Hogwarts Will Always Be There To Welcome You Home.
It was my birthday yesterday, and to celebrate I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II! Here are my thoughts on the film.
I liked Deathly Hallows Part II very much overall, but there were two things that really bothered me, so I'm going to get them out of the way.
One: Slytherin weren't even given an opportunity to prove themselves and defend the school; McGonagall just went 'LOCK THEM ALL IN THE DUNGEONS'. Only one of them had proposed turning Harry over. The demonisation of the entire house didn't sit well with me at all; yes, the house has generally suffered demonisation throughout the series, but not usually on the part of the teachers. If you're going to assume that every single Slytherin is an enemy, why not just have the houses be 'Gryffindor', 'Ravenclaw', 'Hufflepuff' and 'immediate exile from the wizarding world'?
Two: why did Harry not hug Ron when he was going off to die? They are best friends. A long, emotional hug with Hermione, and Ron doesn't get so much as a 'goodbye'? If I'd watched that film without any external context, I'd have assumed that Harry and Hermione were friends, Ron and Hermione were boyfriend and girlfriend and Ron and Harry didn't really know each other at all, having been brought together only by their respective connections with Hermione. They're a trio! They were always meant to be a triangle, but here they were a straight line, and I found that really sad. (I'm usually a bit of a Harry/Hermione 'shipper in the filmverse, but Ron's blatant exclusion meant that I couldn't bring myself to 'ship them here.)
There was also one thing that really confused me: when Harry grabbed Voldemort and said 'Let's finish this the way we started it: together', before pitching them both off the battlement?
I swear he kissed Voldemort.
I swear.
I mean, he can't have kissed Voldemort, because otherwise "Harry kissed Voldemort" would have many more Google results than it does. But I saw a kiss! I heard a kissy noise! How on Earth did I manage to hallucinate a kiss between Harry and Voldemort?
Also a bit confusing: when Harry, Ron and Hermione demolished Gringotts with a dragon, all I could think was 'how did they not end up in Azkaban?' I suppose nobody was going to imprison the people who stopped Voldemort, though.
All that said, I enjoyed the film a great deal! A few specific points I really liked:
I completely believed Helena Bonham Carter as a Polyjuiced Hermione. She was fantastic.
LUNA/NEVILLE, ADORABLE. I wasn't expecting that at all, and I was so pleased. Luna/Neville never really had any canonical basis, but I've thought for a long time that it would be more or less the cutest pairing ever. And now it does have canonical basis in at least one version of canon! Hooray!
Thumbs up for Luna in general, in fact. I think we could have done with more of her, but then again I always do. I sort of wanted to cheer at the moment when she made Harry take her seriously. (ALSO LOOK AT NEVILLE BEING A HERO. YEAH. Love those two.)
Harry can't leave Draco and Crabbe behind to die, of course ♥. I've rediscovered a lot of love for Harry himself with the Deathly Hallows films, which is nice.
I've always liked the fact that, even though the Malfoys are a terrible terrible family in many ways (Lucius in particular is despicable), they still genuinely love each other. It's a nice little glint of humanity in the midst of unpleasantness. Of course, if you like humanity masked by unpleasantness, Snape is a glittering, fascinating beacon of He's A Dick, But That Doesn't Mean He's Not A Good Guy (Not That Being A Good Guy Excuses Being A Dick).
McGonagall, when she wasn't tarring all the Slytherins with the same brush, was fantastic. I think she may be my favourite character in the entire Harry Potter series, actually.
Finally: the part where we see all the Weasleys mourning Fred? Yes, I wept. I didn't cry a lot during this film, but that part really got to me.
Recently, my mother was lamenting the fact that she hadn't thought of starting an 'I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY CHANGED THE ENDING SO RON DIED' Internet rumour before the film had actually been released.
I am from a family of trolls.
Also, her attempt to remember what the Deathly Hallows were after the film: 'So there's the Elder Wand, the Hat of Doom...'
I liked Deathly Hallows Part II very much overall, but there were two things that really bothered me, so I'm going to get them out of the way.
One: Slytherin weren't even given an opportunity to prove themselves and defend the school; McGonagall just went 'LOCK THEM ALL IN THE DUNGEONS'. Only one of them had proposed turning Harry over. The demonisation of the entire house didn't sit well with me at all; yes, the house has generally suffered demonisation throughout the series, but not usually on the part of the teachers. If you're going to assume that every single Slytherin is an enemy, why not just have the houses be 'Gryffindor', 'Ravenclaw', 'Hufflepuff' and 'immediate exile from the wizarding world'?
Two: why did Harry not hug Ron when he was going off to die? They are best friends. A long, emotional hug with Hermione, and Ron doesn't get so much as a 'goodbye'? If I'd watched that film without any external context, I'd have assumed that Harry and Hermione were friends, Ron and Hermione were boyfriend and girlfriend and Ron and Harry didn't really know each other at all, having been brought together only by their respective connections with Hermione. They're a trio! They were always meant to be a triangle, but here they were a straight line, and I found that really sad. (I'm usually a bit of a Harry/Hermione 'shipper in the filmverse, but Ron's blatant exclusion meant that I couldn't bring myself to 'ship them here.)
There was also one thing that really confused me: when Harry grabbed Voldemort and said 'Let's finish this the way we started it: together', before pitching them both off the battlement?
I swear he kissed Voldemort.
I swear.
I mean, he can't have kissed Voldemort, because otherwise "Harry kissed Voldemort" would have many more Google results than it does. But I saw a kiss! I heard a kissy noise! How on Earth did I manage to hallucinate a kiss between Harry and Voldemort?
Also a bit confusing: when Harry, Ron and Hermione demolished Gringotts with a dragon, all I could think was 'how did they not end up in Azkaban?' I suppose nobody was going to imprison the people who stopped Voldemort, though.
All that said, I enjoyed the film a great deal! A few specific points I really liked:
I completely believed Helena Bonham Carter as a Polyjuiced Hermione. She was fantastic.
LUNA/NEVILLE, ADORABLE. I wasn't expecting that at all, and I was so pleased. Luna/Neville never really had any canonical basis, but I've thought for a long time that it would be more or less the cutest pairing ever. And now it does have canonical basis in at least one version of canon! Hooray!
Thumbs up for Luna in general, in fact. I think we could have done with more of her, but then again I always do. I sort of wanted to cheer at the moment when she made Harry take her seriously. (ALSO LOOK AT NEVILLE BEING A HERO. YEAH. Love those two.)
Harry can't leave Draco and Crabbe behind to die, of course ♥. I've rediscovered a lot of love for Harry himself with the Deathly Hallows films, which is nice.
I've always liked the fact that, even though the Malfoys are a terrible terrible family in many ways (Lucius in particular is despicable), they still genuinely love each other. It's a nice little glint of humanity in the midst of unpleasantness. Of course, if you like humanity masked by unpleasantness, Snape is a glittering, fascinating beacon of He's A Dick, But That Doesn't Mean He's Not A Good Guy (Not That Being A Good Guy Excuses Being A Dick).
McGonagall, when she wasn't tarring all the Slytherins with the same brush, was fantastic. I think she may be my favourite character in the entire Harry Potter series, actually.
Finally: the part where we see all the Weasleys mourning Fred? Yes, I wept. I didn't cry a lot during this film, but that part really got to me.
Recently, my mother was lamenting the fact that she hadn't thought of starting an 'I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY CHANGED THE ENDING SO RON DIED' Internet rumour before the film had actually been released.
I am from a family of trolls.
Also, her attempt to remember what the Deathly Hallows were after the film: 'So there's the Elder Wand, the Hat of Doom...'