Yes, my daughter insisted we take her to see the new Harry Potter movie. I was not thrilled at the prospect, but relented and took her on opening day. I prefer my fantasy as packaged by Tolkien, not Rowling; I have read none of the books and seen none of the prior movies. The only silver lining to this dark cloud was the prospect of a blog post with the words "Mormon" and "Harry Potter" in the title. I'm bracing for the rush.
I've adopted the four-word review technique. So here's my review of the Harry Potter movie: Three kids, no adults. Sure, it's a book/movie for kids, but you have to have at least one or two responsible adults; it was a school he was at, after all. It's a mystery to me how young Harry turned out to be such a decent and likeable kid (and I did like the kids) while raised and tutored by a succession of English ninnies. Not that I could tell the teachers apart--try casting a blond-haired fellow in one of the roles next movie. Maybe Orlando Bloom is free. An elf would lend a little pathos to the plot.
Ouch...harsh review!
You'd be able to tell the teachers apart if you'd read the books, at least -- there's a series of responsible adults in there, even if they weren't portrayed so well in the movies. I have issues with the way they're shown, as well. And there's a blond one in the second movie, played by none other than Kenneth Branagh (speaking of Hamlet), but he's even more of a ninny than the rest.
You might get more hits of you spell her name 'Rowling', by the way -- I've never heard of a J.K. Rowland.
Posted by: Arwyn | Jun 09, 2004 at 02:18 AM
Thanks for the correction, Arwyn. I fell for the never-reliable "Google confirmation" technique, which unfortunately returns plenty of reliable-looking hits for most misspelled inquiries.
Posted by: Dave | Jun 09, 2004 at 09:19 AM
wow. are we moving from the spell-check generation to the google confirmation generation?
eek! oh well...editors will have more work & job security. :)
p.s. while I like Potter, both books & movies, I think they are vastly overrated. Tolkien provides substance. Potter is fluff...which was sweet enough to make everyone dip in (even me!)
Posted by: lyle | Jun 09, 2004 at 10:32 AM
Well all I can say is the movies are alright but the books are good. I don't agree they are fluff, and I love Tolkien as well. Lyle, you do have to remember, Harry Potter is NOT written for adults. Ever so, it is very well written and for anyone who wants to delve into the deeper nuances of the material, it is there. You just have to look.
I really think anyone who reviews a movie based on a book should also read the book, primarily because the movie (or movies as the case may be) never come close enough to do the book(s) credit, even though they try hard.
Posted by: Mary Siever | Jun 09, 2004 at 11:09 AM
Well all I can say is the movies are alright but the books are very good. I don't agree they are fluff, and I love Tolkien as well. Lyle, you do have to remember, Harry Potter is NOT written for adults. Even so, it is very well written and for anyone who wants to delve into the deeper nuances of the material, it is there. You just have to look.
I really think anyone who reviews a movie based on a book should also read the book, primarily because the movie (or movies as the case may be) never come close enough to do the book(s) credit, even though they try hard.
Posted by: Mary Siever | Jun 09, 2004 at 11:10 AM
Mary, I'll at least note in my defense that I didn't really give an in-depth review of the movie, and I did disclose that I haven't read the books or seen the other movies. I do, however, think that anyone who actually sees a movie is qualified to give a four-word review, which is essentially a pithy summary of one's response to the movie. I'm not Siskel. I'm not even Ebert. In fact, I'm not even sure which one of them is still around (I know it's the stocky one, but I never could keep the names straight).
Posted by: Dave | Jun 09, 2004 at 11:36 AM
I think Ebert's the one still around. I saw him on TV late the other night, and you might feel somewhat vindicated to know that both he and his new partner Roeper gave Harry Potter a thumbs down.
And I think I have to agree with Mary over the fluff issue. Tolkien writes about an adult's world from an adult's viewpoint -- it's an amazing world, wonderfuly crafted, and the stories he tells within it are both deep and timeless.
Rowling's is a children's world from a children's point of view. There's a great deal of substance in it -- but a lot of that substance emerges slowly over the course of the series. It's blatantly about magic and about children growing up and learning about responsiblity, the real world, and friendship. Those just aren't the big themes that Tolkien deals with -- but they're still important and fun themes.
I know a fair number of "Tolkien enthusiasts" who adore Harry Potter; I count myself among them. But none of us claim to like HP for the same reasons that we like Tolkien because they're such different veins of fantasy literature. If you don't like HP, though, you don't like it -- and that's alright.
Posted by: Arwyn | Jun 09, 2004 at 11:45 AM
ok...ok...uncle! oh, i meant 'aunts'! :)
the most redeeming feature of HP books is that they are: (1) fun & (2) good reads for kids. However, in defense...their focus on 'witchcraft' instead of 'magic' in general has made alot of christians upset. while this is overblown...tolkien avoids that trap; as does CS Lewis. Of course...the HP author is like neither of these. Her genius, as the aunts point out, is to write books that kids will love
Posted by: lyle | Jun 09, 2004 at 11:53 AM
Ebert gave a thumbs down on the show?
But his print review was 3 1/2 out of 4 stars...
(see www.suntimes.com/ebert)
Posted by: Kevin | Jun 09, 2004 at 01:08 PM