EXTRA!!-- HBP review...
saw the HBP movie yesterday! (thursday, that is). caught a 10:10 pm showing after a grueling day at work. i was gonna wait until the weekend, but my friends were adamant that we go see it straight away xD i got home at 1 am and then couldn't sleep for an hour, so as i type this i've only gotten about 4 hours of sleep and it probably shows, but heck, it was worth it =3
one thing bugged me, though: the audience. we went to one of those VIP theatres that have the comfy seats and where you get popcorn brought to your seat (my friends, what can i say. i don't particularly think the $4.50 difference in the tickets is really worth it). and funnily enough, we were the only ones who had any strong reactions in the audience. at all. i mean it, we were the only ones laughing out loud, we were the only ones making comments, we were the only ones cheering... which seemed really, really odd to me, because in the past i've been to the regular movie theatres and the audience is always so rambunctious that it makes the movie experience even better. however, these people (who i would expect to pay more because they just love the movie that much) were all quiet and unresponsive. heh, snobs. although now i wonder if they all just fell asleep... it was late, it was cold, and the seats were really comfy =P
i admit i had not heard much about this movie previous to watching it. in fact, i don't really remember the book itself all that much (i only read it once-- or was it twice?-- but it was back when it first came out in like 2005, so i can't be expected to remember all the intricate details ^^;;; so please don't be annoyed if i keep repeating "was that in the book?" because it was pretty much my mantra during the whole movie experience.
a couple of days ago i went into my usual HP haunts and heard some comments, most people were saying it was really good, and it really didn't disappoint. i think by now the HP team (director, producers, scriptwriters, actors) have a good handle on this universe and the last few movies just can't be anything but good. david yates clearly knows what he's doing and where he wants to go-- i like his vision for this series, and i'm glad he's doing the last two ones as well, gives the whole thing a consistency that's definitely welcome.
so let it be said: I LOVED THE MOVIE. no matter how sarcastic and/or bothered i may sound later on, that IS the one irrevocable fact: i loved it. it wasn't perfect, but it was great, and i would recommend it to anyone. GO WATCH IT NOW!
ok, onto the actual review. (spoilers ahead, obviously).
the effects
oh, these things just get better and better. that scene where the millenium bridge collapses was just absolutely fantastic. it was quick, but very impressive. i also loved the cave at the end, when they were standing in that rock in the middle of the sea and when dumbledore conjured up the ring of fire-- just fantastic. the quidditch scenes seemed much more fast-paced than they used to, which i liked. only thing that really looked a little fake to me was when they were at slughorn's, and dumbledore used magic to fix everything up... it just seemed like the objects stood out too much compared to the background, it was a bit too obvious. other than that, i was very pleased with the effects. i mean, the apparition "whoooosh" effect made me get dizzy, and i wasn't even the one apparating ;) pretty good, but not necessarily the focus of the movie, which was good IMO.
the cinematography
i have to admit, i was a bit disappointed by yates' scene transitions in this movie; they were way more choppy than the ones used in the OotP movie, let alone in PoA. however, i LOVED that the first scene was back in the ministry-- it was like a perfect tie-up to the last movie. it shows that yes, there is one director, just one view, taking the helm from here until the end, and he's gonna make it come full circle. it also established harry's state of mind from the get go. and i also LOVED that it came in-between the WB logo and the title of the movie... that made me flashback to the posters where the characters are in front of the name, and i thought that was just genius. i also loved the blurry feel to the pensieve memories, it added to the creepiness that the scenes were supposed to have. and-- this is the stupidest little detail, but i just adore it when the camera is focused on a window in some building, then starts panning in on the window until finally it goes through it and we get a clear view of the inside of the building. very simple, but i adore when it happens. yates used this in OotP and he did it in this one as well, in one of the borgin & burkes scenes. i just think that's a really, really nifty and awesome effect and camera angle combo.
