I have been a Harry Potter fan since I was in eighth grade. It is my longest hobby ever, and has actually created several new ones for me. I am a fanatic. That is all there is to it. I cannot help but be critical of ever thing that is in the books and including what has recently been an amazing movie series. I am though the pickiest person about the movies, pointing out ever flaw that the movie has. Just last week the third movie was released, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, I bought it on Wednesday and watch it thoroughly for flaws. The third book is by far my favorite out of the five books that have been released, so I was more prone to find the problems in the movie.
The third book is a major turning point for the series, this is not as apparent in the movie as I thought it should be. The book has major points about Harry’s father, Harry’s parents’ friends, and most of all about Harry as a person overall. They did well on the last point, because they showed his hatred for certain characters throughout the movie and in the book. You begin learning about Harry’s father, James, more in depth in the book, because of the things he did to help his friends when they were in a difficult situation. In the movie, though, they did not have much to say about James and his caring, smart, brave character, this is a major flaw, because later in the books all of James’ characteristics are contradicted. In the movie they did a very good job with James’ friends, because they showed the same characteristics in the movie as presented in the books. The plot line is too thick to discuss characteristics of the many characters in the books, but I can reassure you that they did a very good job with some of the characters and a very poor job with others, sometimes including Harry.
There were some unavoidable things that happened in real life that affected the movie. The man who played Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, died. They replaced him with someone new, of course and the results were very mixed. The first Dumbledore was a very good Dumbledore, he was calm and quiet, but had the powerful, fearful, and most of all controlling characteristics that the book Dumbledore has. When the new Dumbledore came into play in the third movie it was the complete opposite. I felt that he was distorting the role of Dumbledore into someone that was not who the book portrays him as. The new Dumbledore does look different, but has the same appeal as he did last time, but the movie never really had the appearance down in the first place. There are many flaws with Dumbledore that they should work on, but the new Dumbledore will most likely do a great job in the last part of the fifth movie, because of his aggression he has a character. Overall, the character of Dumbledore has changed in the books and the movies, but he still is somewhat a well-represented character in the movies.
Other characters in the books have also changed, but they are well presented in the movies. Hermione, for example, is one of the best-represented characters in the movies. Hermione manages to maintain her cleverness in time of need, and can produced a well thought out smart remark to make Harry and Ron think about what they are doing wrong. She has that charm that you find throughout the book, and has that little liking for Ron that so many fans are looking for. Draco, one of the “enemies” of Harry, is also well produced in the movie. He is hated in both the books and the movies, and he is one of the best characters that the movies have been able to reproduce. Ron is another character that is very related to the book Ron. Everything that he is in the books is almost exact to what he is like in the movies. It is a very good process, if they could manage to produce character in the movies like the ones in the book, it would be a lot better for the movies.
The books are something that I have come to know and love. I could tell you events that happened throughout the books and how it changed the outcomes. It’s very hard to watch the movies and not see key events that should be put in, that are ignored, because they do not have the room to fit them into the movies. I am very critical of the movies and the books, and I will be the first to tell you if you love the movies, you will love the books even more.