Harry Potter at the Odeon Leicester

Well, November 18th came along, and we headed for Leicester Square, to see Harry Potter.

I must say that the theatre is fabulous. It seats over 1500 people on three levels, stalls, lower balcony and upper balcony. It certainly is an impressive piece of architecture -- dwarfing even the largest theatres in Canada. It has curtains, which open to display its screen (just like a theatre), and it is decorated like an art-deco theatre.

The seating is also extremely spacious -- a person can walk in front of you, to his/her seat, without you having to get up. I wish we had that sort of luxury in Canada.

Also, the sound system was astounding -- from the loudest bang (of the dragon hitting the school), to the smallest sounds of the Christmas Ball, everything was clear, and not over-exagerated (compared to many Famous Players back home which equate volume with quality).

All in all, everything was set for a spectacular performance (at least suggested by the trailer).

The Movie

Everything except for the movie that is.

In one word -- awful. As far as I can see, most of the Harry Potter books are as much about the reasoning (why something is done like that), as about the content (how it is done). J.K. Rowling seems to always have a point to whatever she does (whether that point is in the same book, or in 4 books on).

This director seems to not to have read the book at all. Further, his modifications do not make the movie any more pleasing. Simple question -- why change the simple fight-your-way through it maze in the book, to a psychological maze in the movie.

But I think, more seriously, is that there is no real interaction (even between Harry, Ron, and Hermione (and particularly between the teachers and the students)) in the movie. There is just a cut from beautiful set to beautiful set, without any real filler. And, to me at least, the filler is what makes the movie enjoyable.

I think the director could easily have added 30 minutes more, and by doing so, significantly improved the movie. (Seriously, there are 30 minutes of ads. before the movie anyway).

Afterwards


Well, they had a model of the Triwizard Cup on the balcony of the theatre, so you can see me above, with the cup, smiling -- I guess the experience of the theatre was worth more than the movie, and that's what kept me smiling.