the pace
this movie was definitely a lot easier to swallow than OotP. it was still fast at places, but in general i thought it was pretty manageable. people who went in without having read the book should be glad at least for that: it passed at a relatively nice speed, which made the confusing quality of the plot itself a lot easier to understand (i remember i mentioned in my review of the HBP book that it went by really, really fast. the movie didn't have that, not really). i think that probably has a lot to do with the fact that there weren't that many fight scenes-- a good chunk of it was just life in good old hogwarts, so reminiscent of the first two-three movies, and it made for a more relaxing environment, really. i thought that was nice. leave the carnage for the next two movies xD
the adaptation
yes, they changed a BUNCH of stuff. they added a lot of scenes, and took some stuff out as well-- i didn't hear much dialogue that i recognized. i'll have to check my book and go over my highlighted passages but it did feel like a whole new experience for me. that said, i felt that most of the changes they made were really good, and worked well with the plot. also, the overall feel to it was kind of different (the book was angsty and dark and tense, the movie was much more relaxed), but i DID find myself laughing my ass off in parts where i wasn't supposed to laugh, which is a quality i remember the book having. a few points i specifically want to mention:
_i hear a lot of people complaining that the whole "half-blood prince" thing was just glossed over. i personally think it was just fine. 'cause you know, the thing is, it WAS pretty unimportant in the grand order of things. it was like the goblet of fire: it had its mention, it had its moment, but apart from that it did not matter in the slightest for the plot itself. the whole idea you had to get was that there was a book, which harry used to do well in potions class (not to mention cut draco up), and in the end we learn that it was actually snape's book. the fact that he was a half-blood or that his mother's maiden name was prince is really, really irrelevant. so in a sense, they had all the important bits there.
_in that same line, i've read reviewers that are crying in outrage that this subplot was left out, because it was an important point as a critique to society and whatnot. to me, they have either not read the books, or they just want to find social satire everywhere: i personally just don't think it was there. yes, mrs. jo introduces "blood" prejudices from purebloods to half-bloods and muggleborns that can be equated to racial prejudices in real life. however, that topic was not the main focus here, at all. half-blood, while it can be used that way depending on who uses it, isn't really the one offensive term here. it's just fact: if you have a muggle parent, then you're half and half, you're a half-blood. you want to point out a really offensive, vile, discriminating term, you want to use "mudblood." just because "half-blood" is in the title doesn't mean the whole book is about prejudice. please go back and reread.
_the only thing that really bugged me from the all-new scenes was the attack at the burrow. it just seemed very pointless. perhaps it was just there to establish remus/tonks and for remus to let harry know that he was being a dick and he should trust snape. which he shouldn't have anyway *rolleyes* moreover, it made harry and ginny look plenty stupid... ginny most of all, because we know harry's just reckless like that. it also felt slightly out of place in the continuity: it was the middle of freakin' winter-- i mean, it was snowing in the quidditch game, wasn't it?-- yet somehow that night the weather was nice enough for ginny to run out in just a robe, and then get completely drenched in what was bound to be freezing water. not like the death eaters would've given any of them enough time to perform a simple warming spell. it was just an odd scene, in all. unnecessary, IMO.
apart from this, i had no problem with the changes, mostly. see nitpicks list below for individual details that don't necessarily affect the plot at all.
the actors
_evanna lynch CONTINUES TO RULE THE WORLD. this girl fits my mental image of luna so closely that it's almost scary. when harry goes "i'll invite someone i like" and then appears next to luna in her shiny metallic dress, i almost fell off my seat. and that's saying a lot, because it was a big, hard-to-fall-from seat =P and she was adorable with the whole "it's almost like walking with a friend" thing (DH, anyone? awwww). she was definitely a highlight of the movie, although her hair looked a bit... odd to me O_o i liked it better in OotP.
_dumbledore... ehhh, sorry, but i still don't like the guy. michael gambon's part was definitely better this time, not so much bellowing at people, it was much softer, which i both liked and hated. at times it was a bit too soft. still, you know i lost a lot of respect for dumbledore since the OotP book, and as such i didn't quite... suffer as much, seeing him die. the scene was tragic enough, but it didn't really hit me.
_snape was... strange in this movie. i think he was a little too soft. not to harry, of course, but just soft overall. when he was making the unbreakable vow with narcissa, his voice was cracking. CRACKING, DUDE! SNAPE'S VOICE DOESN'T CRACK. WTF. apart from that, it was a pretty similar performance to the previous ones. there's not much difference between alan rickman's jerk!snape and his angsty!snape. which is a good thing, really, as i didn't really catch that much of a difference in the books, either.
_bellatrix is freakin' nuts. and nobody does nuts better than helena bonham-carter. it's just a fact of life.
_when exactly did hagrid become a background character? =/ he was strangely in the background in this movie, as opposed to the previous ones. and that's saying a lot, since he wasn't there for half of the OotP movie! but in this one he just did not stand out. i find that very sad =( i rather think it was the script and not robbie coltrane himself.
