I took a half-day of personal leave so Lexie and I could go see the movie on opening day today. We got there about 70 minutes before showtime and were second in line for the showing. Ours was the first of the second round on four screens (in other words, the fifth of the day at Live Oak Cinema).
This was the longest of the books yet filmed and the shortest of the movies so far. This was the first one that they had to leave a lot out of. There was plenty of action, but little time spent on things like explaining what the heck was going on. I heard the six-year-old behind me ask his mom what was happening a couple of times.
I enjoyed the movie in the same way as the last installment: as illustrations to accompany the book. I think it was a pretty good movie, but it's always hard to judge when you know the story. I haven't read HP(3)tPoA since the last movie hit the theaters. Lexie just reread it in the last couple weeks. She was a bit more disappointed than I was.
I liked a lot of the effects. The Knight Bus was fun, and the dementors managed to look not exactly like the ringwraiths from LotR. Best of all was Buckbeak. Much better looking than Fluffy. Possibly the best part of the movie.
I'm sure we will buy the movie when it becomes available. We didn't tell Kevin what we went to see, since we didn't want him to bug us for the movie that we couldn't buy for another eight months.
Posted to Movies and TV at June 4, 2004 5:57 PM