Harry Potter and the Whatever of the Whatever

[daddytodd]

Just got back from seeing the new Harry Potter movie.

I'm a total Potter virgin -- never seen any of the previous films, never read any of the books.

I do NOT recommend this movie to anyone not well-versed in the lore. It seemed to mostly consist of unconnected vignettes that bore next to no relationship to anything remotely resembling a "plot."

And maybe it's just because I'm a middle-aged gay man, but honest to god, every female in the movie looked exactly the same, with the exceptions of Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith.  Sorry, but all those tweenie girls were completely interchangeable. For all I could tell, Ron Weasely was snogging his own sister...

It wasn't a bad movie, and I thought Daniel Radcliffe showed some promise as an actor (despite a script that didn't make many demands on his acting talents.) But it's NOT the place for a Potter neophyte to start.

II wish I'd followed my gut and gone to see Moon instead.

Comments

[fingertrouble.livejournal.com]

Umm it IS the 6th movie of the series? It's nearly at the end...

That's like going to the last of the Star Wars movies or the last Godfather or the last Lord of the Rings without knowing anything about them and going 'eh?'.

Of course at this point, with it being one of the biggest books of all time and there being 5 other movies, they're probably going to assume you know something about it...and have at least seen one of the movies, or read at least one of the books. And probably assume you know the storyline, or most of it to date - I think that's fair enough at this point...

I don't think the last few films of ANY series are good for people coming to that series afresh?

[darkrose79.livejournal.com]

"Umm it IS the 6th movie of the series? It's nearly at the end."
LOL its never ending i heard book 7 is being split between 2 movies. then there will be prequels about the founding of hogwarts and dumbledores life story...we will be dust in the grave before it ends lol

[fingertrouble.livejournal.com]

Yes 7th book is being split between two films, too much to put in one film actually...so of course 6 is building up to that.

Can't take too long as Daniel Radcliffe is 20 now, playing a 16 year old...

So we're more than halfway through - 6 films down, 2 more to go. This is not really a total n00b entry point is it?

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

Well, part of my issue is that it doesn't really make sense as a film unless you've already read the book -- it's not an organic narrative, it's a "greatest hits" dramatization from the book.

But then I'm already resigned to the fact that I'm pretty much the last filmgoer on the planet who wants movies to have a plot...