_i love love LOVE bonnie wright as ginny. the girl is gorgeous, and i think she has JUST the right attitude, it's just how i imagine ginny to be. she has this determination about her, a tomboyishness that i find interesting, but with a nice girl vibe to her, as well. i bloody loved that scene in the quidditch tryouts where people aren't paying attention to harry and she just goes: "OI, STFU NOW!" i totally cheered xD that's the ginny i like to see! of course, then that ginny kind of disappeared with the advent of the shippiness, but i'll complain about that later. suffice to say i love ginny, i loved her in HBP and bonnie wright made me love her even more in this movie.
_god help me, but i actually found myself liking lavender through this thing. save for that one scene in the hogwarts express (which was just creepy and stalkerish and wtf) i thought jessie cave was just too adorable. i loved how she kept sighing and fluttering her eyes at ron at the beginning. i almost DIED laughing when she said "won-won" for the first time. and i totally yelled "YOU SUCK!" to run when lavender ran off from the hospital wing in tears. she was too cute.
_yaaaaay, cormac was in the movie! x3 and he was hot, too. sure, he was a creep and a dickhead, but for some strange, esoteric reason i found myself liking the dude in the book and i was hoping he would make it into the movie. and what an appearance! he was perfect. and did you know freddie stroma has a degree in neuroscience? O_o gosh, i'm getting hot flashes now. *fans self*
_slughorn was hysterical! xD i didn't really care much for him in the book, and that wasn't quite what i'd imagined he'd be like, but it worked perfectly.
_LOL PANSY AND BLAISE I SEE YOU THERE. YOU CAN'T HIDE. xDDDD talk about bit parts.
_i have already mentioned that 874927349230279 times, but the kids who played voldie, both of them, were freakin' CREEPY o____o which was a good thing, but freaked me out like WHOA. i loved that the younger one (ralph fiennes' nephew?) was all dark and potentially dangerous, while the older one was every bit as conniving yet strangely alluring, much like christian coulson was in the second movie. the casting for good ol' tommy riddle was really, really good for this one, i have to admit. keeps making me think of that scary-ass kid from the omen.
_they made hermione softer, and i'm not sure if i like or dislike that. i mean, i liked that she didn't seem like she was perpetually PMSing like she did in the book, but then again she sort of lacked the drive her book counterpart had. and she seemed to be pretty clear about her feelings for ron, whereas book!hermione seemed to be really confused over them. but overall i'm satisfied with that because i had issues with hermione in the HBP book, and because emma certainly had a HUGE leap in her acting prowess-- the eyebrow thing is gone! she was definitely more attuned to what hermione was feeling in this one and it all came out feeling much more natural. clearly, her experience in her other projects helped her immensely. you go, girl! keep at it and you'll definitely evolve to become a great actress. *thumbs up*
_i loved daniel radcliffe in this film. i've always felt he's more of an angsty actor than an angry actor-- which usually works out for the best because they're coming at him with an angsty harry in the films. well, in this movie i thought he had a great balance between the two; his "FIGHT BACK, YOU COWARD!" just gave me chills, despite having already heard it in the trailer. he was also sooooo funny: felix-ed!harry was totally more like "harry on speed" xD fans of house md will get that reference. it was hilarious! but most of all, i liked the dry sense of humor they gave him, it was just my type of thing. they may have overdone it a bit (surely a sarcastic reply to every single thing other people say to him borders on rudeness), but harry does have that in canon a lot and it really seems to fit daniel. it also gives his harry an air of confidence that definitely takes away the innocent, doe-eyed expression he's been carrying on since the beginning of the series. THIS harry i can totally see sharply interrogating mundungus fletcher at wandpoint. he was just really, really good compared to the previous movies. running gag among my friends, though, was that he's just too short. he looks tiny when he's with bonnie, even with emma when she's wearing high shoes... it's just funny xDDD
_rupert grint as ron keeps being the best of them all, for me. he just incarnates ron so vividly. true, in this movie he was sort of back to being just the comic relief (he doesn't really do much, plot-wise, really... except get poisoned, i guess) but he was just so adorable at it that i can't complain. there's something about rupert that just makes ron even more endearing than i already think he is. and he's so funny, too. that scene where he's under the influence of the love potion was just bloody hysterical xD i don't think i've ever laughed that much in a harry potter scene, EVER. and dear god, ALL i wanted for this movie was to see ron playing quidditch. RON PLAYING QUIDDITCH. i could've had only that one scene in the whole stupid movie and i would've been the happiest person on earth. and of course, RON PLAYED QUIDDITCH. AND IT WAS AWESOME. I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW. ♥
_however, i think the one who truly stole the show was tom felton. of course, i may be biased: i mean, i have loved the kid since he was 12 (he was too adorable in anna and the king), and i'm very fond of canon!draco, the snivelly weasel that he is. he was a big part of what made me love the HBP book. but i believe HBP!draco would be a crazy difficult part for any actor to play; it's very raw, very vulnerable, yet at the same time he has that front of doing what he's supposed to do at any cost, which is something i don't think just anybody can pull off. but he did, and masterfully. really had you feeling for the bastard. i don't normally like sissy!draco who lowers his wand at the last minute, but this time around tom felton just made me love that side of him, too. you could just see the angst in his eyes the whole time, the indecision and the fear, and not just the anger and malice that were my favorites in scenes like the hogwarts express scene. he gives draco a depth that many people perhaps don't get solely from the book, and i'm so glad he got the opportunity to do this because he has shown that he really is a great actor and he pulled it off wonderfully. i hope we get to see more of this in the DH movies.
