The trailer rocked my world. I tried to avoid seeing it in all its crappy glory, and what a payoff it was. Though not in its high-definition quality as I would've wanted, it still left me speechless. You could see how much of it was almost reminiscent of PoA, contrary to what the last director brought to the table. It felt really fresh, or at least that's what it felt like to me. The stakes seemed higher than ever. Word on the street is that Alfonso was supposedly meeting with David. Not only would it be my dream come true if they did meet, but it would make perfect sense.
I feel like making a nutshell analysis of the trailer, so bear with me if you can.
I liked the quick flashes of the corridor at the beginning, of which I'm assuming Harry will be dreaming all year, mainly because they didn't give me the impression that I was watching a Harry Potter trailer at first until we saw the two boys. Hagrid's monologue seemed a tad too convenient here. Truth be told, I had my worries after I read that they had changed the look of the Dementors into something more skeletal. My worries were gone as soon as I saw the alleyway scene. It looked perfectly fine to me, but my only complaint is that it moved a little too hasty for my taste. It has been said time and time again that they're not impatient creatures. These guys aren't in a rush. I haven't read the first chapter of the fifth book in a while, so I could be mistaken. Moving on, the quick flashes of everything after that were nicely done. I especially loved the end when we zoomed into Snape. I'd like to think of it as a tease for the next film, but that's just me. If this is what the Occlumency lessons are gonna be like, I can honestly say I'm pleased. It's simple, effective, and sans the redundant sugarcoating technique to make the flashes come off all dreamlike.
The Thestrals were exactly as I imagined. Will they go completely against canon and appear to others who never saw death is the question. My guts are telling me they'll save themselves the trouble of rendering them invisible and make it so. Umbridge was spot-on here. I bet Imelda was having the time of her life in portraying the queen hag of all things annoying and pink. I loved how they made her straightforward and to the point, enforcing her rules without a hint of hesitation and being wordy. I'm extremely glad that we're finally seeing other classrooms other than DADA, but enough of Snape hitting students with books already. He'd make them feel like dirt by talking them down with his wit, not hitting them with books. Hopefully, his other scenes will be make up for this little hiccup. As I heard it from the test screenings, Alan Rickman is again severely underused, so I'm hoping for their sakes that they have made the best of what little time he has in the film. Also, I spotted a pink sweater in this scene just before he hit Ron with the book. No doubt that's one of Umbridge's class inspections, and it's been made clear that it was her when she appeared in the next scene. Again, spot-on with the canon characterization. You could see that the both of them were standing on the stairs, with Umbridge on the higher step to make up for her short height. All of her banters with Minerva were one of the highlights of the book, so I'll be looking forward to seeing them in the film. And speaking of whom, Minerva was practically nowhere to be seen in this trailer. I hope that's not a sign of what is to come or anything. I liked the twins and the fireworks here. Much more than what I was picturing in my mind. They almost make up for the lack of Peeves. All the victory and triumphant music, and everything stops when Umbridge shouts "ENOUGH!" Kind of redundant, but I had no problem with it.
Now, moving on to one of the most puzzling invented-for-movie scenes, Voldemort in a suit. I've been seeing people asking from left to right, top to bottom, about what this very confusing scene was. Harry just witnessed a nightmare, which was very real. His friend was murdered in front of him and he has literally just escaped death, but only to escape it again when an impostor almost blasted the life out of him. Not to mention the fact that he just got done with the Dementors and that Voldemort has been trying to invade his mind ever since. Anyone would be extremely paranoid after that. It couldn't be any more clearer than that. And the scene was even shot in a dreamlike way. Although, some people did bring up an interesting point about the suit. Well, I'm thinking the thought of seeing your worst nightmare dressing as an everyday man would be creepy, so I guess that's why. Anyway, I thought it was a rather clever way to visualize Harry's paranoia. Just wait until someone suddenly touches him from behind with a horror sound effect playing as that someone does so and see if he freaks. No, I wouldn't want that. Voldemort, if that was him, calling out Harry's name was creepy as hell. When I read one of the set reports, I had the impression that Voldemort was going to spin his head all the way around to Harry, sort of like Linda Blair's head spin, which got me stoked. None of that here, sadly. I was probably reading too much into things.
The next scene of the trio running down the hill was beautifully shot. It reminded me of PoA and what Alfonso would do, but without the long shots. I wonder what they're running to, or from. The queen hag's monologue throughout the last two scenes and carrying on to the next was pretty good and well-edited, but Dan's acting here spoiled it for me just a tad. It just seemed a bit off to me.
