Harry Potter Rants
Jun. 9th, 2005 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI saw a trailer for Narnia recently and thought it was wonderful: the images looked breath-taking, the actors appropriate (and that they could act). And I caught myself wishing HP movies were better made.
As it stands, they are horrible, horrible, horrible. Movies should be able to stand on their own, be good films in their own right, not just pure illustrations.
If you like the movie as a movie, if you think it got the spirit right, you are going to forgive the deviations. I adore the Lord of the Rings movies even though there are differences from the book, because they fall into this category. Unfortunately, Harry Potter doesn’t. There were rumors a long time ago of Spielberg being interested and Haley Joel Osmett for Harry. Well, it might not have been as faithful as the current crop of movies, but it certainly would have been one hell of a better flick.
But at least if you are going for the latter, get the illustrations right. Of course, it would help if you got the director who was passionate about this world, the way Peter Jackson was about Rings or George Lucas about Star Wars. Agree or disagree with their decisions, no one can contradict that they put a lot of thought and belief into their movies. And this passion shows. But more than that, I have yet to see an adaptation that was more miscast than the Harry Potter movies. The casting director on this one should be fired. Out of a cannon. If they weren’t so hampered by having to cast only British actors (which is beyond dumb. You should cast whoever is more appropriate for the role, not make their nationality the be-all and end-all), and if they weren’t so fixated on getting the look right (see the illustration v. good movie approach) they might have gotten further.
This being a children’s movie, none of the leads are enough of an acting powerhouse to make me forget the horrible miscasting (like David Wenham did with his Faramir. When I reread LOTR now, it’s his face I see). Just look at this GOF poster. Yeah, there are some kids who are acting powerhouses. None of them are in these movies.
Let’s go person-by-person.
Harry: I have nothing against Daniel Radcliffe, but he isn’t much of an actor, is he? Or maybe the direction or the script aren’t very good. Either way, doesn’t feel much like Harry to me. Also, his hairdo makes him look like a middle-aged lady, his eyes aren’t green, and he just doesn’t have that aura of intensity that marks an interesting character. In the books, he is my favorite. In the movies, he just looks wrong, like someone who would grow up to be a chartered accountant who collects stamps.
Hermione: the actress is not bad. Best of the trio in fact. But entirely too pretty. This Hermione makes all these Harry/Ron/Draco/every other boy in Hogwarts have fights over Hermione fanfics really plausible. Also, she lacks the bossiness and the bookish attitude of book Hermione. This one is Buffy in the making. To be fair, except for looks, this is more Steve Kloves, the screenwriter’s fault, than hers.
Ron: We pause for a second while I scream. There, now I am better. This boy cannot act. He has one expression, that of a perpetual stoner, on his face. He lookslike someone squished his face unattractive. He has also stolen Anakin’s hairdo from ROTS. However, what looks good on a blond, 6’1” 20-something intense Sith Lord, looks horrendous on a young teen student with red hair. He should establish the new house of Sitherin. His hair is longer than mine. Also, all his moments of bravery, fun, and loyalty have been given to Mary Sue Hermione (I would rant about the script but that would lead to a coronary). The book Ron is a thoroughly nice bloke, a bit laddish when he grows up probably, who is loyal, smart enough, and a great friend. In the book, I could see Hermione potentially ending up with him. I kinda imagined him looking like Jamie Bell (another actor who can ACT) in Billy Elliot. In the movie, he makes me ship H/H and want to cast cruciatus on the casting director and Steve Kloves scream.
James, Peter, Sirius, Remus: Otherwise known as The Ugly Bunch. Entirely too old. By almost two decades (!!!!!!). Also, they must have been the ugliest students to ever attend Hogwarts. Really, in the movies, they probably picked on Snape because they were jealous of his being better looking than they are. Throughout the third movie, Lupin looks and acts as a movie-of-the-week child molester (I loved David Thewlis in Divorcing Jack and KoH but he is beyond miscast), and Gary Oldman is not Sirius, a troubled yet honorable man, but someone who has been hanging out with the Joker for far too long.
Now, I like the casting for Lucius and Snape, and neither both of the Dumbledores, nor Draco bug me, but that is small consolation indeed.