what was, what wasn't and what should've been
(aka watch as cali nitpicks the movie)
_have i mentioned ron playing quidditch yet? RON PLAYED QUIDDITCH. EEEEEEEEEEE! ^_______________^ ♥♥♥
_the whole "seamus blowing stuff up in his face" thing just never gets old =P and speaking of potions, hermione's hair getting frizzier and frizzier as time passed and humidity accumulated was a touch of genius right there xD i have a friend who has frizzy hair and has been complaining about hermione's hair since the first movie, saying it should be more like hers. and in this scene she just went "see! that's what it should really be like!" lol.
_if i'm not mistaken, slughorn mentioned that he'd taught sirius' brother (clever way to bring in RAB?) but not sirius himself, and that he would've liked to have the pair. WTF? if he taught lily, wouldn't he have taught sirius as well? was that in the book? i can't remember, but it doesn't sound right to my ears. continuity, people, continuity.
_and speaking of lily, awwwww, i loved the little fish story. it was so cute ♥ of course, then harry had to go and ruin it with that god-awful "be brave like my mother" line. it was baaaaaad. just as baaaaaad as it was in the book. ugh.
_WEASLEY! WEASLEY! WEASLEY! WEASLEY! WEASLEY! *chants excitedly* ^_______________^
_how are they going to have the wedding in the next movie, then, if fleur wasn't around for this one and bill has yet to make an appearance? will they just be like "hay thar so my brother that you don't even know is getting married to the hottest chick in the series and you're totally invited yay!"? ^^;;; i heard rumors that they might make it remus & tonks' wedding instead, but considering clémence is confirmed to be coming back and that bill weasley has been cast already, seems doubtful to me. they could've at least mentioned them in passing or something.
_speaking of bill, as there was no fight in hogwarts, he didn't actually get to face fenrir greyback. which in turn made fenrir kind of pointless in this movie. sure, he was fugly as hell, but did he ever really do anything big enough to make him deserve to be on a poster? didn't like that.
_and speaking of pointless, that's what the aurors at hogwarts were. and they wear the most awful robes, too. i hope harry (or ginny, through harry) quickly changed that when he became head of the auror department because MAN, i cannot imagine harry or my ronnie wearing those damn ugly robes.
_did anybody else (shipmates of mine, i guess) grin like crazy when draco was whispering the whole "harmonious something something" spell/chant? i don't even know what the rest was or what the heck it meant, i just got stuck in the "harmonious" part with the stupidest grin on my face. lol.
_why was harry suddenly quidditch captain or something? we didn't even see him in the actual quidditch game. *blink, blink*
_the twins were marvelous as always! with the whole "i'm your brother!"/"alright, 10 galleons" thing, i was just LMFAO through it all. oh, i love those two. i would've liked to see U-NO-POO mentioned somewhere in there, though =P
_the scene at the beginning with harry and that waitress made me laugh. mostly because it was unexpected. but it was just hilarious, too. hard to imagine clueless harry flirting with girls.
my friend: i like it, though. i think it makes this feel a little more real.
me: sure, it does. but then again, he's not supposed to be that cute.
xDDDD
_aragog looked way smaller than he did back in CoS. or perhaps harry just looked bigger. lol. just thought that was funny.
