Not so the 5th movie. It needed a screenwriter to distill a core set of events and not try to simply cliff note everything, but instead it got a series of rushed cuts with dialog full of the very sort of painful cliches that Rowling as a writer has mostly been able to avoid. Only the scenes with Luna really worked for me.

The Cho thing is just part and parcel of the sloppiness and laziness of the adaptation. They wanted to change the story to fit the running WHICH IS OK, but they simply don’t seem to have cared if what they changed it to made any sense or was any good. This was my big problem with most of the changes to the LOTR movies as well: I don’t mind changing things because its an adaptation to another medium. But make sure what you change it to is not into cliches and careless nonsense.

The comment about the Death Booers is right on. Lots of time and money giving them silly “flying” powers that pretty much do not fit with the stories or anything in any of the movies (why use brooms if anyone can just careen around as a thundercloud?) and almost no time establishing them as truly vicious and scary. And the change to how the DA initially escapes the first encounter is senseless: having the DA smash the prophecies and unleash chaos as a distraction is something built for a movie… and instead it was replaced with… well nothing: they shoot some spells and the shelves later crash by accident, with no droning ghosts speaking incoherent predictions. Why?

This scene is one of the best literary fight scenes ever, and in the book, the kids are done real damage — broken bones, bad hexes. In the film they have a few scratches, but you miss the sense of real jeopardy and coming of age.

I have to agree, this was my biggest problem with the movie. It made the Death Eaters look more like “Scare Eaters” since they were more like people who lept out and said “Boo!” rather than treacherous killers. In the book, page 792 held the biggest shock in the series. Sure, it was resolved on the next page, but for a couple of minutes (depending on your reading speed …) you could believe it was possible. In the movie, nothing. And yes, I wanted to see the brains; and the Death Eater’s head growing and shrinking in time.

One other change they made didn’t work for me, either. Making Cho the “sneak,” would have been fine. (Potentially troubling in a potentially misogynist way, if they’d played her as a complete comression of Cho and Marietta in the book. Can’t trust them dames and all. Very Mickey Spillane.) Unfortunately, they also chose to mitiagte her actions by having it result from a dose of Veritaserum. She had borne the shame and shunning of the entire group, and there’s no scene, or even hint of forgiveness. I can’t imagine they’re going to address this in the next movie, but I really think it makes Harry look like a complete tool.

Overall, though, I liked the movie. I thought they compressed large segments of the school year effectively, and in particular, I found the “Harry’s Mind” montages effective.

Personally, I can’t imagine what it’s like to watch the movies without the benefit of having read the books these days. I only started reading them after seeing the first movie (in the theater). Do they hold up as complete stories, or does it seem to those who don’t read them that there is something missing? (And by that I mean from your perspective, not the perspective of your friend who *has* read them who’s talking about what was cut/changed.)

For what little it’s worth, I think I would like a “Lived Happily Ever After” ending. I don’t really expect one, but as long as it is a believable ending, I’ll welcome it. If Harry doesn’t snuff it, then I think Ron and Hermione do. (Or Ron does, and Hermione marries Viktor Krum – unless that counts as a happy ending.)

Personally, I think Harry may die, but come back to life in Aslan-like fashion! Then he’ll give Voldemort a long lecture about how silly he’s been acting.

;D

In my family we’ve each got complex theories of what’ll happen, and to who and why. I’m sure I’ve got Snape’s motivations figured out, I’ve been sure of it for at least the last three books. But I’m sure we’ll be surprised, and I hope not too unpleasantly.

One other thing. These books are a joy to read aloud, over and over. Especially when you get just the right voice and accent for a character, and can ham it up a bit (I’m a killer McGonagall & Moody). And I’m sure I’m not the only adult reading it aloud who choked up at the end of number 6. I choked up at the end when I read To Kill a Mockingbird aloud, and A Christmas Carol, too.

Ah, I’m a sucker for this stuff.