The hearing looked exactly like that of Karkaroff's in the last film, but only without the cage and the towers of books. Also, I think I spotted a possible continuity error. Harry was sitting in the chair in one scene, but he was sitting on the far left seat in the next. Now, of course, that could be Figg in the first scene, but I always imagined her to be some sort of a midget when I was reading the books. Don't ask why. I intend no offense to all midgets, by the way. Probably not a continuity error, anyway. I have no complaints whatsoever about Michael's delivery of the line because it's grown on me since the teaser, but he was literally channeling Dumbledore when he looked at Harry afterwards. Amazing what a single look can do. Fudge was great here when he said the line. I've never been exactly happy with any of his portrayals except PoA, but he wasn't half bad in this scene. A bit of anger, uncertainty, denial and anxiety all thrown in together.
The constant hammering throughout the prior scenes was a nice build-up. And by golly, how tall was that ladder. The degrees were just as I expected, multitudinous and extremely cluttered. I liked how all the steel locks on the glass frames were put there to prevent any students from destroying the insides. Nice try, but utterly futile. The twins can never be outsmarted! Harry banging his fists on the wall seemed a bit out of place and again a tad too convenient. He was clearly at the Dursleys, so that clouded my judgment somewhat. The little giggle from Umbridge... I wanted to stab my ears with pencils after hearing that. It was horrible. Just like nails on a chalkboard, only worse. I suppose that's another spot-on characterization for the list. Ron saying one of his trademarks was alright. Funny if you connect it with the horrible giggle of death. Most of the Muggle attires in this film are among some of my favourites in the series. Apart from Hermione who would never choose to wear anything pink or similar colours, all of them not only suit their wearers, but they contrast with each other nicely.
Azkaban was even better in motion. Bellatrix escaping with insanity written all over her face as if she just tasted freedom for the first time, utter brilliance. I still cannot get over the fact that they got Helen to play Bellatrix. Never mind that, the quick flashes of light on her was a great effect and did a good enough job in emphasizing her insanity. Maybe not insanity, but loyalty. In the next scene, we see a face forming in the rainstorm. The woman must be ecstatic to finally see her master after serving fourteen long years in prison, I imagine.
Harry and Hermione, reliving one of their PoA scenes during the time-turner sequence, seemed to be running away from the angry centaurs. So, there's a centaur chase now. As I recall, there wasn't one in the book. It could make for a fun action sequence, but we'll see. The centaurs looked great to me, much improved from what I saw. I am one of the few who did like the look of Firenze in the original film, so I'm probably not one to listen to about centaurs. Harry punching a glass wall after the centaur chase, or a certain mirror, I could've done without. Hopefully, it wasn't that mirror. It'd not only go against the book, but against what some people have been theorizing about. I'm secretly hoping the mirror will play an important role in the final book.
Sirius saying it's Harry's turn was a great passing-of-the-torch moment. Makes sense if he says it after showing Harry the photo of his parents and the Order instead of Moody. The Advance Guard and Harry riding on brooms was great, though I do wonder if the Muggles can see them. I'll understand if they intended for the Advance Guard and Harry to be visible to the audience, but not to the Muggles.
The DA practicing their Patronus Charm on a Boggart, I liked. Although, some of my worries about bony Dementors returned when I saw how it was moving. That was supposed to be a Dementor? Moved a little too much like a person struggling to swim and not an actual Dementor for my taste, even though it was just a Boggart. I could learn to get used to it, but I'm afraid it won't be today. Luna and her Patronus, that gave me an epileptic seizure of delight. It whinnied, so it must be either a horse or a unicorn. Whilst a unicorn would fit entirely with her twisted mind of all things unusual, I didn't see a horn.
The Ministry of Magic was nothing short of what I imagined, maybe even exceeded it. The giant banner of Fudge was pure, pure genius and actually is something I think Fudge would do. The queen hag was once again spot-on here with her high, girlish voice. Again, this small scene seemed too out of place as they were clearly at Hogwarts and not the Ministry of Magic. My brain has an annoying habit of not connecting things when the two clearly don't belong.
The various flying shots were good, but too noticeable for me in terms of special effects. I believe in a practical approach, as Moody would say. And speaking of whom, I'm really looking forward to seeing his handicapped broom in action. It should be hilarious. Also, really glad to see how Moody is practically nonexistent in all of the trailers and promotional images. I hope they keep this up because I want to be in for a surprise.
Great to see that we will not only be seeing the Hog's Head, but Hogsmeade as well. The snowy shot looked beautiful, and different. It's on a mountain now? We never actually saw a big aerial shot of Hogsmeade, so I guess I shouldn't sound so surprised. I always had it in my mind that it was grounded, much like the Forbidden Forest. And colour me shocked, Hermione is just now discovering the fun in breaking the rules? Has she not been doing it every year? Ron's line after that induced quite a chuckle in me.
