Book to Movie, Part II

To continue my train of thought from last week's post, I wanted to say a little bit about Harry Potter. Surely, the boy wizard is a character that needs no introduction. There are few in any halfway developed country who can claim ignorance of him and his pals Ron and Hermione, whether they've read the books and seen the movies or not. No one can deny the impact of these books. It has some in the Christian community up in arms over witchcraft and devil worship, while the rest of the faith supports it's message of good vs. evil. It's gotten kids interested in books again after years of nothing but TV and video games. In my opinion, each of the seven books are worth experiencing at least once. It's just too bad I can't say that of the movies.

I'm willing to make some allowances here. The first two books, for all intents and purposes, are children's books. It makes perfect sense to have the first two movies be made for kids. They were true enough to the story to not dumb it down, and fluffy enough to not leave children crying in the theaters. The third one was better and more serious. A new director had come on board who wanted to do more with the film than his predecessor. The atmosphere of the movie felt more like the atmosphere of the books, which are markedly dark - bordering on morbid at times.

The fourth film was a nightmare. It was a real shame too, because until then they had only been getting better. Perhaps I'm biased because the fourth book is my favorite, but I truly think they murdered it. I went to see it opening night and was already infuriated within the first ten minutes. Mike Newell was brought in to direct it. He carved out entire chapters citing time constraints only to add in scenes that didn't exist in the book. He turned a book that was purely story and character driven into a special effects movie. Very important plot points were totally ignored. So much was left out or glossed over that I wondered how they would ever salvage the story enough to continue making movies. The only part of the film portrayed correctly was when Harry arrives back at the arena with (dead) Cedric Diggory. The rest was pretty much garbage. I was overjoyed to hear they were getting yet another director for the fifth one.

Order of the Phoenix was directed by David Yates and it's the best one yet. There were a few changes, but that's typical. The story was upheld, the characters well developed, the acting much improved. It didn't hurt that the three child stars were growing into themselves in their profession and learning to emote more convincingly. It really was and is a terrific movie. When I heard that Yates had signed on to direct the movies for the remaining two novels I felt an immense relief. When he confirmed that the final book will be made into two separate films I think I fell in love a little.

I adore the books, and (oh well, ok, I guess) the movies too. Even the disastrous fourth one. I was camped outside the store at 11:49p.m. for a midnight release of the seventh and final installment, and took this picture in my car moments later. I read it in two days. I've read the entire series from start to finish a few times already and am planning to do it again sometime soon. I start to miss the characters. I've come to think of them as old friends, and I need to check in on them every once in awhile. I've become invested in this silly franchise.

The movie for the sixth book, The Half-Blood Prince, is set to come out in November of this year. I admit it's been overshadowed by my Twilight obsession and its looming film release, but that doesn't make me any less excited about Harry. It's been a long time coming and I'll be there on opening night, as per usual. If I can get to a midnight showing, I might even take the next day off work. The first teaser trailer for it was released a few days ago, and watching it I can't help but feel like the series has achieved some sort of victory. It doesn't feel like kid stuff anymore.