booooring with a complete lack of magic...

Rating: 1/10 (25 November 2002)

I consider myself a good critic of fantasy/children films...Mostly due to my attention span never developing beyond the age of 7 and my hunger for magical things being so alive I kept the stupid window to my room open for Peter Pan at the age of 14...Oh I knew he was not real, but what is the point of rubbing that in...Therefore, me falling asleep during the first Harry Potter film and fighting with sleep during the second one definitely means SOMETHING...I must admit I didn't really expect much in the first place; creating a huge movie from a popular book ON DEMAND can never spell art, but I thought maybe, MAYBE, it could be fun...Not only was I disappointed by the fact that bits and pieces were cut out completely (Ok, I understand the necessity) but why add USELESS parts then that could be found nowhere in the book and add cheapness to the already bad movie?? (Indiana Jones scene of almost falling out of the flying car in the second movie? Artistic freedom? What artist? What art?) Not to mention the fact that if we hadn't read the book we would not care at all about the characters of the film since they are never really developed in the movie...It is hard for us to notice this fact since we do heavily rely on our memory of the book to follow the movie; yet the fact that there is very little connection between the audience and the kids does subconsciously ruin a great deal...Bland conversations, overdone special effects (was Dobby really THAT freaky and unlovable looking?? Since when??? Couldn't we have a touch less computer graphics and a bit more human touch?) and cheap shots at making us laugh...mostly relying on Ron saying things like: "can we go now, I am scared" (insert a stupid and annoying facial expression)...Where did the subtle darker humor go? Basically, it is sad to note that this may be the fantasy children movie of the new generation...No memorable original moments, humor or truly magical scenes (ET, Goonies, Time bandits, Mary Poppins etc)...Basing it all on computer animation, special effects, plot and mooooney...Brainwashed kids will like it, adults will forget what to look for and we can all be convinced that since the media tells us it is grand, then it must be so...A good fantasy movie is not supposed to make us bored, not even for a minute; it is supposed to keep us wanting to see certain scenes again and again, making us remember the movie as something we find special and original, and I just cannot wait to see that scene where Harry is walking and then he stops and says something!!!!! Will the fun never end????????? BLEH.