My slight disappointment with Dumbledore grasping the phoenix's tail with two hands instead of one aside, that was one awesome shot. I said it with a pause between each word after the comma in my head. I can't stop watching that scene. The question remains of how accurate Michael has portrayed the role before he vanished, which we'll see soon enough. After many viewings, I spotted Kingsley on the left, Fudge on the right and maybe a very tall Dawlish on the far right. Kingsley's hat was obvious, as was Fudge's. We see another shot of the Ministry of Magic. The golden statues looked amazing. It's a shame we may not see them in human-like movement except maybe clanging on the ground due to the spells being thrown across the hall. The paper airplanes flying across the Ministry of Magic were an ingenious idea, possibly a way to communicate with others.
And bless them, they didn't reuse any of the old Voldemort footages. The next shot was undoubtedly of Harry casting the Patronus Charm in the alleyway. I hate it when I'm right.
Now, another controversial scene, Dumbledore telling Harry not to fight and that he cannot win. Some say the real Dumbledore would never say that, and some say he was talking about Snape. He was obviously at the Ministry of Magic, so I don't know why some people are saying that he was telling Harry not to fight Snape. The windows in the background should confirm that. Harry can't win, that much is true. Dumbledore practically did the same thing in the book when he told Harry to stay back. By now, he would've found out about the Horcruxes, so I hardly see the point of letting Harry fight Voldemort now when he knows that Voldemort can't be beaten at this stage. The movie version of Dumbledore is more straightforward than the book version, anyway. If this was an extract from the possession scene, it would make a ton more sense. Harry tries to fight Voldemort when he gets possessed, Dumbledore reminds him of the difference between Harry and Voldemort, Harry fills self with love, Voldemort is disgusted, and Voldemort leaves the body. Makes sense, I think. Anyway, I'm just overjoyed that we won't be seeing a portrayal of Dumbledore who shouts and attacks students like an angry male gorilla who just got dumped. Not in this scene, at least.
The sextet running away from Malfoy, I'm guessing, was a spectacular shot. The Hall of Prophecy looked bigger than I thought. The room seemed to be collapsing as they tried to flee. No doubt the handiwork of a certain redhead. Voldemort and his wand of doom, check. A poor centaur getting a bola swung at him, check. I can't imagine who would've done that, unless there's a spell that shoots a bola out of a wand in existence. Another hug that is sure to anger many shippers (even though it's very much canon), check. A very awesome shot of one of the Thestrals, check. Angry Harry yelling at Dumbledore to look at him after being neglected by his headmaster for too long, check. A recycled Voldemort footage, NO CHECK. Windows of the Ministry of Magic shattering, check. An old scene of Harry from the teaser, meh.
Now that we got all those quick shots out of the way, we arrive at Voldemort saying the tag line in such simplicity and impeccable timing. No one does it like Ralph. Then cut to Harry as he says it. Hats off to the marketing department because that was sheer brilliance. I felt chills running down my spine during that scene.
Poor Cho, not Pansy, getting tricked into spilling the secrets by the queen hag. I don't really like the girl, but I did feel a bit of sympathy for her during that scene. How Harry cannot see this is beyond me, but it does make for a nice and easy way out to break up the two. The line Umbridge gave was great, ordering to catch the DA. Hopefully, this won't be shown off-screen.
A montage of quick shots follow. The twins flying past Umbridge, you know it's cool. The explosion of fireworks in the Great Hall looked great. Lupin holding Harry back, seriously sad... pun intended. A wide shot of Voldemort dueling with Dumbledore looked bloody fantastic. Bellatrix and her usual crazy self trying to curse someone, another spectacular shot. There's a high-quality photo of that, too. Sirius jumping in to save Harry from a curse, um, I don't know what to make of that. If he dies that way, I'll want severe punishment. Dumbledore waving his wand, I yelped in joy during this. A giant water fountain spinning in the air, I had to rewind this to see if my eyes weren't deceiving me. I yelped again, ecstatic, when I figured they weren't. An old shot of Harry kissing Cho, I yawned. A fire dragon, I was seriously giddy when this came up. You could see one of the golden statues beside it. Harry casting a disarming spell, it was alright. The boy needs to learn some new spells, though. Last, but not least, Voldemort screaming as he was getting what was coming to him has to be the coolest thing I ever saw. It was, dare I say it, epic. The raining glasses made sure of that. I honestly could've done without that because I wanted to experience it firsthand, but still, it was off the hook. Like I said, no one does it like Ralph. All in all, what a smexy trailer. I'll be damned to see if the US trailer tops this. It's supposedly a completely new trailer that's set to debut today, which I can't wait to see.
... so much for that nutshell analysis.
t:Well i do enjoy the movies enough that Ive seen them all i just really don't fancy the whole kid packed cinema experience just to see it lol
