The Year Of Luurve.

I saw the new Harry Potter film on Sunday. I've been thinking about it and - even though it seems to deviate from the book more than all the other films put together - it's my favourite in the Harry Potter film series so far.

I'm determined not to give any spoilers (of the film or book) so I will attempt to keep this as generic as possible. I felt the balance between action, drama and comedy were spot on. I remember commenting after I finished the book that it should have been called Harry Potter And The Year Of Luurve as everyone seemed to be falling for each other, except the two people that you desperately wanted to fall for each other. And that was all nicely done in the film. I was squirming whenever Ron and Lavender shared screen time; come to think of it I don't remember looking at Lav-Lav at all, other than the frankly brilliant hospital scene. On the other hand I thought they gave too much away too quickly with what Malfoy was doing, loosing the element of mystery that the book had. There was a particularly funny scene between Harry and Ron just talking about girls and their skin. Even though she's only been in two films it goes without saying that the girl that plays Luna Lovegood steals every scene she's in. And there was something that really bothered me which wasn't in the book that I don't want to mention.

But therein lies the whole problem of adapting books to films. You have to constantly remind the audience of certain things, you have to keep the pace going so the audience doesn't get bored. Look at The Lord Of The Rings; it doesn't even stick to the same order as the books.
I am reminded of one of my favourite books; The Beach by Alex Garland. That was made into a film with that DiCaprio lad from that film about the boat. I saw it and didn't enjoy it because it wasn't like the book. I then watched it again (it was on TV or something) and came to the conclusion that it did work well as a film if you just forgot about the book. It's exactly the same with Harry Potter Six. It tells the important story while cutting away the chafe. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince manages says a lot without saying very much and if that means adding bits that aren't in the book then so be it. I'll live with it. Oh and you have to explain things for people that have never seen a Harry Potter film and have decided - for some reason - to start with the sixth one.

My big disappointment was the 3D element of the film. I went to see it at the IMAX in Glasgow and I was hoping that the sequence near the end with Harry and Dumbledore would require the specs, but no. It was the start. It was still brilliantly done and was visually spectacular but those waves and the ring of fire would have been amazing in 3D. Have I given too much away? Maybe I should stop.