Hermione's Mouth

Rating: Null/10 (20 November 2001)

Spoilers herein.
For a long time, we have been warned about what will happen when a couple large companies own all the news, publicity, publishing and film channels. Now, we have the results, a film product that is as moribund as Microsoft software. In both the new MS and HP products, we have more than an order of magnitude more spent on promotion than on real innovation or imagination.
This is a completely pedestrian effort. The books are fun, but only about as much as scores of prior ones. The rest is hype.
About the film, I found no charm and three things that impressed me with their lack of skill.
--The most puzzling of these is the score. Though always derivative, Williams has created scores that have become the floor of imagination for vast areas of our minds. He is tepid here, and one can only think is by direction from the Committee.
--No puzzle with the camerawork. The blocking and angles have less art and adventure than any major film this year. Compare the perspectives with `Monsters,' which aren't noticeably arty, but which really adds thrills to the experience.
--The thing that impressed was the ordinariness of the architecture. Casper could do this well -- Ridley Scott can repeatedly. Why do we get buildings that would be unremarkable even in the real world?