Had a chance to catch the taped ABC presentation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone from a couple of weeks back. The movie had inserts with interviews and sneak previews of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, coming out Friday. I'm looking forward to it with a bit of trepidation.
Early reports has Alphonso Cuaron's flick being a cracker effort, scarier and funnier at the same time. In other words, the big kid in me is looking forward to seeing it at least twice. One section of the Movie Mob will be going Sunday and the rest the following weekend, due to a Scouts/Brownies outing this weekend.
If I have any problem with Harry Potter being darker, it is that I've found the books darker with each volume and less fun with each book. I hesitate to think just how dark the series can get without it turning into a true horror series. I did NOT enjoy the fifth book, which I thought felt like an over-long Summer interlude with the Dursley's. It was just depressing.
Aside: If you want something as magical as Harry Potter but one that presents a consistent quality and joie de vivre, then try the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer. Their quality, all of them, sits somewhere between the first and second Potter books.
The other thing that's hard not to notice is that Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are growing up. It's hard to see them playing Harry, Ron and Hermione through to the seventh book's cinematic translation. Already, Rupert's shot up to the point where it looks like Daniel is HIS sidekick, not the reverse.
I understand the fourth and fifth movies are being shot back to back a la The Lord of The Rings concept. It probably enables the producers to hang on to the three delightful youngsters. But would YOU take a bet on any of them looking young enough to play a teenager for the sixth movie at least three years from now?
Maybe movie magic will save them. In the meantime, not to worry. The concern is this weekend and the delights that await.
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