Harry Potter 7 Part 1
Having not reviewed any material for this (and I have yet to read the books), I felt a bit lost with this film. A lot of things were mentioned without much of a refresher and I'm sure that's just fine for the hard core fans who know everything about the wizarding world, but for example, I didn't really remember the whole deal with horcruxes. And while I remember a bit about Malfoy, I can't remember what happened to his dad. The old woman/snake seemed kind of random and I didn't understand the significance of the guy who stole the wand. Why was the sword where it was? Though, I probably also missed some of the dialogue, because it's been a while since I've watched anything in British English. Oh, and a wedding at the safe house? I mean, a small private one, sure, but a big one with lots of outside invited guests? Really?
The opening, where things have drastically changed in the world and how the balance of power has shifted was also a bit jarring. Sure, Dumbledore died in the last one, but I feel like they could've bridged the time from then to the start of 7 a bit better.
And Dobby... I'm sorry, I just didn't feel anything for him. I think he needed to be cuter or something for it to work. He's just ugly and annoying and there's nothing endearing about him. I felt a lot more for Gollum and he's pretty ugly, so it can be done. Dobby is just a shrunken version of Jar Jar Binks. And by the way, those house elves are so OP (overpowered, for those who are not in the gaming world).
Unrelated to the movie, we were sitting next to some people who kept on tittering and checking their phones, so that rather ruined things. I actually heard one of them say, "This movie is sooo long." @_@ Seriously, people, what are you? 5 years old? If you can't sit still for 2.5 hours, knowing you're going to a 2.5 hour movie, you are hopeless. (No offense to well-behaved 5-year-olds. I know they're out there.)
Other than all that, while the pacing was somewhat slow, I kind of liked the character scenes. The acting is all there now, so there was nothing to take me out of the story. Now I just have to wait for the last movie to come out, so I can start reading the books. :P
The opening, where things have drastically changed in the world and how the balance of power has shifted was also a bit jarring. Sure, Dumbledore died in the last one, but I feel like they could've bridged the time from then to the start of 7 a bit better.
And Dobby... I'm sorry, I just didn't feel anything for him. I think he needed to be cuter or something for it to work. He's just ugly and annoying and there's nothing endearing about him. I felt a lot more for Gollum and he's pretty ugly, so it can be done. Dobby is just a shrunken version of Jar Jar Binks. And by the way, those house elves are so OP (overpowered, for those who are not in the gaming world).
Unrelated to the movie, we were sitting next to some people who kept on tittering and checking their phones, so that rather ruined things. I actually heard one of them say, "This movie is sooo long." @_@ Seriously, people, what are you? 5 years old? If you can't sit still for 2.5 hours, knowing you're going to a 2.5 hour movie, you are hopeless. (No offense to well-behaved 5-year-olds. I know they're out there.)
Other than all that, while the pacing was somewhat slow, I kind of liked the character scenes. The acting is all there now, so there was nothing to take me out of the story. Now I just have to wait for the last movie to come out, so I can start reading the books. :P