BOOM. (Professor McGonagall is my hero.)
I went to see Harry Potter this week. Yes, for the first time. I didn't go see it on opening night mostly because I was waiting for various friends to get back from Italy so I'd have someone to emotionally support me through the last Harry Potter movie release.
Anyway, I thought it was very good. Obviously they decided that the best thing to do would be to turn the whole thing into an action movie, but since it's the second half of the last book, they can legitimately do that. And it was a very well-done, Potter-esque action movie, so I enjoyed it. Most of the changes seemed to be done in order to make sure the story translated better to a movie format, such as actually showing Ron and Hermione going into the Chamber of Secrets instead of just having them turn up after the fact. (Besides, I'm always in favor of seeing Ron being awesome. Weasley is our King.♥) And the scene with the dragon in Gringotts was pretty spectacular, and we got to see Neville being badass, so I'm pretty happy.
There were only a couple things I really missed from the book: Ron and Hermione's kiss in the middle of battle, with Harry standing around asking if this was really the right time for it. I just really liked that scene, but the kiss scene they did have in the movie was pretty good, so I can accept it. And I also missed, in Harry's final confrontation with Voldemort, Harry working out who the master of the Elder Wand was and calmly explaining why Voldemort was going to lose in front of everyone, and then defeating Voldemort with Expelliarmus rather than a killing curse. (I think that last bit was implied by the color of their spells, but not stated explicitly in the movie.)
The scene with Dumbledore in Harry's mind was surprisingly good, considering how bizarre that whole thing was, really. Alan Rickman was fantastic as Snape, who is far from my favorite character, but I feel that his performance deserves a mention. I appreciated the shot near the end of the Malfoys just walking away from the entire battle--I always liked the way they ended up being portrayed as very human, caring about each other far more than either side in the war. The epilogue was ridiculous, but it was ridiculous in the book too, and there was really no other way it could be. And I absolutely loved the focus on the friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
In semi-related news, I have to say that I think 3D movies are stupid. I understand that 3D is more realistic or whatever, but I don't actually go to the movies because I want them to be realistic. I like seeing my fictional stories play out in 2D, thanks, and I'm perfectly capable of using my imagination to bring them the rest of the way to life. In fact, I prefer it that way. I have nothing against people who prefer 3D; I'm just opposed to movies only playing in 3D with no 2D option. Although I might be less opposed to 3D if they would come up with better technology, or at least made 3D glasses that would actually fit on my face so I didn't have to actually hold them there for the entire movie.
Also, I really missed dressing up with you guys and going to opening night. I hope one day we all get to do the costumed midnight showing thing again. December 2012, anyone? I have no idea where I'll be then, or where any of you will be, but I'd very much enjoy dressing up as hobbits and re-visiting Middle-earth with all of you.
Anyway, I thought it was very good. Obviously they decided that the best thing to do would be to turn the whole thing into an action movie, but since it's the second half of the last book, they can legitimately do that. And it was a very well-done, Potter-esque action movie, so I enjoyed it. Most of the changes seemed to be done in order to make sure the story translated better to a movie format, such as actually showing Ron and Hermione going into the Chamber of Secrets instead of just having them turn up after the fact. (Besides, I'm always in favor of seeing Ron being awesome. Weasley is our King.♥) And the scene with the dragon in Gringotts was pretty spectacular, and we got to see Neville being badass, so I'm pretty happy.
There were only a couple things I really missed from the book: Ron and Hermione's kiss in the middle of battle, with Harry standing around asking if this was really the right time for it. I just really liked that scene, but the kiss scene they did have in the movie was pretty good, so I can accept it. And I also missed, in Harry's final confrontation with Voldemort, Harry working out who the master of the Elder Wand was and calmly explaining why Voldemort was going to lose in front of everyone, and then defeating Voldemort with Expelliarmus rather than a killing curse. (I think that last bit was implied by the color of their spells, but not stated explicitly in the movie.)
The scene with Dumbledore in Harry's mind was surprisingly good, considering how bizarre that whole thing was, really. Alan Rickman was fantastic as Snape, who is far from my favorite character, but I feel that his performance deserves a mention. I appreciated the shot near the end of the Malfoys just walking away from the entire battle--I always liked the way they ended up being portrayed as very human, caring about each other far more than either side in the war. The epilogue was ridiculous, but it was ridiculous in the book too, and there was really no other way it could be. And I absolutely loved the focus on the friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
In semi-related news, I have to say that I think 3D movies are stupid. I understand that 3D is more realistic or whatever, but I don't actually go to the movies because I want them to be realistic. I like seeing my fictional stories play out in 2D, thanks, and I'm perfectly capable of using my imagination to bring them the rest of the way to life. In fact, I prefer it that way. I have nothing against people who prefer 3D; I'm just opposed to movies only playing in 3D with no 2D option. Although I might be less opposed to 3D if they would come up with better technology, or at least made 3D glasses that would actually fit on my face so I didn't have to actually hold them there for the entire movie.
Also, I really missed dressing up with you guys and going to opening night. I hope one day we all get to do the costumed midnight showing thing again. December 2012, anyone? I have no idea where I'll be then, or where any of you will be, but I'd very much enjoy dressing up as hobbits and re-visiting Middle-earth with all of you.