Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I Movie Review
Guess where I went this morning...
Book 7 was definitely my favorite book, with Book 5 coming in second (which should probably tell you something about me... I just don't know what.) So I was filled with equal parts adulation and trepidation when waiting in line this very, very cold morning.
Luckily, I was pretty much bowled over with how GOOD the movie was. Definitely the most faithful to its book, and it really matched the disenfranchised, adrift, claustrophobic tone of the novel that I'd liked so much.
It was completely worth it to pay extra for the enormous IMAX screens. The shots of landscape, the ruined trailers, the isolated tent, Sirius' empty & savaged house -- all so beautiful and stark. The court room scene was chilling.
and OMFG the Muggle Studies teacher & Hermoine torture scene! They could only show so much for PG-13, but I felt like they showed just enough for both. Well acted, framed effectively.
I think the Hermoine/Ron/Harry dynamic was done well. Ron is so fucked up when it comes to Harry, but he's good for him too. I love Harry & Hermoine's friendship, and it glowed here. The dancing scene was an addition to canon, but I thought it was poignant -- all stumbling and innocent and young and fighting back against despair. There was enough Ron/Hermoine to make me happy ♥ ♥ without going overboard with the shipping. (I admit, I squeed when they kept the scene where Harry sees that they've fallen asleep with their hands next to each other.)
And my little failboat Draco! So very much wanting to just go someplace else where everyone will leave him alone. This game isn't fun anymore! Real things are happening to real people!
Oh, and I love how tore up Lucius looks.
I think my only serious critique would be some of the forced info dumps -- so very painfully awkward! This is what you get when you trim character arcs from your movies. The Bill/Fleur and Remus/Tonks developments came across like WTF WTF for my sister, who's only watched the films. The writer didn't even try to work in that communication naturally. SO FORCED. And the R.A.B. necklace was just kinda shoved into the plot.
I guess Dobby's sudden reappearance wasn't exactly that sort of awkward... just, it all comes out of nowhere. It's not weird at all that he'd appear now in canon, because he flits in and out of the books. But in the movies he's been AWOL for years, so it's kind of ????
oh! oh! Other stuff I liked! The radio broadcasts! Especially the list of the missing set against their journey. That was AWESOME SAUCE.
And the tale of the 3 brothers! The animation was wicked. I liked how death looks kinda like a dementor.
Right, and the piece of Riddle's Soul taunting Ron from the locket -- 10x creepier than in the book. That scene didn't strike me as especially scary on the page, but they made it ominous as hell on screen.
Book 7 was definitely my favorite book, with Book 5 coming in second (which should probably tell you something about me... I just don't know what.) So I was filled with equal parts adulation and trepidation when waiting in line this very, very cold morning.
Luckily, I was pretty much bowled over with how GOOD the movie was. Definitely the most faithful to its book, and it really matched the disenfranchised, adrift, claustrophobic tone of the novel that I'd liked so much.
It was completely worth it to pay extra for the enormous IMAX screens. The shots of landscape, the ruined trailers, the isolated tent, Sirius' empty & savaged house -- all so beautiful and stark. The court room scene was chilling.
and OMFG the Muggle Studies teacher & Hermoine torture scene! They could only show so much for PG-13, but I felt like they showed just enough for both. Well acted, framed effectively.
I think the Hermoine/Ron/Harry dynamic was done well. Ron is so fucked up when it comes to Harry, but he's good for him too. I love Harry & Hermoine's friendship, and it glowed here. The dancing scene was an addition to canon, but I thought it was poignant -- all stumbling and innocent and young and fighting back against despair. There was enough Ron/Hermoine to make me happy ♥ ♥ without going overboard with the shipping. (I admit, I squeed when they kept the scene where Harry sees that they've fallen asleep with their hands next to each other.)
And my little failboat Draco! So very much wanting to just go someplace else where everyone will leave him alone. This game isn't fun anymore! Real things are happening to real people!
Oh, and I love how tore up Lucius looks.
I think my only serious critique would be some of the forced info dumps -- so very painfully awkward! This is what you get when you trim character arcs from your movies. The Bill/Fleur and Remus/Tonks developments came across like WTF WTF for my sister, who's only watched the films. The writer didn't even try to work in that communication naturally. SO FORCED. And the R.A.B. necklace was just kinda shoved into the plot.
I guess Dobby's sudden reappearance wasn't exactly that sort of awkward... just, it all comes out of nowhere. It's not weird at all that he'd appear now in canon, because he flits in and out of the books. But in the movies he's been AWOL for years, so it's kind of ????
oh! oh! Other stuff I liked! The radio broadcasts! Especially the list of the missing set against their journey. That was AWESOME SAUCE.
And the tale of the 3 brothers! The animation was wicked. I liked how death looks kinda like a dementor.
Right, and the piece of Riddle's Soul taunting Ron from the locket -- 10x creepier than in the book. That scene didn't strike me as especially scary on the page, but they made it ominous as hell on screen.