easily rank as the best of the three. Now, I can't really bring myself to say that. Its still good and I imagine Mrs. X and I will buy it on DVD when it comes out, but it does leave you with a slight feeling of what could have been.

Overall grade: B