The first movie was a stand a lone. It's obvious now Dumbledore is the main character and this is leading into his famous battle with Grindelwald. Not really sure what point David is trying to make because most HP fans would have signed up to see this story played out in book or film form. Just drop the fantastic beasts part of the title and replace it with wizarding world.
I do find it interesting that they are jumping forward by several years. Are they dropping all the ancillary characters and essentially starting over with Credence, Dumbledore, new Gridevald, and Newt?
It went on for so fucking long. Run run, spell, oh it’s Ginny, shoot spell, pause, listen, spell fire, here come adults, spells, pause, corn shot of Bella, corn shot of Fenrir, hiss, pause, fly, “Apparate” through a building which… explodes it? Fucking stupid.
I will say, they made Bellatrix Lestrange perfect. Just the whole skipping and shouting "I Killed Sirius Black" was great
I fucking hate the way Michael Gambon played Dumbledore. It's a tough role to nail, I know: You have to be a gentle grandfather on the surface, and a cold and calculating tactician underneath, you have to appear frail until it's time to throw down and then you realize how much he was holding back. I get why they offered it to Ian McKellen, and I get why he turned them down, but his version of Gandalf is almost Dumbledore. The only difference is Gandalf the Grey was a bit more aloof and forgetful than the book-brilliant and world-wise Dumbledore. McKellen could have nailed it, I think. Personally, Alec Guinness' Obi Wan is a close approximation. I don't know who could play Dumbledore today but I know it wasn't Michael "I never studied the character; aren't all headmasters supposed to be scary?" fucking Gambon
Do I want to stay at one of the premier Universal hotels when I go? Would like some advice from both a cost perspective and a ease-of-access perspective
There is a hyatt I stayed at right across from universal that was brand new, cheap, and easy. Never stayed on property at Universal so can't really compare though.
I'm currently trying to break down costs by adding the express passes and trying to find out if it just makes more sense to stay on site.
It's hard for me to differentiate the films since I haven't done a rewatch in years. Overall I thought they were amazing when I was a kid and as I aged with the films they became more and more disappointing. Ultimately I thought they did a good job, but it all left a lot to be desired as a long time fan of the books. I thought the casting was great, but something was always missing from the universe to me. Obviously they will eventually recast everyone and reset the whole universe into a TV series. That of course will involve rebuilding all of Harry Potter World and all the merch that comes with it. It's hard for me to imagine a different Harry Potter and crew. Like are they just going to run it back with the same Hogwarts and Diagon Alley? Or will they rebuild it all with a different vision? It's just all a lot more complicated than simply pressing reset and starting over. It's hard for me to imagine anyone being able to pull of something so large scaled. It would be one of the biggest undertakings in film making and I'm not sure who I would trust to pull it off.
I haven’t stayed off property but stayed at one of the Universal properties and would suggest it. Was great having shuttle back and forth and having early access
While Universal did keep a lot of the sets, I would guess that whoever re-makes it in the next 10-30 years will likely want to use their own sets/props to add some clear differences between the two.
Yes. We’ve done off property and the Hard Rock. You don’t necessarily have to stay at the Hard Rock but I definitely suggest staying at one of the premier hotels. The built-in express pass is worth the extra cost alone plus it’s just super convenient to everything. My wife likes Universal a lot because she’s a big HP fan and we go at least once a year. Pretty much the only place we’ll stay now is the Hard Rock.
When I read the books I always pictured Christopher Lloyd in the role…I also would have liked him for filch, but I think they nailed that one.
I'm currently staying at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort. It's not a premiere property so you wouldn't get an express pass with it. But you do get an hour early entry and access to the water taxi which drops you off right in front of Universal. It's a solid hotel, especially if you're going with kids as the pool and game room situation is nice. Really nice gym too. We're not here for the parks though so I can't really comment on how much of a difference maker the early access is. But we did have early access when we had annual passes 10 years ago and I remember that making it pretty easy to beat the lines at the more popular rides.
In my experience the early access doesn’t really make much of a difference. Very few rides are open and the ones that are won’t allow you to use the express pass that early.
I don’t think Richard Harris would have physically been able to do the stuff dumbledore did in books 5 and 6
Efforts to rehab Snape’s image are dumb because he fucking sucks and Harry naming his kid after a grown man who couldn’t bring himself to not bully children is a whitewash of epic proportions. He held onto his childhood crush for decades as his sole motivation to play both sides (and undoubtedly directly led to innocent deaths and suffering in the second blood war) so he’s brave?
Mads is just about my favorite actor so pleased with the change. I don’t fucking remember almost any of the cast of characters on the team. Just Newt and Muggle guy. Who is the dark haired antagonist? Not Creedence, I think? This series is difficult to follow but magic is fun and all.
the massive IRL time gap between 2 and 3 along with how bad 2 was has made this series impossible to follow.
I’m talking about the long haired one battling with Albus. We might be talking about the same character but just to be sure. I paused it and I guess that’s Ezra Miller’s jaw structure.