I just got back from Harry Potter. The movie works in terms of action. You expect a lot of action and it is a full fledged war movie. Let me also mention that I loved Part I of Deathly Hallows, since it went well with the book. The second half, I'm sorry to say, was a complete disappointment. I didn't feel this movie did justice to the book at all. Now that I have said that - I hope you have reasonably lowered your expectations, and you enjoy the movie a lot more than I did :-) :-)
SPOILERS
When the movie first started I was really excited, and I felt it was working well. The build up was great, except the last thirty minutes fully ruined and killed everything for me!
I wanted more focus on the crucial scenes in the book. I loved the last 40-50 pages in the book and some of my favourite scenes are in that part. I was anticipating something brilliant on screen. The manner in which JKR has written the book - beauty of her language and the emotions you feel as you read the book - I didn't feel that at all, as I was watching the movie.
I'll also mention that I read the book only once when it first released, so maybe I recollect it differently. Maybe the scenes and the description I recollect were something wonderful, something brilliant, while the last half of the movie was handled in a very poor manner.
Anyway, I'm going to try to be reasonable and think of some Pros/Cons.
Pros:
1) I loved the background theme. I loved the special effects. I loved the action. A few scenes I'll admit left me teary eyed.
2) I liked the Gringotts scene.
3) I liked the story of Snape - I'll point out while this scene was better compared to the other scenes in the movie - I was disappointed with the manner in which jumbled bits were pulled together. I loved this chapter in the book, and I imagined it much differently, than the manner in which it appeared on screen (additional details were necessary!). I also wasn't happy with the way this was shot.
4) I liked the part when Neville stands in front of Voldemort - definitely made me cry! I wasn't sure of his speech, but I'm okay with it.
Cons:
1) Last 30-40 minutes of the movie. I felt so angry watching this part. I wanted to punch the screen writers, and the director - THANK YOU for ruining this!
2) Harry and Ginny's kiss - WORST on screen kiss ever! Awkward and disgusting! Anu described this well, so I don't need to add further on this.
3) Hermoine and Ron's kiss - What the hell? We-just-destroyed-a-Horcrux-and-we-are-running-around-scared-but-suddenly-we-stop-and-kiss-without-even-getting-out-of-the-place?? I was wishing at this point a snake would pop up from somewhere, while these two were busy kissing!
4) When Harry walks down the stairs and knows that he is going to die. He gets a hug from Hermoine. This bit made me cry! Ron just stands there. No hug? Nothing? I liked Emma's acting in this scene.
5) When Harry is supposedly dead only Ginny is upset, but Hermoine and Ron looked strictly meh. They should be devastated by their friend's death, but maybe I'm the only one disappointed by their reaction. I want to also mention Hagrid here. I always felt that Hagrid was really close to Harry, but when he carries Harry you really don't see much. The emotions in this scene were hardly visible.
6) Final battle between Harry and Voldemort: Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. What the hell was that?? Didn't this take place in the Great hall with everyone witnessing the final battle? However, our brilliant director decided to show this is out in the open with NO ONE around!
7) After Harry kills Voldemort - Where the hell is everyone? What happens after that?? You hardly see anyone's reaction to Voldemort's death. No celebration??? All Harry gets in return is a few nods. W*F!
7) Dumbledore's history - MISSING!
8) King's Cross scene - Strictly meh!
9) When Harry pulls Voldemort down and they continue to fly around the castle.
Overall, I liked the movie strictly as someone, who loves action movies, yet I found the movie very manipulative - focusing more on action to sell, rather than on the story/content. They had a brilliant story to tell, but they screwed it up towards the end.
Edited by infinity_9000 - 14 years ago
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