_i totally oooooohhh-ed out loud (to the dismay of my friends) when draco disarmed dumbledore. haha, knowing things in hindsight makes me feel a lot more excited and a lot less stupid xDDDD
_it was never actually mentioned that voldie might have been using relics that belonged to the founders as vessels for his horcruxes. i wonder how harry's going to figure that one out, come the next movie. it IS kind of a big deal, after all. and BTW, i did not see ravenclaw's diadem anywhere. doesn't surprise me, since i missed it in the book, too, but this time i was looking for it and it wasn't there. so i guess they missed their big foreshadowing opportunity there?
_i admit, i missed the fight at the end. it's like, you don't need that many death eaters to carry out an undercover assassination assignment, do you? okay, so it was dumbledore, so perhaps one or two might not have been enough, but still, it seemed like overkill. especially since after that bellatrix went nuts and started destroying hogwarts (and nobody noticed? really?). as great as the draco scene was, and as awesome as harry going after snape was, the lack of a fight just left me feeling like... there was something missing. of course, i knew what that something was, but i can't imagine how it would be for someone who hasn't read the book.
the shippy stuff
(this is what y'all are here for, right?)
harry/luna
erm, harry kinda ditched her there, didn't he? ^^;;; but well, that scene where they walked up to hogwarts, and the scene where they're both going to slughorn's party in the first place, both were just adorable =3
ron/lavender
i never thought i'd say this, but i liked it. my god, i did like it. someone shoot me now. xD
draco/myrtle
whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??? how was the most beloved OTP in the whole series left out of this movie?!?!?! sacrilege! sacrilege, i tell you! =P
ron/luna
ok so they didn't even really speak to each other (*grumblegrumble*) although i think there was a point where she kinda sat beside him (when harry supposedly put the felix potion in ron's drink?). but what i noticed most that at the very end, when they're lifting their wands to dispel the dark mark over hogwarts, they're in the same frame, so that's a nice shot of them... okay, so madam pomfrey is in between them (*moregrumblegrumble*) but what the heck, i can manip her out, i don't care. xDDDD
anything with romilda vane in it was hilarious =P
i kinda shipped draco/pansy here, i'm shocked to admit. i normally hate pansy to the point of hoping she got trampled by a giant in the battle of hogwarts, but for some reason i liked this pansy. i was half wanting her and malfoy to snog. didn't happen, of course, and i'm not like broken-hearted or anything, but i would've liked to see it.
remus/tonks
awwwwww. i squeed so hard when she called him "sweetheart" ♥
draco/ginny
again, they didn't even speak to each other at all, but i remember clearly that there was a point where ginny says something to harry that made me think "hah! she does at least mention draco somehow!" ^^;;; i was really reaching, i'm aware. but it doesn't really matter because of course, now i can't remember which bit of dialogue that was. i'll get back to you when i watch the movie again.
ron/hermione
I LOVED THEM. oh, it was just adorable. as i said above, it seemed like hermione understood clearly her feelings for ron-- which she didn't in the book-- but i don't really think that was detrimental or anything. ron was clearly clueless (i loved when he goes "i think mclaggen has a thing for you" like it doesn't even bother him at all. it's too cute). as much as i liked their interactions in the book, i think in the movie they were even sweeter, probably because they weren't at each other's throats all the time. the only thing that bugged me, though, was the oppugno scene. sorry, but that was like the ONE scene where she really HAD to simply be freakin' pissed. it was supposed to come out with a lot more energy. instead she was weepy and the incantation came out as a sort of resigned whisper, which took all the fun out of the scene. also, as cute as they were, i don't think i really get the whole "you have something on your lip" thing. *blink, blink* i've heard people saying she was actually doing that on purpose so he'd look at her mouth... was she? i didn't catch that. did i blink at the wrong moment?
harry/ginny
prepare yourself for a rant. *deeeep breath*
okay, no. just... no.
