Title: A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF MATURITY
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Comic ID #6860
Title: A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF MATURITY
Print Status: Available
Title: A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF MATURITY
Print Status: Available
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Prisoner of Azkaban was probably my favorite Potter film as well. Order of the Phoenix wasn’t a very good MOVIE. Taken out of the Potter franchise…it was a mess and kind of a disaster as just a film. Half-Blood Prince was better, but they absolutely ruined the scene of Dumbledore’s death. Their decisions for that scene didn’t make any sense at all, and I was pretty upset. Even without knowledge of how it plays out in the book, the scene just does not make sense. The fact that Harry WILLINGLY lets Snape, the guy he thinks has been working with Voldemort for FIVE FILMS and has been particularly suspicious of in this film, just WALK RIGHT PAST HIM while his beloved mentor is up there, surrounded by Death Eaters, weak and helpless…I mean, REALLY? Harry is right there, has his wand, and DOES NOTHING. It doesn’t make any sense at all. At least in the book he’s invisible, and Dumbledore has immobolized him, so he literally can’t do anything.
But man oh man, those Deathly Hallows trailers look amaaaaaazing! And DOBBY! Dobby even has his own film poster, so I know they’re putting him in there. I’m soooo excited. I think by splitting it into two films they’re finally going to get it right like they did with the first three.
Knowing only what others have told me about the books, I felt Half-Blood Prince was a huge let down at the very end. It was supposed to be our “Empire Strikes Back” of the Harry Potter series. The twist at the end on who the Half-Blood Prince was supposed to be devastating, from what I understand, to Harry, in the film version, when it was revealed who it was, it hit with a thud. The thing they were trying to go for in Half-Blood Prince, they actually did right at the end of Dealthy Hallows with a character’s death.
I think I’m one of the few who felt this way but felt Goblet of Fire was the best of the film series thus far. Prisoner of Azkaban was good but I felt mostly bored by the film, and I sometimes forget where the film is going, and not in a good way, but a “check my watch as I’m falling asleep” way. For me, Goblet was the film that breached both the magical childlike wonder and the darkness at the end that creeps up and takes the wonder away, making the story very real for the characters.
Order of the Pheonix was entertaining, and moved the story along, but did feel a bit out of whack.
After watching Deathly Hallows, do I wish the previous two films were split up like that? Yes, I rather watch Lord of the Ring-sized epics then quick 2 hr 50 minute films. It only leads to disappointment ultimately when you see how well Hallows plays out.
And I’d like to point out, the books, the way they’re written, don’t interest me. I do enjoy the story, and suffice myself with the film saga. (so I don’t fall into a Potter superfan. I can’t barely remember some of the characters’ names.)
I can understand your lack of enthusiasm. I feel like Harry Potter may have lasted too long for its own good. Sure people would be flipping their lids if they left the series unfinished, and I’ll probably eventually see the last two, but I’m in no real rush.
I loved the books when I was growing up and for the most part felt so-so about the movies. One of the biggest problems I have is that each movie is based on the book, often with no regard for the changes that were made in the movie before it. This can lead to things coming out of nowhere that make little to no sense without the context of the books. I can’t remember any specific examples off the top of my head, but it creates some real continuity problems, none of which are made3 better by the constant rotation of directors the first few films had.
Deathly Hallows part one is probably the movie I’m least excited about in the series, because a lot of the first half of the book was fluff in my opinion.
Unfortunately I have to disagree on many points here.
While I do agree that GoF-HBP were pretty bad, Prisoner of Azkaban was my least favorite of the entire series, even from way back when I saw it in theaters to Wednesday when I rewatched it in prep for this one I still hated it. It’s like when you watch something and the audio goes just out of sync enough to bug you. That’s what I feel when watching Prisoner of Azkaban. Most of the plot points just felt off balance to me.
