Now that Harry Potter's story has been completed on the silver screen I thought I would devote two blogs on my final impressions of Harry Potter in general (meaning sometimes the issue is with the source material). This one focuses on what went wrong. Spoilers all over the place!
10. The false start. The first two films are so bad and the last six so good it makes for an unfortunate situation. You are forced to watch two bad films to start the story before you can get to the ones that really entertain and are worthy of rewatching. My recommendation is to read the first two books and then start with the third film. It's too bad those first films couldn't have be better.
9. Dobby as a character - When Dobby is killed in part one of The Deathly Hollows, I didn't feel that much sadness. It was a well-executed scene but I don't remember his character that much. He's barely in the series since the second movie. It's too bad he could have been involved throughout. The reason he's not probably has to do with the fact that's he's an unlikeable character; be honest with yourself, he's annoying. He's barely comic relief and he's more a special effect than a character.
8. The Fifth Book's Pointless Mystery. Let me explain. What we learn after the fifth year's story is that Voldermort needs to know Harry's prophecy. Why would he need to know this? Since the prophecy has passed it's useless information. In the end we learn that one of them must die for the other to live. That's the big reveal? That's a lot of conspiring for nothing.
7. Dumbledore isn't really that smart. For being the greatest wizard of them all, he sure isn't that smart. He is easily fooled into letting Harry compete in the Triwizard tournment. He has to use Harry Potter to get Professor Slughorn to admit he taught Voldermort about Horcruxes instead of figuring it out himself. And with all his wisdom he should know how foolish it is to keep so many secrets. I would think a wizard with all his resources would have been able to find out that Ron's rat was really a Deatheater, that Voldermort was hiding in Professor Quinrell's head and would know the locaton of the Chamber of Secrets. I guess in the end he's really pretty clueless.
6. The Snape Mistake - Snape's character is so heavy handed. He wears dark robes, has dark hair, is brooding and always "seeming" to be out to get Harry. Obviously he's a good guy. True, we don't know his back story until the last book but does it matter? The funny thing is, he's probably the best character of the series but we never get to experience it.
5. No Extended Versions. You would think Warner Brothers would have learned by watching Lord of the Rings. Instead of cutting up books four, five and six so much, why not film more scenes with the purpose of releasing Extended cuts just like Peter Jackson did. Hardcore fans would have loved those scenes they missed and you'd make more money. This would have been especially nice for the sixth film where Voldermort's back story is cut.
4. What happened with the Hour-Glass Necklace? Am I the only one who kept waiting for this awesome magical device to make a return to the story? The darker the story gets you'd think some one would say, "Hey, let's use that one necklace so we can go back in time and do such and such. I know the real reason: J.K Rowling realized that with time travel too many plot holes emerge. Still everything other then that device came into play later on. I also always thought the necklace would have been another Deathly Hallow.
3. Quidditch is really a pointless game - I had to read the first chapter dealing with Quidditch twice and have decided it's the worst fictionally sport ever. The way it's set up makes the Seeker the only important member of the team. The Keepers, the Beaters, and the Chasers mean nothing if the Seeker can win the game by simply catching the Golden Snitch. True, when you read about the point structure there's a way of winning without catching the Golden Snitch but that doesn't happen. Instead of creating a great sport Rowling devised an activity where her hero, Harry, could become the victor of a team sport. It's fun looking on film but there's not much suspense when you spend the entire sequence watching two kids flying around on broomsticks trying to catch a flying ball.
2. The Four Houses - I hate the four house structure for Hogwarts. The idea is solid. Four wizards form the school and they name the four house divisions after themselves. What I hate is that Slitherin has the bad guys and Gryffindor has the heroes. The other two houses are pushed aside. I understand that you need to root for one house over the others (but only in the first book) but why so black and white. What if Hermione was in Hufflepuff and Ginny been in Slitherin. What if we had a bad guy in the Gryffindor dorm? This would have made for a better more realistic story. And if the sorting hat can determine which kids are bullies, and have dark ambitions why would any school teach them magic in the first place?
1. What about the Muggles? Am I the only one who kept wondering what was happening in our Muggle world when the Wizarding world was at war? I always felt like Voldermort's true goal was to kill Muggles so when the line between the two worlds blur why not show us the consequences. This is only hinted at. Also, I never liked Rowling's choice never to have an important Muggle character. And I'm not talking about the cartoony and vile Dursleys (although I wish they could have had a moment of redemption.) I think the lack of Muggles is a missed opportunity. A strong Muggle would have shown her readers that you don't need magic to be a hero. In the end the Muggles of this world are powerless pawns and if it weren't for the Isolationists in the Wizarding world they'd be toast. I don't really like that view.
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