thing is, you guys know i wanted to like it. i was hoping the fact that bonnie is playing ginny would make it easier for me. when i heard that they were adding in new scenes i was overjoyed because i thought they'd be getting a backstory, and it would help me swallow it more easily. but then reality happened and as much as i love bonnie on her own, the harry/ginny scenes were just... soooooo bad. not the acting necessarily, although it did seem a bit awkward, but it was mostly the scenes themselves. they were just bad. i've often thought that mrs. jo, being a woman, just couldn't write believable romance from a boy's PoV. harry came off really girly. well, now i'm thinking that steve kloves just can't write believable romance from a girl's PoV-- he simply tore down whatever he had established ginny to be in previous scenes, and it just bugged the hell out of me. she started off as a nice, smart, strong girl, but then when she started having scenes alone with harry, there was not ONE where i didn't find myself going "what the hell is she DOING?!" i understand harry just standing there like an idiot 'cause that IS sort of his MO, but she was just laying it on too thick.
many, many of my shipmates bring up that "shoelace tying" scene, and i understand because i didn't get it AT ALL either-- seriously, she bent down to tie his shoelace? what is he, three? but you know, that didn't even bother me that much. the one that really got to me was when she comes in with the plate of cookies or whatever and is all "open up!" I MEAN SHE TRIED TO FEED IT TO HIM. wh-- how-- whuh-- i don't even know. i don't even want to remember it. that was just soooooooooooooo awkward on sooooooooooo many levels. seriously, that's something you only really do with your significant other in moments of deep intimacy-- you don't just come into a room and go "say aaahhh!" it makes her seem awkward, and desperate and most of all, it makes her seem completely clueless. and i don't like thinking of ginny as clueless, i think she is an awesome girl who could've struck up a nice conversation and initiate a fun moment with him. but it just-- ugh. it just wasn't good.
and it's not even my bias speaking. yes, i don't like H/G. however, i prefer the book version of it to this thing. it was just demeaning! i rather would've liked to see her run up and kiss him in the middle of the gryffindor common room, like she did in the book. it would've been heaps better-- she would've come off as a brave, daring girl instead of this socially inept creature that we were presented with. also, i think they should've played the dean angle more. i mean, i'm not saying they should've animated harry's chest monster or anything, but his jealousy was so glossed over. they were there, but harry's attention was so quickly distracted by his recon mission with slughorn and his growing obsession with draco that it came off like it wasn't really a big deal. ron made more of a fuss about it, to be honest. if hermione hadn't asked, i would've concluded that harry didn't really feel any jealousy over it. i think that's the road they should've taken, AND perhaps poor dean could have at least had ONE line in the whole stupid movie.
the kiss itself was pretty harmless. compared to the other scenes, i might even say it was sweet. i do, however, have to mention that none of my friends liked it ^^;;; they don't really "ship" and i wouldn't know if they have a preference either way as they haven't told me and i haven't asked, but amazingly they all agreed that the kiss was disappointing. in the words of one of them "are you kidding? that kiss took eleven takes?" xD so for the record, it's not just me saying this-- it was a consensus. lol.
i also cannot stand the fact that ginny had suddenly become a member of the trio. i hated it in the book, as well. she was ALWAYS there. it's unnatural. if you know me, you know that the trio if sort of this "sacred" institution in my mind, a perfect balance-- and she just doesn't belong. i cannot count the number of times i found myself going "GTFO OF MY TRIO SCENE! gosh!" ^^;;; like when she just up and tells him he needs to get rid of the half-blood prince's potions book-- whut? wasn't that supposed to be hermione? why was ginny even there? >.< it's just odd for me. thankfully that gets fixed by the end.
i didn't like the fact that there was no breakup. i mean, it was obvious because they never actually started a relationship, but still... i liked ginny in the breakup scene. she let harry know he was being an idiot yet still understood that this was something he had to do with just ron and hermione. i liked that; it cemented my belief in the trio and it reinforced my perception of ginny as a strong, smart girl. i'm sad it wasn't included in the movie. i would've preferred that the end, the whole ginny-comforting-harry-over-dumbledore's-death thing had been a trio moment instead, but i guess it wasn't horrible...
there was one h/g scene i really, really liked, though, and it was the first one. you know, where ginny sees hedwig and harry's things and runs around looking for him and asking people if he's arrived, and everybody starts going "is that an owl i hear?" it was just cute. =3 i liked when they hugged, too, i thought it was very sweet how she saw him, then sort of paused, and THEN hugged him. that's the kind of awkwardness that one can't help but think is sweet. watching that scene i started to get my hopes up that it would be alright. sadly, it wasn't...
so in conclusion, as i have said time and time again... love ginny, just not with harry. it just doesn't work for me, and not even bonnie wright could make it work. i'm actually rather sad about it. i really wanted to like it, i swear. i went in with an open mind. but alas... *sigh * =(
harry/draco
two words: SO. CANON. xDDDDD i knew it would be awesome. and it was.