I guess I would fall under the “Potter Superfan” category, but even my room mate who has on numerous occasions flat out refused to read the books (he also like PoA best of all the films) absolutely loved this movie (Deathly Hallows P1) Our mutual friend who we practically had to drag kicking and screaming into the theater actually thanked me for dragging her along. As a devote lover of the books, I also loved the movie. It’s really well done, they aren’t trying to cram story elements in because they already know they have another 2hr and 45 min after this to finish up.
If anything go see it during the matinee, I promise you won’t be disappointed. (Plus Part 2 will be even more epic than Part 1)
Just saw the deathly hallows. Easily the most emotionally gripping and well paced movie flin the franchise. I wish the last two movies had been split in two.
Just as I thought. Today’s comic was the worst one in ages. Pitty.
Wow. Tell me how you really feel, Lance.
It’s too bad The Simpsons gave Comic Book Guy a name already because yours would fit perfectly given your vague comment which adds nothing to the conversation.
I have read the books, I have seen the movies. Not a rabid fan but there are some points that get missed in the rush to condense the books down to two and a half hours. The style of Yates as a director is visulally rich but some of the storytelling is lost in the long lingering shots that achieve atmosphere but not substance.
I felt that Half Blood Prince was the weakest in the series because the title is ignored for most of the movie. The Mystery of who the Half Blood Prince may be is supposed to be intertwined with the search for the origins of Tom Riddle but it gets set aside as a textbook with really good notes instead of the driving mystery it was in the book. It is a shame that the splitting a book into to movies had not occured to them with this movie as well. Or maybe just a bit more substance and a bit less lingering. The reveal of who the Half Blood Prince is at the end of the movie seems out of place since the characters have not shown much drive to find out who the Prince might be nor is there much indication that the character who reveals his princely status knows that the other characters are seeking the answer to that question.
But that is just me. I like the spectacle of the movies. I know the storylines are going to be streamlined if not threadbare.
I am not expecting a different result. I am just a completist and finishing out a series that is just about over. 🙂
“At this point, I’m thinking the only people left who actually care about the Harry Potter movies are the super-fans. The kids who read the books and re-read the books as adults.”
Looks like there’s a lot of those ‘super-fans’ out there! $330M world-wide in its first weekend in theaters! If I’m not mistaken, it’s a lot more than even Avatar had netted in its first weekend, isn’t it?
Well, it’s domestic gross was $125 million – which was a franchise high. So your point is well taken.
Avatar’s first weekend domestic was something like $75-$80 million. But considering it didn’t have 6 movies in front of it to build up demand, that’s why you see the differential.
Clearly I’m in the minority on the whole Harry Potter phenomenon. But the Saw movies were profitable for years based on the same kind of programming – the built in expectation that you HAVE to see the next chapter in order to appreciate the whole story.
Granted, there’s a presidence for the Harry Potter movies because of the books. They KNOW there’s demand for it. But at the same time – for someone like me who was never sucked into that world outside of the movies – there’s very little incentive to turn over money at the box office when I have found the films to be lacking.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m with you on this. I watched the first movie and parts of the other two after. The whole Harry Potter ‘universe’ never really drew me in so I’ve pretty much ignored the rest of the movies.
Not that anybody cares, but my wife and I went to watch our first movie since the birth of our daughter (6 months ago!): The Social Network. We both thought it was great and I really am surprised at how everyone said how negatively the movie was portraying Zuckerberg; I really didn’t see anything wrong with any of his dealings, etc. Great performances by everyone and definitely a great script. Kept me completely engaged from beginning to end.
Not having seen any of the SAW movies, the comparison comes off as very unfair towards the Harry Potter series.
Brother, I have no children at all in my house and I STILL watch Phineas & Ferb religiously!
“Whatcha dooooooin’?”
“Aren’t you a little -old- to be watching ‘Phineas and Ferb’?”
“Yes! Yes I am.”
