Butterfly Cauldron

I saw the new Harry Potter yesterday. It's not a bad movie, but I left the theatre feeling that there were huge gaps in the story. Granted, trying to condense that huge book into a two hour movie means lots of things get left out. But still. . .

While there was clearly a story, it didn't seem to be quite that big a deal. The sense of isolation that Harry feels in the books doesn't quite come across on the film. His relationship with Cho is truncated and rather, well, pointless in the film, except to set Cho up to be the one to betray the Army. (Wait. You didn't know that? Sorry. Spoilers and all that. The books been out for ages!)

Normally in the films, the passage of time is clear. Not so much in this one. I mean, there was the mention of Christmas, then they were taking their OWLs and I guess we were supposed to just assume that an entire year was going by, but it didn't feel that way at all. For all I knew, this all could have taken place in a week. The history of the Order is lacking, the whole plot about the House Elves is gone, no one explains who Creature (I know, I know, I spelled that wrong but I don't have the book at hand to find out the right spelling. Deal.) is and who his Mistress is and why he's so important. And they redid the death scene.

Harry's relationship with his godfather isn't as pronounced as it should have been. This is his last link to his parents, in a way. This is the last of his family. This is his chance at having what other children take for granted -- a parent who loves him. If you haven't seen the other films, you miss how imporant this relationship is. Also, no mention of the horcruxes or Aurors. (Yeah, I realize I'm not spelling things right. I've had a migraine for a week, and it's threatening to come back. Sue me.) Who do you make this movie and skip that?

There were some things I liked, however. Delores Umbridge? So evil. So wonderfully, sweetly, beautifully evil. I adored her. Imelda Stanton knocks her role outta the park. (And well, she always does, doesn't she?) Jenny totally kicks ass with that spell of hers. Not even Harry can manage that one. Fred and George's goodbye to Hogwarts? Awesome. Gotta love the twins. And the acting all around was good as ever. But this felt like the first half of a much longer film. I'm hoping, that since so much was left out of this movie and there's not a whole lot going on in Half-Blood Prince, that they're going to combine them into one better movie. Hopefully. It's not a bad flick, for what it is, and if you've never read the books, it'll be fine. But if you've read the books, you're going to find soooooo much missing.

Also, Natalia Tena, the girl in the pic who plays Tonks? Soooo fucking gorgeous. Best part of the movie ;)