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So as a Potter lover, what do you hate about the series?

Sometimes the best part of being a fangeek is being oh-so-critical of that which we love.

- Quiddich. MAJOR pet peeve with Quiddich.

You've got an otherwise great combination of soccer and rugby on flying broomsticks, but then there's the corniest deux ex machina in the form of seeker/golden snitch; worth a ridiculous amount of points and automatically ends the game. Makes the rest of the players completely pointless.

- Not enough sex.

Ok, it's a children's series. But Harry doesn't get his first kiss until age 15? And as come-and-go as it is in the book, the film version was the most uninspiring movie kiss I've seen in a long time. At least try and convince us that these two are going out ever so briefly. Film delivery in HP6 with Harry-Ginny is a touch better, but still lacks the magic that should have been there given the talent. And I hate movies where you get all that build up to the one kiss, then nothing. I've got a great imagination but come on ... give us a little on screen!

If I were writing/directing movie 7, there'd be a solid 5-10 minute montage at the end of both couples getting married, aging, having healthy (albeit PG-13) sex lives, and finally into that 20-years-into-the-future scene at the end. Sadly, I imagine we're in for something way more G-rated, 1950's, Ooh-we-can't-show-them-in-the-same-bed from David Yates.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jenniffer Groceman on January 6, 2010 at 8:57pm

David Yates is a gigantic waste of money. I don't have any idea what they're paying him, but he's not worth it.

Movie 6 was much worse than I thought it could ever be. Climbing on a roof in Knockturn Alley? Seriously? And why is the Burrow on fire? I didn't stop cringing through the entire film. The scenes in the cave and on the tower roof were horrible. I don't mean 'horrible' as in makes-me-cry-and-tough-to-read-through. I mean 'horrible' as in wow-this-is-so-anticlimactic.

Permalink Reply by Caroline Luvs Evolution on November 30, 2010 at 2:33pm

I found the 6th movie painful to watch, and I agree with you about that scene where the Burrow is on fire. Why even bother adding that?

Permalink Reply by Harley Faggetter on January 7, 2010 at 5:17am

@Jennifer: I stopped caring about the films after the worthless piece of crap that was tGoF. Seriously, they cut what was probably the best Quidditch match in the book series to a scene lasting about 5 mins. That, and the aftermath was abysmally done as well. Fifth movie was better, but still cut important plot points, and IIRC it gave Neville the credit for finding the Room of Requirement when it was in fact Dobby that found it and alerted Harry to it.

@Jo:
I'm fine with the Quidditch thing, it's a hell of a lot better in the books (and there's more of it). Bear in mind that the Seeker is required to capture the Snitch in order to end the match, so the match itself can last an exceptionally long time. It can even be prolonged by seekers sabotaging each others attempts, should that be necessary.

About the sex. It's not in the books either. In fact, almost all the romance in HP was pathetic, and I actually breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione and Ron finally got their act together.

Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on January 7, 2010 at 8:47pm

Fifth movie was better, but still cut important plot points, and IIRC it gave Neville the credit for finding the Room of Requirement when it was in fact Dobby that found it and alerted Harry to it.

Actually, that bit of artistic liberty between book and film I didn't mind. Another thing I hate about the series is Dobby and the elves. Not as bad in the books, though it gets really cheesy with Hermione and the whole elf-rights thing. But in the film ... really annoying. I'm quite glad that subsequent directors have cut him out. Though they'd have to take a LOT of artistic liberty to cut him out of HP7.

As to the films in general, the book is nearly always better because they can fit more into it. I actually liked the Harry of the first few films better than in the books, as in the books he was a lot more of a brat.

But as the books get more complex, they either have to cut more out in the film or make more films. I know starting with HP4/GOF, they almost split it into two movies then but the money men decided against it. Too bad: I think that from then on each book could easily be split into two or more films and still do more than fine at the box office. Glad they're at least splitting HP7/DH into two films.

Permalink Reply by Harley Faggetter on January 8, 2010 at 4:37am

I agree. Yes, the elf rights thing was a pointless deviation from the story arc that did little to endear people to Hermione (she whinged incessantly about it), nor did it have much relevance later on. Dobby endeared himself to me by HP4 and 5. The books are generally better yes, and yes HP was a bit of a brat in the earlier books. And yes, I think HP4 onwards (I have not seen HP6 yet though) should have been split into multiple films, as finally JKR is getting a lot more plot in per paragraph :)

Permalink Reply by Caroline Luvs Evolution on November 30, 2010 at 2:55pm

The plotline with the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare was quite tiresome, but Dobby crops up in so many important places in the series to be ignored completely. But, yeah, I got pretty fed up with Hermione and her badges and continued mentioning of house-elf liberation.

Permalink Reply by Jenniffer Groceman on January 7, 2010 at 10:33pm

Totally agree about the Quidditch World Cup. The only thing I was okay with about was that they put the stadium partially in-ground, and I liked that simply because it looked cool. :) I guess they had to get around using Winky somehow, so they just figured, 'Let's forget it all.' :P

Permalink Reply by Harley Faggetter on January 8, 2010 at 4:31am

yeah...It's a shame though, because it cut out a lot of interesting bits in the book.

Permalink Reply by Caroline Luvs Evolution on November 30, 2010 at 2:51pm

Yeah, and the movie did not really explain the whole "Barty Crouch Jr./Bertha Jorkins/Barty Crouch Sr. situation" with the use of memory charms and magical means to subdue and control one another. I imagine anyone who hadn't read Goblet of Fire would have been utterly lost in that movie....but then again, anyone who didn't read Goblet of Fire to begin with is a fool anyway.

Permalink Reply by Caroline Luvs Evolution on November 30, 2010 at 2:43pm

Not only did they give Neville credit for discovery of the room of requirement, in the 4th movie they showed Neville giving Harry the gillyweed that would enable him to stay underwater during the 2nd task. But really DOBBY DID THAT, TOO! The film adaptations of the first three books in the series were accurate enough so that I -being a Harry Potter maniac- did not get too annoyed about the relatively small deviations from the novels. But then, like you said, the Goblet of Fire movie was so abysmally poor that I wonder if the director and screenwriters were even trying to do a decent job on it. I love Dobby and his character did not deserve to be cut out in those parts.

Permalink Reply by Noah Petersen on January 7, 2010 at 7:55am