harry/hermione
well, i think it's safe to say that steve kloves is the biggest closet h/hr shipper in the world. ^^;;; it's honestly nothing short of a miracle that he managed to find somewhere to put h/hr scenes in, considering that there was basically NONE in the book. then again, since harry wasn't being a berk like he was in the book, and hermione wasn't being a crazy woman like she was in the book, i guess it only made sense that they'd have to have some friendship scenes, or else it would've been entirely weird. and what gorgeous scenes they were, too. wow, i still find it hard to believe but any h/hr fan would've left the theatre happy, i think; even if they don't get together, i think that wonderful bond between them was very well represented.
first off, the patented hermione hug when harry arrived at the burrow, made me go "awwwwwww" as it always does. yes, ginny hugged him as well, but there's something about the way emma just lunges at him that is so typically hermione. it's not just a greeting, it's more like she's so infinitely relieved to see, feel that he's there with them, in one piece. i just find it so adorable.
the scene where hermione was pointing out romilda vane was just hilarious. yes, we'd already seen it in a couple trailers, but her hitting him with that newspaper just never gets old =P and i liked that they put in the idea of them going together as friends to slughorn's party-- after the whole yule ball debacle, it makes sense that harry would have in mind that hey, he has a best friend who's a girl, maybe that could work to their advantage. i mean, it's what normal people would think of first, really...
then there was the canary scene... ;____________; i may just start crying as i remember how beautiful that was. i kinda felt vindicated here-- after so much complaining about how big an insensitive jerk harry was in DH for not comforting poor hermione who was crying her eyes out every night since ron left them... well, this is what was supposed to happen there. it was just such a gorgeous scene. i loved how harry doesn't really say much (he's definitely not the type) but just him being there makes her feel better, i guess. i adore how she laid her head on his shoulder and how her hand wound up resting on his arm. and when she brings up ginny and he goes "you knew?" and she says: "of course i knew. you're my best friend!" WELL OF COURSE SHE IS. SHE KNOWS HIM BETTER THAN ANYONE. aw, i just felt like getting up and cheering! ^.^ they're just so precious. ♥ i'm tearing up just remembering it. aaaahhh, i feel so proud of being an h/hr shipper right now, i swear.
AND THE LAST SCENE. ♥♥♥ i mean, TBH i was a bit put off because that was supposed to be the big trio scene, you know? i had heard it was going to be mostly h/hr and i was a little sad about that. however when it actually happened on screen, i couldn't help but feel my heart fluttering-- it was all just so pretty and they were standing so close and the backdrop was gorgeous and omg it was just so perfect... *takes deep breath* i loved how she told him that she admired his courage but that he could be an idiot sometimes, it was so perfectly a hermione thing to say ^^ and they held hands, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! *flails* i mean, they didn't even pan in on ron all that much. up until like halfway through the scene i thought that it was just the two of them, and then they switched to a shot of him and i went "oooohhhhhhh, right, he's there after all" lol xD but it really wasn't weird at all, not really. it felt like a natural conversation h & hr would have. it was just so damn gorgeous, makes me just want to watch and rewatch. eeeeeee, we're going to get so many wonderful shots for fanvideos! x3 ♥
also, while we're on the topic-- DUMBLEDORE IS SO TOTALLY AN H/HR SHIPPER. xDDDDDDDD lol, now we've got two of the most powerful wizards ever on our side: first voldemort and now dumbledore ;) someone ought to go and ask grindelwald if maybe he thinks the same way =P i've heard some people say that to them it felt like one of those now-infamous anvils, like they were trying to force it down our throats that no, harry and hermione won't get together. to be honest i didn't see it that way, i just thought it was a reaffirmation that people notice that they hang out together all the time, and they're close, and from that to being together it's a small step. yes, harry answered they weren't but what else would he have said? i think they put this comment by dumbledore there because it has happened in the books, perhaps not with dumbledore but with other people: cho stands out, mostly, and since they didn't include her jealousy over hermione in the OotP movie, i guess balancing that out could be why they put in this little bit in the HBP movie. it's only logical: people do and will wonder, when a guy and a girl are friends like this. it didn't really feel to me like they were rubbing it in my face or anything; actually, when i heard it i had the biggest grin on my face x3
also, little detail was that when harry was crying over dumbledore and ginny was holding him, they snuck a close-up at hermione shedding a tear. it was so sad, but so telling, too. they never actually took a shot of ginny's face, but i have to assume that since she was more focused on helping harry, there wasn't much of a reaction for herself. so the fact that they did show us hermione's reaction kind of surprised me. very interesting.
