Count me among the addicts. Of course, I'm an English teacher, so I am going to love anything that gets kids to read like HP did. I was one of the crazy adults at the midnight release of the last book, and my friend Portia always gets us tickets for opening night of the movies...and she sneaks in homemade witch shaped cookies for us! lol
I agree that movies very rarely do a book justice, but I still very much enjoy the HP movies. The first, The Sorcerer's Stone, is still by far my favorite. My complaint with the last couple has been that they left out so much, but they had to in order to keep the movie to a reasonable length. I am really, really glad they are doing one in 2 movies now rather than one...I just hope they are released back to back instead of keeping us waiting! lol
As for Emma Watson and Hermione...I think those kids have become so engrained with those characters that we will always see the characters as those faces. Hermione WAS overly dramatic in the books. It's part of her character. I think the three main characters were cast perfectly. I do agree that the new Dumbledore is not as good, but the old Dumbledore died, so they didn't have much of a choice...it's very sad that he is not around to reprise the role. It really suited him perfectly.
I wonder what everyone thinks about the darker tone of the last movie and that it is obviously going to continue into the next? I have conflicting feelings about it. The books, of course, became darker through the series. Was that appropriate? Like I tell my boyfriend, life is not always roses and daisies, so I like that she included darker elements. It adds intrigue and suspense. But I can also see the viewpoint that some people want a happy, easy, lighthearted read/film. If she kept it on that level though, would we consider it great literature? Personally, I would consider these great literature classics with lasting power.