Its strange, I apsolutely LOVED the books, but absolutely HATED the movies I’ve seen; granted, untill the 4th movie it had mostly been because of a guilt by asosiation type of thing. And whats realy strange is that I still ended up watching the first 5 movies is some form or another
But despite my hatred for the movies, I still rather enjoyed the 3rd one – atleast as much as I can enjoy a HP movie. The only reason its not one of my favorite movies is because they butured the setting. Seriously, it’s like they kept the fact that Hogwarts is Castle-like & within some kind of traveling distance of a forest; and just vomited on the rest of the setting, kicked it in the ‘nads, then threw it out of a 10th story window.
I feel that the main problem with the HP movie series wasn’t the constant changing of directors (though that definitely hurt the series), and it wasn’t the annoying changes from the book to the movie versions (as those probably had to happen at one point or another).
It was the apparent lack of a coherent seven part script that took its basis from the books and could either expand or compress upon that basis as necessary.
The first two movies followed the book almost to a fault. The removals made sense (Peeves and Binns especially), and the additions didn’t ruin the movies. The third movie, to me at least, basically took a giant dump on the universe that had been established in the first two movies by completely changing the layout of Hogwarts and its grounds. The forth movie made no sense, and I tuned out after that.
That being said, the movies have had an allstar adult cast, and created at least three enduring movie stars (Watson, Radcliffe, and Pattinson), and one British TV star (Grint), so they can’t be faulted for their casting decisions. But the lack of planning and preparation for this undertaking simply irks me.
Well put.
In many ways, the franchise was rushed into production. It took Yates settling into the directors chair to slow the locomotive down long enough for everyone to agree “Wait. We’re kind of making a sketch of the plot here. We need to break the last movie into two parts to do this properly.”
Another problem was that Rowling was never really consulted for any of the films. It’s a similar problem that V for Vendetta and The Watchmen had, as well as a host of other book-to-film adaptations. They either couldn’t or refused to consult the creators of the various works to understand what parts were absolutely essential in the author’s mind to the point of the story.
I’ll use the 4th movie as an example, even though I didn’t watch the entire thing. In the book, Crouch the Younger wasn’t freed until *after* the World Cup. Yet, in the opening scene, you clearly see him consulting with Voldemort in the Riddle household. That’s a drastic change of plot, and I seriously doubt that Rowling had anything to do with it.
Another example. In the third book, there were two other Quidditch matches other than the Hufflepuff match. And the Firebolt is a massive source of intrigue to the plot of the book, as Harry receives it before anybody other than Sirius knows what his intentions are, and completely anonymously. See how that could change things a little bit?
I’m not sure how feasible it would have been to change child actors midstream, but in my mind at least, it would have made far more sense to break *every* book into two parts starting with movie 4, possibly movie 3. 1 and 2 were good enough for what they presented. There were a TON of elements cut out of every book since. And they could’ve even given each movie a unique title…
3.1: The Mysterious Broomstick
3.2: Prisoner
4.1: Goblet
4.2: The Final Challenge
5.1: Order
5.2: HP and Dumbledore’s Army
6.1: The Dark Lord
6.2: Half Blood Prince
7.1: The Unbreakable Locket
7.2: Deathly Hollows
It’s not difficult to find good stopping points in each book. I can probably think of one for each book without trying. The return of the Firebolt. After the first challenge. Just before Christmas break. Gaining Slughorn’s memory. And right after the Doe. If you know what I’m talking about, you’ll see what I’m trying to do to the series.
It’ll be nice when they decide to remake the movies in 50 years or so and actually do it correctly this time, like what happened with LotR, the terrible animated feature, and the fantastic trilogy.
It’s not that Moore wasn’t consulted on V for Vendetta or Watchmen. He wanted nothing to do with the film adaptations, PERIOD. If he could have had his way, the film rights would have never been sold.
But I see what you’re saying about Rowling’s involvement. I agree that consultation would have benefited the films because at least she could guide them in terms of eliminating what was extraneous.
I’m watching The Walking Dead on AMC right now and I’m kind of amazed how different the TV series is compared to the book. The shuffle up the time line and kind of gloss over a few details, but it works in that format because Robert Kirkman is behind the scenes steering things.
