Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (spoilers)

[NewJeffCT]

I went to the midnight show last night with my daughter (I told her she could go if she finished the books before last night - and, she finished them last weekend)

Quite a crowd - 2 full theaters in Simsbury, CT. I would estimate just under half the crowd had some sort of costume on, even if it was just Potter-esque glasses and/or a lightning scar on their forehead.

Overall, a very good movie.

Some pretty big changes from the books - in the book, one of my favorite scenes was when Harry snuck into the Ravenclaw tower and saw the scene with Amycus Carrow and Prof. McGonagall where he spits in her face, and Harry reveals himself & does the cruciatus curse on Carrow, to great effect... and, then he comments to McGonagall that Bellatrix was right, you had to mean it. That was not in the movie.

The other big scene that changed was The Kiss - Ron & Hermione kissed after destroying the horcrux in the Chamber of Secrets. In the book, they kissed after Ron expressed concern about the other house elves.

There were other changes as well - Snape dying in some place with a boat in it, as opposed to in the Shrieking Shack. I didn't see Grawp coming to the aid of Hagrid and the others at Hogwarts, either, but I could have missed it in the confusion of the battle.

I think they handled the pensieve with Snape's memories pretty well, though they kind of glossed over the time at Hogwarts. The scenes at Gringotts were nicely done - good job by Helena Bonham Carter to channel Hermione polyjuiced into Bellatrix, and the escape on the dragon was excellent. (They did add in a gratuitous Emma Watson cleavage shot in Gringotts as well)

In the 19 years later epilogue, Harry, Ron, Hermione & Ginny didn't really look 19 years older - maybe like college students, or recent college grads. Draco did look older, and Harry did look moderately older. Nice ending, though.

It's sad to see it all end, though.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. My biggest question:

does Neville play the same role in Voldie's death in the film as in the book? When I read the director has made some chages from the book, I was praying it wasn't that one. :( I loved the arc of his character throughout the books and thought that it was fitting it was he who finished the bastard off.

[hyphenate]

11. Neville does good. I waited for that, too. eom

[gratuitous]

2. I'll say this

If I really did a cleavage shot of Emma Watson, there would be no doubt that it would truly be a gratuitous product. Accept no substitutes!

So, you went to see Harry Potter and not the opening of the Sarah Palin documentary? For shame! Real Americans know there's only one choice between the two.

[XemaSab]

3. I didn't care for it

It seemed like a lot of big set pieces with very little time for emotion.

They also changed a bunch of things (like the entire last battle) in ways that didn't improve on the book. For example, Neville killing the snake and the fate of the elder wand.

There was a LOT of discussion leaving the theater... I heard people immediately ripping into plot points, which is a bad sign.

[XemaSab]

4. Two things that bugged:

Young James Potter and Crabbe.

With both appearances, we should have KNOWN who the characters were supposed to be, but both times I had to step back and say "Whozzat?" :(

[mvd]

5. I was a little let down. Still, it became my favorite Potter movie (some spoilers below)

The acting was better than Deathly Hallows Part 1, maybe because the script called for more emotional parts. The pacing was good - lots of action, which is appropriate. The special effects were terrific, and it was nice seeing the Battle of Hogwarts played out on film. It's the one thing that was bettered in the movie, IMO. What let me down a little were the things left out: they didn't show how Molly Weasley came to be so enraged at Bellatrix, for example. I thought the battle between Harry and Voldemort was expanded but not really made more interesting. How could they have no cheering when Voldemort died? A dark movie like this could have used that moment. The 19 years later scene felt more like a goodbye than a new beginning. And Snape in the pensieve fell flat. I do think Alan Rickman is the best actor in the whole series: he didn't disappoint in the scene where he dies. I give the movie 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

[NewJeffCT]

8. well, they had Neville picking up the sorting hat

and, I figure, ok, here comes Voldy marching in with Harry's body, he's going to have Neville put on the hat and tell everybody about how they'll all be sorted into Slytherin now, and then Neville pulls out the sword & kills Nagini... however, it was completely changed.

[XemaSab]

12. That was an example of something where I was like

"Why?" :shrug:

[hyphenate]

14. Mostly pace

it shortened the story by a bit, but also kept the overall act itself. I personally had no problem with that scene, but found the scene of Harry and the Grey Lady horribly prolonged, as it didn't get into the whole details of why the GL was so nasty about the whole issue of the diadem, and how it had disappeared in the first place. In that scene, details were wanting, while in other ones, they were shortened. Sort of like the difference in trying to fit complete essays within the space of 140 characters, or being free to write a blog.

Each of us who have a fondness for the books has lots of scenes which could be considered sacred to us--none of us is going to be satisfied when a different media takes that scene or chapter away from us. It's why I have someone who isn't invested in the series to see them with me, so that I can gauge whether the movie is reaching someone who is judging it strictly on its own merit.

It's kind of why Green Lantern didn't rack up a higher percent of the box office--it was written by those in the comic book industry, and why only fans could really enjoy it. I've been reading comic books since I was about 8 or 9, and Green Lantern was always one of my favorites. People who weren't into comic books just looked at the movie and the character as simply being just another comic book superhero. They couldn't understand why a very large budget was wasted on just another comic series.

The same as with HP, only most people around the world know who Harry Potter is, but need to be justified in spending so much money on a ticket. If word comes down that the film wasn't intelligible without reading the books, it would be ignored. So it has to appeal to a wider range of people.

[NewJeffCT]

10. For the finale

it seemed like only Harry, Snape & Voldemort got to show emotion. Ron & Hermione were more supporting actors.

[riderinthestorm]

6. How did the scene go where Harry and Dumbledore are in that "in between state"

and the "baby" (Voldemort) is crying?

It's an interesting plot device and I was wondering how it played out on film.

I'm going to see it on Monday night with my 14 year old (whew! something she WANTS to do with me - yay!) and I don't mind spoilers! :D

[XemaSab]

7. That was the one scene that really stood out

in a good way. :)

[riderinthestorm]

9. Yeah, it could have been just too hokey. I believe Daniel Radcliffe has matured to the point he

could carry off the scene (and I know Micheal Gambon could carry it off) but it could have been silly....

It's an oddly lovely moment in the book. A pause if you like. A reflection. And a wonderful device. I was hoping it hadn't been left out of the movie.

Thanks!

[Lucinda]

13. IMO They changed things that really shouldn't have been changed.

The final fight between Riddle and Harry, for example, should have been filmed as written. It fell flat the way they did it for me, anyway.