RANT TWO: SHIPPER WARS
Oh, how I wish JKR would pair R/H or H/H or H/G or anyone, short of Draco/Dumbledore only to put an end to the endless shipper wars. Why? Why does it matter in the least? I might think that she is tending towards R/H, someone else might think H/H. How does either really matter in the grand scheme of things? This is a book about a boy wizard fighting a war, not Days of Our Lives. Any romance HP is likely to have is going to be unbelievably peripheral. Yet this is what gets discussed, fought over, and written about 80% of the time. I have a feeling a lot of people ship their preference ship more because of fanfic than anything JKR wrote. And a lot of them are rooting for the ship to show up somebody they had an internet debate with. Come on!
/rant
ETA: Harry doesn't look bad here but still way too mild.
As it stands, they are horrible, horrible, horrible. Movies should be able to stand on their own, be good films in their own right, not just pure illustrations.
If you like the movie as a movie, if you think it got the spirit right, you are going to forgive the deviations. I adore the Lord of the Rings movies even though there are differences from the book, because they fall into this category. Unfortunately, Harry Potter doesn’t. There were rumors a long time ago of Spielberg being interested and Haley Joel Osmett for Harry. Well, it might not have been as faithful as the current crop of movies, but it certainly would have been one hell of a better flick.
But at least if you are going for the latter, get the illustrations right. Of course, it would help if you got the director who was passionate about this world, the way Peter Jackson was about Rings or George Lucas about Star Wars. Agree or disagree with their decisions, no one can contradict that they put a lot of thought and belief into their movies. And this passion shows. But more than that, I have yet to see an adaptation that was more miscast than the Harry Potter movies. The casting director on this one should be fired. Out of a cannon. If they weren’t so hampered by having to cast only British actors (which is beyond dumb. You should cast whoever is more appropriate for the role, not make their nationality the be-all and end-all), and if they weren’t so fixated on getting the look right (see the illustration v. good movie approach) they might have gotten further.
This being a children’s movie, none of the leads are enough of an acting powerhouse to make me forget the horrible miscasting (like David Wenham did with his Faramir. When I reread LOTR now, it’s his face I see). Just look at this GOF poster. Yeah, there are some kids who are acting powerhouses. None of them are in these movies.
Let’s go person-by-person.
Harry: I have nothing against Daniel Radcliffe, but he isn’t much of an actor, is he? Or maybe the direction or the script aren’t very good. Either way, doesn’t feel much like Harry to me. Also, his hairdo makes him look like a middle-aged lady, his eyes aren’t green, and he just doesn’t have that aura of intensity that marks an interesting character. In the books, he is my favorite. In the movies, he just looks wrong, like someone who would grow up to be a chartered accountant who collects stamps.
Hermione: the actress is not bad. Best of the trio in fact. But entirely too pretty. This Hermione makes all these Harry/Ron/Draco/every other boy in Hogwarts have fights over Hermione fanfics really plausible. Also, she lacks the bossiness and the bookish attitude of book Hermione. This one is Buffy in the making. To be fair, except for looks, this is more Steve Kloves, the screenwriter’s fault, than hers.
Ron: We pause for a second while I scream. There, now I am better. This boy cannot act. He has one expression, that of a perpetual stoner, on his face. He looks
James, Peter, Sirius, Remus: Otherwise known as The Ugly Bunch. Entirely too old. By almost two decades (!!!!!!). Also, they must have been the ugliest students to ever attend Hogwarts. Really, in the movies, they probably picked on Snape because they were jealous of his being better looking than they are. Throughout the third movie, Lupin looks and acts as a movie-of-the-week child molester (I loved David Thewlis in Divorcing Jack and KoH but he is beyond miscast), and Gary Oldman is not Sirius, a troubled yet honorable man, but someone who has been hanging out with the Joker for far too long.
Now, I like the casting for Lucius and Snape, and neither both of the Dumbledores, nor Draco bug me, but that is small consolation indeed.
RANT TWO: SHIPPER WARS
Oh, how I wish JKR would pair R/H or H/H or H/G or anyone, short of Draco/Dumbledore only to put an end to the endless shipper wars. Why? Why does it matter in the least? I might think that she is tending towards R/H, someone else might think H/H. How does either really matter in the grand scheme of things? This is a book about a boy wizard fighting a war, not Days of Our Lives. Any romance HP is likely to have is going to be unbelievably peripheral. Yet this is what gets discussed, fought over, and written about 80% of the time. I have a feeling a lot of people ship their preference ship more because of fanfic than anything JKR wrote. And a lot of them are rooting for the ship to show up somebody they had an internet debate with. Come on!
/rant
ETA: Harry doesn't look bad here but still way too mild.