and of course, not forgetting in the beginning when harry's missing and hermione practically clobbers ron for not being worried about that =P it was just funny.
and i didn't particularly think they looked all that happy when mentions of ron (for hermione) and ginny (for harry) were brought up. oh, they weren't like jealous or anything, but mostly they didn't show any particular reaction. like when hermione stays with ron in the infirmary and ginny goes "about time, right?," harry didn't particularly look pleased for them, he just looked like he always does. well, there was one instance where hermione really did look happy about harry's thing with ginny, and that was in the first meeting of the slug club where harry stood up (wtf) when ginny entered. but i mostly got the feeling that she just wanted to tease him =P other than that, i can't really say i saw reactions from them, either pro or against, their respective relationships with ron and ginny.
what i liked the most about all the h/hr in this film, though, was that they had that "communicating without speaking"/"reading each other's minds"/"similar wavelength" kind of interaction that we all know and love, and that was conspicuously missing from the HBP book. in fact, my ultimate favorite h/hr scene was not really a shippy scene at all. it was when they were in the common room after the quidditch game, before lavender comes up and kisses ron. funnily enough, pretty much all of the conversation was about ron but they glanced at each other so much that, i'm sorry, but that was just pure eye!sex. i loved how harry brings up her confundus charm with this tone in his voice... and the rapport they had in that small scene was just sooooo how i imagine them to be on a daily basis, like when there's nothing momentous happening, just two friends having a chat that goes from teasing to serious and back to teasing, it was just absolutely cute and absolutely natural. that was my favorite little detail in the movie, it made me want to giggle like a maniac. awww, i love these two so much ^.^
the trio
well, admittedly there wasn't much of the trio in this movie. the plot wasn't really conducive to trio dynamics. however, i was very glad that it wasn't just a free-for-all like in the book, where the trio was just completely broken up and they wouldn't even hang out together at all anymore. i'm glad they at least stuck together-- sitting together at meals, that sort of stuff. that definitely took a weight off my shoulders, i was dreading having to see them fighting for two and a half hours straight ;_;
there was one scene that i just loved, though-- it might just be my favorite trio scene so far in the movies: the one at the beginning, when they were at the burrow, talking about how ron and hermione's parents were worried about them going back to hogwarts. they bring up the topic of dumbledore and then dumbledore's age xP i mean, they weren't like hugging or anything overtly friendshippy, but i loved just how relaxed they were in it. it felt like such a flowing, natural conversation between three people who have been friends for a long time. i LOVED that, it was the sweetest thing. ♥ awww, i wuv my widdle trio! ^.^ *glomps them*
also, i loved that little bit when they were going to hogsmeade (before the katie bell debacle) and talking about the prince and hermione goes "so i went to the--" and ron & harry immediately finish: "--the library." x3 it was too cute. rather adorable, really.
the ending scene, like i mentioned up there, wasn't necessarily very trio-oriented since they didn't even show much of ron. that bugged me greatly, because as big an h/hr shipper as i am, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MY "WE'LL BE THERE" SCENE. it was supposed to be THE ultimate trio scene. the fact that they denied me of it really, really bothered me. >.< but whatever. ron was standing apart from harry and hermione throughout the scene, too-- my guess is that they were trying to go with some sort of foreshadowing for ron leaving in the next movie? i don't know. but still, it was a nice scene in the end, i loved that last shot of the three of them, it was lovely. kinda reminded me of the last scene of GoF, too.
in conclusion
all in all, i feel that yates was trying to make this movie a lot more about the characters than about the plot, and i think he achieved it, without losing the plot altogether. he made all the voldemort parts as creepy as they had to be, i loved that. and i'm sure a lot of people felt for dumbledore when he died, which was a good thing, despite my not liking dumbledore all that much-- he at least deserves to be mourned by the movie-goers.
it was a really, really great movie. i won't venture saying it was the best so far, but it was definitely one of the best. despite all its flaws, i left that theatre feeling like i thoroughly enjoyed it and that's all that really matters.
i cannot wait until DH. gosh, those two movies are going to be totally epic, i just know it.