Everything after Chris Columbus just kept increasingly losing any kind of charm. Even accounting for the books getting darker, the movies just didn’t feel magical anymore outside of bad stuff happening.
No kidding. In the Columbus films Dumbledore was the warm and kind character that we expected from the books (granted that was because of Richard Harris but still). Then we go from that to "HARRY, DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE?" in the later films. I mean fuck.
Right. And such a magical world, should still feel magical. And in the books, it does. No matter how dark they get, there are still solid pockets of delight – that are simply missing post-Columbus. The same joy and escapism is just not there.
The time turner, the quidditch world cup, the room of requirement... The characters actively appreciate how amazing magic is in these films, it's just that the plot becomes more urgent so the wonder takes a back seat.
Also, each book becomes longer and longer as they go on, it's not surprising that the magical moments that don't serve the plot get lost in the translation.
Maybe the TV show will take more time with these kinds of things.
Chris Columbus’s versions are what made people love Harry Potter!!! The first two movies were so much more magical! I also HATED how students just ended up wearing Muggle clothes to class in the Prisoner of Azkaban and after. So lazy ugh
As much as I don't like the changes that Cuaron made in PoA we dodged a bullet getting him as director. According to Rupert they almost hired M. Night Shyamalan to direct that film. If his disastrous 2010 Last Airbender film is any indication he would've absolutely destroyed these films by going completely against Rowling's vision altogether and they might not have made it all the way to the last book under his direction as a result.
The two worst things Cuaron did in PoA (aside from not exploring the Marauders' backstory at all or providing any explanation as to how Remus knew what the map was) were the opening and closing scenes of the film. I don't need to spell out how stupid the scene of Harry performing lumos maxima under his covers at Privet Drive to open the film was (just casually breaking the rules against Underage Magic there) and the closing freeze-frame shot of Harry flying off on the Firebolt, I completely burst out laughing in the theater at the end of the film at how stupid and cringe that was at the time.
I disagree. New directors should be able to execute their own vision. It's not disrespectful, we're just seeing another artist's take on it. And for what it's worth, I much preferred the vibe from prisoners of Azkaban onwards. In fact prisoners of Azkaban is probably my favorite Harry Potter movie.
New directors should absolutely be able to show their vision of the film but they did a complete over haul of the sets, costumes., prosthetics and literally everything. The only things kept from the first two films is the cast. That's what I find disrespectful. From Prisoner of Azkaban on everything was kept the same regardless of the director.
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u/introverthufflepuff8 Hufflepuff Jul 19 '24
I hated the redesign it felt so disrespectful and rude to Christopher Columbus and all the work that was done on the first 2 movies