Whew! I finally saw it this afternoon, at the Chinese Mann no less!
Most of what I and Mr. Rilch think has already been said, but I have a few additions. First, though, I must repeat two earlier assertions.
Voiceover would have improved things greatly, and Hermione was shafted by not getting to solve the logic puzzle.
Me: “What about the logic puzzle? That was Hermione’s big play!”
Mr. Rilch: “She did the Devil’s Snare.”
Me: “Whoop-de-freakin’ doo. It’s always like that. The boys do the big showy plays, and the girl’s contribution is oh-by-the-way.”
Mr. Rilch: “Yeah, but what could have followed that chess game?”
Me: “Mmm.”
Mr. Rilch: “Still, they could have tweaked it just a bit and put the logic puzzle before the chess game.”
Beyond that:
In the house on the rock, Hagrid asks Harry, “Haven’t strange things ever happened when you were angry or afraid?” Harry does what he does best (in the film): stares blankly, and Columbus does what he does best (in this film): cuts to another scene. There could have been some way to bring up the early magical incidents, like little Harry’s hair growing back overnight after Mrs. Dursley shaved it off. A quick montage sequence would have sufficed.
The first-years were supposed to be sorted alphabetically. Now, I realize the only people you need to see are Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Neville, but Hermione is not first, and Ron is supposed to be last out of all. Says Mr. Rilch, “A simple matter of dissolves.”
Harry and Draco first meet when they’re being fitted for their robes. It’s a somewhat tense scene: on their platforms across the room from each other, with no adults around for some reason, and Draco making his snippy comments without realizing who Harry is. But Draco was awesome nonetheless!
In the infirmary scene, when Dumbledore explains how Harry’s mother sacrificed herself for him, did anyone notice that you couldn’t see Harry’s eyes at all? It was a very odd framing: profile, and you could see his eye sockets, but not the actor’s most crucial tool: the eyes themselves. That scene did not have the impact it should have. I don’t think that bodes well for subsequent films, because every story ends that way: Harry finding out more about his family, and almost breaking down, but barely managing not to. If it didn’t come off this time…
IMHO, Ron is not supposed to be homely. He’s supposed to be one of those rough-hewn Irish/cockney lads who’s going to be devastatingly masculine once his frame stops growing and his physique catches up. Also, Rowling makes quite a point about Harry’s hair utterly refusing to cooperate with a comb. It shouldn’t just be unkempt, it should be a bird’s nest.
However, I join the chorus of howls for Oliver Wood!
Mr. Rilch thought the payoff, when Neville’s ten points put Gryffindor over the top, was sadly underplayed. It shouldn’t have just been a closeup on him; it should have been a closeup and then a pan out to the entire hall going wild. Furthermore, Hermione was supposed to hide tears when she got her fifty points. Seeing as she was robbed of her big moment, she should have cried about that!
“Hi, I’m character A! Hi, I’m character B! And I’m character C!” I was so looking forward to seeing John Cleese, but the fact is, we don’t find out why Sir Nicholas is “Nearly” Headless, nor that he’s bitter about it, until I think book 2. Or 3. But at any rate, in book 1, he’s one of the many, many anomalies about Hogwarts that the first-years have to accept and deal with. It irked me quite a bit that everything had an explanation-let’s-move-on.
Mr. Rilch says the music from the chess scene is going to be used in “every frikken’ action trailer from now on!” All hail John Williams!
Hagrid is going to be Robbie Coltrane’s signature performance.
(Oh, and I saw the LOTR trailer, the SW Ep2:AOTC trailer, and the trailer for Kate and Leopold (Hugh Jackman in knee breeches…drool…)! Nyahh!)
