That’s levi-OH-sa, not levi-yo-SAH, okay?
I’ve just watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 yesterday and so finally, I’ve watched all the Harry Potter movies, and read all the books too. My first Harry Potter ‘experience’, if you can call it that, was watching the first movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I have to admit, I didn’t really understand what was going on then and didn’t think it was a very good movie.
So I then read the book to try to understand more and see what the big fuss was all about, and I actually enjoyed it. I watched the movie again and then I understood. It wasn’t a bad movie after all. Having said that, it’s not very good either as movies adapted from novels should be understandable by those who haven’t read the book as well, no?
Anyway, since then, I read all the books first before watching the movies. Well, you couldn’t actually watch some of the movies first then as some of them weren’t even made yet. Heh.
For those of you who don’t know about Harry Potter (*gasp*!), here is a list of all 7 novels:
Well, in the US, Book 1 is called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone instead as the Americans don’t understand what philosophers are.
Book 2 introduced us to the first horcrux, Tom Riddle’s diary, although it wasn’t specifically mentioned as one. It was a good book and Movie 2 was rather good as well.
Book 3 was when dementors were mentioned a lot and where Harry met his godfather, Sirius Black. I was actually expecting the dementors to be much larger and more horrific, but they weren’t that big in Movie 3. Well, I guess before watching the movies, we have our own versions on how some of the creatures would look like in our minds.
I liked Book 4 as it contained a lot of action, first the Quidditch World Cup, and then the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I was really disappointed that Movie 4 didn’t show any World Cup action, but just some opening action for the Final. Come on, it’s the World Cup, there should be at least 5 minutes of World Cup Final action in the movie!
I don’t like Book 5 very much as Harry is very very very emotional in that book. He’s angry with everything and everyone. However, in Movie 5, this isn’t shown very much, maybe because you can’t actually know what he’s thinking, or maybe like me, the director didn’t like that Harry was too emotional all the time. *Shrugs*.
Then in Book 6, there wasn’t much excitement I guess. When I read the novel, I felt as if it was just a filler to build up to the finale. However, when I watched Movie 6, it didn’t feel like a filler at all, but a stand-alone movie, and a good one too. Kudos to the director and the writers!
The finale (Book 7) was very good. Movie 7 Part 1 was quite alright, but it was rather slow-paced in my opinion. Part 2 was much better. There were a lot of action and some funny scenes and it was a very good adaptation of the book. Of course, even though they’ve split Book 7 into 2 movies, there are still things that are left out, which may disappoint some people.
That’s the problem with movie adaptations of novels. With the novels, you can know what the characters are thinking and there are more explanations on the events, which help you understand the story better, and enjoy it a lot more. With a movie, you can enjoy the action and special effects, but the storyline must also be enjoyable and understandable. Otherwise, the audience may get lost a little. Unfortunately, not everything can be included in a movie, as it’ll take too long.
Having said that, I really enjoyed the Harry Potter series; novels and movies, and I’m sure I’ll still enjoy them when, not if mind you, I read and watch them again (and again). :)
Note: Please ignore this paragraph if you haven’t watched the final movie. Spoilers ahead! You’ve already watched it? Good! It’s nice watching the cast grow up in the movies, from when they were small in the first movie, to their now mature looks. It was rather funny though, seeing the “19 years later” part. I knew the ending as I’ve read the novels, so nearing the end of the final movie, I was thinking, ‘Who will be playing the kids when they’ve grown up?’. It was a pleasant (and hilarious) surprise to see the same actors playing the same characters, with extra makeup (and special effects?) to make them look older!
On another note, is it just me, or does Seamus Finnigan (Devon Murray) look exactly like Wayne Rooney? If someone were to make a Wayne Rooney movie, Devon Murray should definitely play him!
Anyway, readers out there, please let me know which Harry Potter book and/or movie that you like the best. It would be really good to hear your thoughts (if anybody is reading this post of course). Just drop a comment in the comments link below.
Thanks, and Expecto Patronum!
