Deathly Thingy
I went to see the Deathly Hallows movie! I was expecting it to be awful and was pleasantly surprised; it wasn't a masterpiece of cinema or anything but it was an enjoyable few hours. Bonus: the cinema was virtually empty, which I appreciated because I don't like people.
A few vague thoughts about the movie are under the cut.
★ LOOKALIKE:
★ I almost lost it when Dave Coaches showed up. And then he was in it for like twenty minutes! This, for me, was the highlight of the movie.
★ Although Harry picking up the toy soldier in his cupboard also tickled me for Wizard People, Dear Reader-related reasons.
★ Did you notice that we didn't see Dudley's face when the Dursleys were leaving? There's a reason for that.
★ Luna. ♥ Shame we didn't see the paintings, but you can't win 'em all.
★ Speaking of which, I totally missed that Luna's father was Rhys Ifans! I suppose that's a sign of his acting ability. (Or possibly I was so busy HATING his hippy cultist clothes - kudos to the wardrobe people for getting him so spot on! - that I didn't look at his face.)
★ I would totally tap the lead snatcher.
★ LOL "snatcher".
★ Um, did anyone else thing Lucius Malfoy was kind of FINE in this one? With his stubbly scruffiness and abject fear? ... Anyone?
★ I thought the cinematography was good, as usual, but there were a handful of standout scenes that I thought were really well-done, particularly during the camping sequences.
★ For the record, I like movie Ginny way better than book Ginny. She seems nicer, and the fact that we don’t get to see much of her is OK because we don’t get to see much of a lot of people.
★ Actually, on this note - I like Fred and George, and Tonks, and fuck it, even Dobby more in the movies than in the books. Hell, even Remus/Tonks is bearable in the movies, because it's barely there and not at all in-your-face and they both come across like decent, likeable people.
★ I noticed - maybe it was just me - lots of little visual references to the other movies. For example, during the escape from the Ministry, the "Undesirable Number One" posters fluttering around and attacking the guy who was chasing them reminded me of the letters coming down the chimney in the first movie.
★ Bellatrix carving "mudblood" into Hermione's arm? SO FUCKING HARSH. I was impressed.
★ Something I enjoyed - well, maybe not enjoyed, but appreciated and thought was done very well - the folders in Umbridge's desk with pictures of (e.g.) Sirius and Dumbledore crossed out, and then the other folders with people like Hermione on them. I thought that packed a punch and was a very clever way of conveying a) the danger the good guys are in and b) how bureaucratically cruel Umbridge is.
★ I thought the use of an animated sequence for the Tale of the Three Brothers was really clever. (Of course, I personally would have preferred to see it in stop-motion than CGI, but this is entirely a personal thing, so I'm absolutely not complaining.)
★ I'm loath to say so because I feel like I'm being naive, but I actually thought that making this one two movies works. For once, I didn't feel like I was watching pretty moving pictures made for the benefit of people who had already read the books; I felt like the filmmakers, this time, actually had enough space to tell a story rather than cram in as much as possible and end up with something a bit incoherent.
★ That said, the end of the film felt a bit abrupt. Obviously it had to stop somewhere, but to me it felt a little like it just... well, like it just stopped rather than ended.
★ Overall I liked it (although I don't know that I would have been missing a great cinematic event if I hadn't bothered). Visually it was great (but not mindblowing); the direction was really not bad; the usual, really. It definitely benefitted from the change of scene (i.e. not taking place at the school), and the acting of the main trio has really come on (especially Rupert Grint - and it was nice that he got things to do other than gurn), and even things like the CGI were better than in earlier installments. So while I wasn't blown away, I'm definitely glad I saw it in a proper cinema and I look forward to the second part, which I trust will do the story justice.
A few vague thoughts about the movie are under the cut.
★ LOOKALIKE:
★ I almost lost it when Dave Coaches showed up. And then he was in it for like twenty minutes! This, for me, was the highlight of the movie.
★ Although Harry picking up the toy soldier in his cupboard also tickled me for Wizard People, Dear Reader-related reasons.
★ Did you notice that we didn't see Dudley's face when the Dursleys were leaving? There's a reason for that.
★ Luna. ♥ Shame we didn't see the paintings, but you can't win 'em all.
★ Speaking of which, I totally missed that Luna's father was Rhys Ifans! I suppose that's a sign of his acting ability. (Or possibly I was so busy HATING his hippy cultist clothes - kudos to the wardrobe people for getting him so spot on! - that I didn't look at his face.)
★ I would totally tap the lead snatcher.
★ LOL "snatcher".
★ Um, did anyone else thing Lucius Malfoy was kind of FINE in this one? With his stubbly scruffiness and abject fear? ... Anyone?
★ I thought the cinematography was good, as usual, but there were a handful of standout scenes that I thought were really well-done, particularly during the camping sequences.
★ For the record, I like movie Ginny way better than book Ginny. She seems nicer, and the fact that we don’t get to see much of her is OK because we don’t get to see much of a lot of people.
★ Actually, on this note - I like Fred and George, and Tonks, and fuck it, even Dobby more in the movies than in the books. Hell, even Remus/Tonks is bearable in the movies, because it's barely there and not at all in-your-face and they both come across like decent, likeable people.
★ I noticed - maybe it was just me - lots of little visual references to the other movies. For example, during the escape from the Ministry, the "Undesirable Number One" posters fluttering around and attacking the guy who was chasing them reminded me of the letters coming down the chimney in the first movie.
★ Bellatrix carving "mudblood" into Hermione's arm? SO FUCKING HARSH. I was impressed.
★ Something I enjoyed - well, maybe not enjoyed, but appreciated and thought was done very well - the folders in Umbridge's desk with pictures of (e.g.) Sirius and Dumbledore crossed out, and then the other folders with people like Hermione on them. I thought that packed a punch and was a very clever way of conveying a) the danger the good guys are in and b) how bureaucratically cruel Umbridge is.
★ I thought the use of an animated sequence for the Tale of the Three Brothers was really clever. (Of course, I personally would have preferred to see it in stop-motion than CGI, but this is entirely a personal thing, so I'm absolutely not complaining.)
★ I'm loath to say so because I feel like I'm being naive, but I actually thought that making this one two movies works. For once, I didn't feel like I was watching pretty moving pictures made for the benefit of people who had already read the books; I felt like the filmmakers, this time, actually had enough space to tell a story rather than cram in as much as possible and end up with something a bit incoherent.
★ That said, the end of the film felt a bit abrupt. Obviously it had to stop somewhere, but to me it felt a little like it just... well, like it just stopped rather than ended.
★ Overall I liked it (although I don't know that I would have been missing a great cinematic event if I hadn't bothered). Visually it was great (but not mindblowing); the direction was really not bad; the usual, really. It definitely benefitted from the change of scene (i.e. not taking place at the school), and the acting of the main trio has really come on (especially Rupert Grint - and it was nice that he got things to do other than gurn), and even things like the CGI were better than in earlier installments. So while I wasn't blown away, I'm definitely glad I saw it in a proper cinema and I look forward to the second part, which I trust will do the story justice.