Harry Potter V film
Tuesday, 17 July 2007 20:10So I went to watch the newest Harry Potter film today.
On the whole, the film was recognisable as what I remembered of the book, though it was obviously shorter.
Umbridge was fairly well portrayed, I thought -- sadistic but putting on an air of sweetness and light.
I was a bit puzzled by the fact that it was Cho who betrayed Dumbledore's Army rather than whoever it was in the book (Marietta something?) -- perhaps they picked her because she'd be recognisable as someone who had been in the army? I'm not sure what her motivation would be in the filmverse; it seemed rather haphazard, especially given the emphasis on how much she seemed to like Harry.
(Speaking of Cho, at first I thought she had an American accent, since it was rhotic, but in one of the longer stretches of dialogue it sounded more Scottish to me, which made a lot more sense given where Katie Leung is from.)
I also wondered at this one scene in the Gryffindor common room where Hermione had her hair back; I nearly didn't recognise her and wondered why they did that, only for that scene.
And I haven't figured out what the rules seem to be on where students have to wear uniforms and when they can wear "civilian" clothes; the latter seem to be pretty frequent in all of the films (especially after the first), which surprises me a little. But then, I don't know what dress code in a real boarding school is like.
Usually, this is my "squeee!!" icon; this time, though, I picked it because it's a Potterverse icon. (And Mmm, Emma Watson.)