I never cared for Harry Potter.
I always feel that the way it was hyped and praised was like it was being forced down my throat, to the point where I might have said that I would prefer to be catheterised with a garden hose than watch/read anything to do with it.
Totally with you on this, Tom, though I’ll still go and see it for the experience and because I’ve grown so accustomed to the characters. Yates, in my opinion has a very disjointed style that jumps too far between wonder and enchantment to dreary and dark. Cuaron at the least, made a clean, cohesive, and well-cut film that is very watchable upon repeat viewings.
I’ll also state that what I *really* despise about every movie since GoF is how much of a whiny bitch Ron Weasley seems. He’s constantly feeling overshadowed by Harry’s importance (Yeah, asshole, do YOU want to be the chosen one? How would you like the burden, ya jerk?) except that Harry has shown him appreciation and friendship at every possible opportunity! It adds nothing to the actual story and irritates me every time I watch it. I get it – that’s how teenagers are sometimes, but this is the world of wizards and witchcraft (sans Christine O’Donnell), so nothing has to be 100% accurate or even true to the books.
I don’t think I have seen Phineas and Ferb but I have a major addiction to cartoons that people say I am too old for.
When I was down in Greymouth earlier in the year I would spend all morning watching Kidzone with my niece. I think I might of enjoyed it more than she did.
Now on to Harry Potter, yes I am a mega fan so I am going to the movie hopefully sometime this week, though even my boyfriend who isn’t a huge Harry Potter fan wants to see it (and Half Blood Prince was his favourite of the Harry Potter movies)
While I disagree with you, Tom, and think that “Deathly Hallows” was excellent, I respect your opinon. I do have one quibble. The quote “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result” is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, not Albert Einstein.
I haven’t seen any of the HP movies(Save for the first 2) And I have no desires to.
Automatic win for the Phineas and Ferb mention btw.
I am a Harry Potter superfan, and I’ve seen all the movies. But in order for me to enjoy them, I need to not look at them as adaptations, but as films in their own right. Most of them did okay. I agree with you about Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince. I know what happens in the books, but in the movies…not so much.
Deathly Hallows is different, though. It’s good as a movie and as an adaptation. If they can keep the momentum they built up in Part 1 into Part 2, it’ll be one hell of a climax. I recommend seeing it, and I would be saying that even if I wasn’t a superfan.
Saw Deathly Hallows on Sunday, and quite enjoyed it (though I’m easy to please). However, there was one glaring issue throughout the whole movie that bugged the hell out of me: They included the shattered piece of mirror that Sirius had given to him so they could communicate, but that only happened in the books. It never appeared prior to now in the movies, and there was no explanation given or even reference as to what it was. The only possible way you could have known why Harry kept looking at that damn mirror shard was if you had read the book.
They could have gotten away with it if it’d just been a throwaway nod to the book, seen briefly and never again, but there are several scenes where Harry is contemplating it, and he still uses it to call for help like in the book. It bothered me a lot.
I’m a middle-of-the-road fan, which is to say I’ve enjoyed the books and the movies, but I’m not a “midnight book part” or “midnight screening” person when it comes to the franchise. I’ve had my nitpicks about the movies, but all in all I’ve enjoyed every single one of them. And I can’t stand when people piss and moan about things that were left out or things that were changed. Books-to-movies rarely work as direct translations, and books that hundreds of pages long and rely on a lot of psychological underlying NEED to be massaged a bit for the screen. And I think this way about any book-to-movie adaptation, not just Harry Potter.
I’m looking forward to seeing Deathly Hallows, but not looking forward to discussing it with certain people I know who happen to be fans. I don’t really want to hear about what was left out or changed. I just want to watch the movie and enjoy it for what it is.
I don’t really care much for this Harry Potter fellow.
I’m dating a Potter superfan and all I can say is that during the Half-Blood Prince, I fell asleep. So either I’m turning into my father or I’m not going to enjoy the next one that I’ll unfortunately be seeing this Saturday.
