cgi spiders aren't scary

[pauraque_bk]

We just rewatched Chamber of Secrets, which I own for some reason. I hadn't seen it in a really long time, probably not since about the time I got into the fandom, which was around when it came out on DVD. My impressions were these:

- This movie is so long.
- Absolutely everything that happens is followed by four or five reaction shots. Sometimes the reaction shots are of characters who don't even have names or lines!
- Movies were better before CGI existed.
- This movie is all about hats. Arthur's pointy hat. Minerva's tartan hat. Lucius's furry hat. Harry pulls a deus ex machina literally out of a hat. Hats, man.
- Jason Isaacs and Kenneth Branagh totally saved everything.
- Snakes can't hear. Well, technically they have earlike structures that can detect vibrations. But they sure as hell can't hear you whispering, nor that pebble Harry threw. And they can certainly smell, so Harry should have gotten eaten either way.
- Hagrid's homecoming scene is SO OVERBLOWN that it gets into self-parody territory. Standing ovation WTF??
- Everybody in the world wants to get into Harry's pants.

Comments

[aybara-max.livejournal.com]

Movies were better before CGI existed.

THIS, for crying out loud... I much prefer at least puppetry effects or animation - copperbadge made a good point once that special effects used to be employed symbolically, so that they were supposed to convey a meaning but not necessarily look SUPER REALISTIC.

- Jason Isaacs and Kenneth Branagh totally saved everything.
YES!

I forgot how goofy Hagrid's homecoming scene is, mostly I just remember Hermione's welcome back scene with a big mushy hug for Harry and awkward handshake for Ron (They're twelve. He has a HUGE family and a little sister. No hug? Meh.)

Generally, I can't rewatch this film because Dobby drives me crazy :-p I prefer Azkaban or Phoenix.

[pauraque]

Dobby is really annoying, but that's just the way it is. I don't blame the movies for crappy stuff they couldn't help because it was JKR's fault, just for crappy stuff they added on their own.

[ook.livejournal.com]

A friend dragged me to see this film in the theater (I was not a Potter fan at the time). I fell asleep TWICE...the film was so long and there were so many scenes of people just TALKING.

The snake could have felt the vibration of the pebble that Harry tossed, but wouldn't have been able to hear Harry whispering.

Yes, film were much better before the use of CGI. I just watched a clip where Dumbledore's blackened, withered hand (in Half Blood Prince) was shown as being added in using CGI. WTF? Why not just use a simply rubber prosthetic hand?

[pauraque]

CGI effects can never look as good as physical effects, because they can't possibly get the lighting to EXACTLY match up to the rest of the things in the scene. Even very good CGI always looks a little off.

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

I really don't miss all the open-mouthed reaction shots! Still, one good thing about all the HP movies is that I can rely on an awesome adult actor to show up chewing scenery with great delight.

[pauraque]

True that!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

God, even when I first saw that ending scene in the theatre, I winced. I can't bear to watch it again. (Besides, why bother to watch any more of the film after Lucius leaves? :D )

[pauraque]

I remembered it being overdone, but my memory blocked out the full force of how incredible it is. The worst thing about movies is the knowledge of how many people worked on them (especially in a special effects extravaganza like HP) and how many people looked at a bad scene and thought it was fine, or didn't care.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

Oh, I LOVE CoS. It will always be my favorite, just because it came out right after I joined the fandom and I was so excited about it. Plus, Lucius!

[pauraque]

I remember CoS coming out right before I started to be interested. I specifically remember going to see Star Trek Nemesis and noticing that CoS was playing on the other screen, and wondering if that movie was any better than the painfully bad one I had just seen. :P

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

CoS was the last movie I saw of the HP movies. I remember it as being incredibly boring. Soooo long. And that homecoming scene was kind of obscene. Who ever thought that made sense?

[pauraque]

Meaning that you didn't see the ones after it at all?! Or it's the one you saw most recently?

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen any of them except PS/SS and CoS.

[pauraque]

Huh, how did I miss that about you? Were you just not interested? You missed the only ones that didn't suck. :(

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Yup, I've never never had any interest, even after seeing scenes from them!