Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I

[chaneen]

My reactions after seeing the movie once, and reading no other reviews of any kind (fannish or professional), after not having read the book since it came out:

OH MY FUCKING GOD HOW AMAZING WAS THAT?! /capslock

This has absolutely replaced Order of the Phoenix as my favorite Potter film.  I had some problems with the script (mostly with Ron's ridiculous speech about how he found Harry and Hermione after he left them in the woods), and thought a lot of the reaction shots went on too long, but otherwise is was amazing.  I am definitely going to try to see this again in the theatre, since there was a lot of stuff I am sure I missed.  I will probably reread the book sometime in the next couple of weeks and then go again after that.

I'm sure I'll have a lot more thoughts at that point, but quick reactions after the first viewing:

• Wow that was fucking depressing.  I had forgotten how depressing this book is, how many incredibly sad deaths there are, and they portrayed them incredibly well.  Just the abruptness of "Mad Eye's dead", and Hedwig's death (*sob*), and, oh god, George losing his ear.  That scene really got to me, since I know what's coming in the next part, and all I could think about was that.  Dobby's death scene was outstanding.


• The young actors acted the shit out of this film.  Again, I'll say how lucky the casting was ten years ago(!) to get kids that grew up into really fine actors.  Daniel Radcliffe was fantastic as usual, also Emma Watson and Rupert Grint (♥trio♥).  I was super-impressed with Tom Felton, too.  One of the highlights of the film for me was that scene where the Snatchers bring the Trio to Malfoy Manor and Belatrix asks Draco to try and identify Harry.  The look between them was so subtle, and so perfect, so clear that Draco knew that it was Harry, and that Harry knew he knew.  Just...I can't say enough how great that was.


• How amazing were the actors who played polyjuiced Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Ministry scenes?!  They were hilarious!  They had the mannerisms of the trio down cold, especially the guy who played Ron.  At times, with the woman who played Hermione, I actually felt I was watching Emma Watson, which was pretty incredible.  Those scenes were some of my favorite in the film.


• Special effects were great as usual.  I loved the sound design around the protective charms that Hermione (and later Harry and Ron) would cast around the camp.  There was an amazing scene where the Snatchers were in the woods with Hermione, standing inches away from her, but they couldn't see her because of the charms.  So effective and creepy.


• Yes, there was still a million years of camping scenes, but it didn't feel long or rushed in any way.  In fact, I was surprised when it came close to the end of the film, because it felt like almost no time had passed at all.


• [ETA:] I loved the way they told the story of the Deathly Hallows (The Three Brothers story from Tales of Beedle the Bard).  Awesome animated sequence narrated by Emma Watson.  Absolutely brilliant way to get that info across, that felt fresh and didn't drag.[/ETA]


• I liked how they cleverly managed to introduce things into the narrative that they left out of previous films, like Mundungus Fletcher, Bill Weasley and his werewolf-related scars, more details about the Horcruxes, etc.  I was kind of WTF at the fact that Bill introduced himself to Harry as though meeting him for the first time, since I know they meet in Goblet of Fire in the books, but I'm sure for people who haven't read the books, it wouldn't read as strange.


• What I can't say at all is how it works for someone who hasn't read the books.  I sort of feel like it might be a little confusing, but that could just be the fact that I've not re-watched Half-Blood Prince since the theatre, so I don't know how they fit together.  There were some nice flashback-y dreams and visions that I feel probably bridged the two films and gave people the information they'd need to understand everything that was going on, but I'm too close to the source material to say for sure.  Not to say that this is a confusing film, not at all; it's very simple to follow.

I know there's more that I want to talk about, but for some reason, nothing is coming to me.  I guess I'll leave that for my post second viewing entry!