I stopped caring about Harry Potter near the end of the fifth book when the story gears switched from a fantasy adventure/avenge-murdered-parents plot to fantasy/save-the-world plot.
It’s overrated, tbh. I began to resent it when my middle school classes kept forcing it down my throat. “Yeah, I get it, it’s a good book series! Quit throwing it at me!!”
To be fair, the signs that it was going to make that switch were in it from the beginning. Also, as much as I enjoy the series, it has no business being used in an educational setting.
True.
I guess I figured that by the end of the first book, Voldy was gone. He was weakened and would never come back.
I never read the sixth book. I went from Book #5 (the book that got me off the series) straight to Book #7.
I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion, because to me it seemed like pretty heavy foreshadowing that he’d rebuild and try again. Harry Potter’s whole existence as a famous “wizard” is because he survived it.
I’ve read all the books (once), and consider myself a fan of the series. The movies were pretty damned good adaptations, considering the normal results of book to movie transitions. However, I was thoroughly disgusted at some of the extraneous crap that was thrown into the movies (absolutely obnoxious talking head that wasn’t in the book during the bus ride, anyone?) and at the same time, the things that got cut out because of it.
Order of the Phoenix just was a forgettable blur to me which is a shame because the book was tremendous. It actually killed my interest in the movies enough to not see the sixth one, which I still haven’t. Despite that, I did go see the first part of the seventh. All I have to say is DAMN. Excellent movie, great handling of emotions that yank you around. Nearly cried at the beginning and it’s amazing to see how good these kids have gotten. Watson especially.
I think you’re doing yourself an extreme disservice to not see it in theaters. It’s a slower film but that’s because the first part of the seventh book was really slow aside from a few scenes. The action it did have was good, and it’s made up for plot and character development.
Side note: I am pretty disappointed to see no mention of Legend of the Guardians on Theater Hopper. 🙁
I have not really enjoyed any of the HP movies. I’ve never felt like rewatching them, though I do watch the second one hwen it’s on TV because young Tom Riddle is cute. I loved the first four books, with the third book being the high point, but everything after that was a painful struggle that I only forged through because of my need for completion. I’ll watch these two movies for the same reason.
Also, I’ve always hated the character Harry Potter. His friends and teachers are so much more likable and interesting.
I completely agree with the sentiment about Harry Potter. I liked him enough at first, seemed like the standard protagonist of boy who lucked into a better life… then he just got really grating.
Hey where’s Perry?
I catch my 5 year old doing the “Doofenschmirtz Evil Incorporated” sing-song ad chant all the time….:)
Harry Potter movies are forgettable in general as they are not great but don’t suck as bad as the many Video game adaptations. They are what I like to call a pleasant waste of time.
I have been dragged to all of the films, and my main problem is this: I do not care about the Potter character. I am completely indifferent to his eventual success or failure. I can enjoy the films on a purely visual level, but the acting of the three main characters is awful and there has been little, if any, character development since the start. It’s not as though Rowling wrote anything remotely original anyway: Neil Gaiman wrote ‘The Books of Magic’ for DC Vertigo comics over a decade before she started, whose protagonist is a lonely bespectacled boy who has the potential to become the world’s greatest magician and an owl as a companion.
To be fair, the adaptations leave out a lot of character development because they had to be trimmed down so much. The first book does start out very light, just an enjoyable entertaining read. It progresses from there, developing characters and fleshing them out more and upping the stakes. As with any translation from medium to medium, there’s going to be a lot lost in the move.
And I don’t really like Harry Potter either, but I do like the actor.
I went on a Phineas and Ferb binge on YouTube a few weeks ago- that show is one of the most well-written and plotted cartoons, and the musical numbers really are excellent! Real proof (as if anyone needed it) that child-oriented doesn’t have to mean stupid.
A Phineas and Ferb Party? Well, okay, but someone’s going to have to bring the bootleg DVDs.