Just got back from watching the film. I must say that this is easily my second favourite HP film after Prisoner Of Azkaban, and definitely the best by David Yates. Although I enjoyed both the previous two films directed by him, I feel they still cut out some quite vital bits and added in some unnecessary stuff. This time, however, I really feel the entire team delivered a really wonderful film with a really unique balance between light and dark. Although there were still some bits left out that I'd have loved to see, this was by far the most faithful adaptation of HP I've seen since Chris Columbus left. The narrative and pacing was very well done and even my parents, who know almost nothing about HP, enjoyed the film.
The screenplay was quite well done and I think Steve Kloves did a much better job integrating most of the important dialogues with his own material (I especially loved the animation for the Tale Of The Three Brothers). I was a bit late at the theater so I missed some of the opening scenes (which I read about on other sites), but starting from the Dark Lord Ascending part, it flowed so smoothly and effectively that I found myself really deeply engrossed in it. A majority of the film rested on Dan, Emma and Rupert, and I think they carried it out brilliantly, especially Rupert - I always thought he didn't get enough screen time in the films and Ron's character is reduced to a kind of comical sidekick, so it's really great to see his role being expanded this time, and I think he gives a really brilliant performance! From the scenes where he argues with Harry and leaves, to his comical attempts to get on Hermione's good side later, he did a really great job.
The scenes were really well shot and captured the feel of the book perfectly - the Death Eater meeting in the beginning was extremely close to the book and really great, the Seven Potters scene was hilarious (excellent performance by Dan Radcliffe there), the sky battle was exciting (a bit short though), the Nagini attack at Godric's Hollow was terrifying and Dobby's death was really emotional, seeing that the character was largely missing from most of the films. Even some of the changes made were for the better - I personally liked this version of Hedwig's death better than what was in the book, and I think the newly added scene with the Harry/Hermione dance is really sweet too.. I expected the majority of the film to be quite dark and depressing, but there are a good amount of light moments scattered in there too - George watching in Harry and Ginny kiss 😆, Ron's polyjuice potion wearing off as Mrs. Cattermole kisses him while the real Reg Cattermole turns up in underwear 🤣, etc. The dark moments like the attack in Godric's Hollow and the destruction of the locket (one really bold move by the filmmakers, I must say), were terrific.
I wish Tom Felton, Alan Rickman and Jason Isaacs had more screen time, but they performed really well in whatever scenes they were in (watch out for some really subtle nonverbal performances by them in the Dark Lord Ascending scene). Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter were terrific as Voldemort and Bellatrix respectively, so were all of the members of the OOTP, even though their scenes were really short (I was especially disappointed to see that they cut out Lupin's Grimmauld Place scene). The new actors portraying Xeno Lovegood, Mundungus, Yaxley and Scabior did a great job too. I heard complaints that the film dragged a bit, but personally I didn't feel that at all. The cinematography was stunning, editing by Mark Day was surprisingly good this time (I was actually paying close attention to it, because I thought the previous two films had quite poor editing), and I loved Alexandre Desplat's music. It was quite subtle most of the time, but I think that's what makes it special here, even though I wish Hedwig's theme was used more (it was barely there).
I do have some complaints though, the most salient ones being - cutting out Dudley's change in personality, the argument with Lupin in Grimmauld Place and Luna's room in the Lovegood house (something I was really looking forward to), Kreacher's Tale (I wish they were more soft with him here, as in the book), no explanations for certain things like Sirius' mirror shard (and I wonder why they left Wormtail alive, unless they planned something better for Part 2), and not enough coverage of Dumbledore's past. I thought the last part dragged a bit in the book too, but it's pretty important later. I also missed certain bits from the book, such as the Ron/Harry hug after they destroy the locket. But these aren't really that bad compared to the great material in the rest of the film, and it's been a long time since I felt so satisfied with a HP film!
All I can say is... bring on Part 2! 😃
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