HBP
It was perfect. I mean, obviously there were a few things here and there which were a little off, but it was an incredible movie.
As a movie, it was amazing. It was wonderfully cohesive in a way that none of the other movies have been, I think it probably worked really, really well as a movie unto itself. And the pacing was amazing! They finally got the pacing right, it was excellent. Oh, and the acting! The minor characters were especially impressive, and Tom Felton was brilliant as Draco Malfoy. He really brought out the depth of character that we glimpse in HBP as Harry comes into his own and discovers the difficulty of doing the "right" thing - I wish there had been more to the Draco-Dumbledore final scene on top of the tower, but from what there was, and the scenes before that, everything was explained beautifully.
It ALSO followed the book so, so, so well. It did a brilliant job balancing the different elements of the plotline and keeping the light-hearted scenes along with the important angst-ridden moments, which was one of my major concerns, because HBP was a very complex book in that respect because so much was going on during the "comedic relief" bits that had a major impact on Harry emotionally and played a huge role in how he responded to the action later on.
One of the things that, at this point, I was most impressed with was the delicacy with which "non-canon" scenes were handled. Up until this point I've been adamantly against straying from the set plot, but I was very satisfied with what Yates chose to do. Unlike in PoA for example, the deviations actually made sense, and really honestly helped both the flow of the movie and the strength of the movie-plot. Dealing with a novel set in first-person limited omniscience, I would imagine, must be insanely difficult; Yates was entirely correct in finally straying from that tradition.
Details in spoilerific glory later, but sleep now. Oh, it was so good, I thought my heart might burst. I'm so happy. It was exactly what I'd hoped it would be.
As a movie, it was amazing. It was wonderfully cohesive in a way that none of the other movies have been, I think it probably worked really, really well as a movie unto itself. And the pacing was amazing! They finally got the pacing right, it was excellent. Oh, and the acting! The minor characters were especially impressive, and Tom Felton was brilliant as Draco Malfoy. He really brought out the depth of character that we glimpse in HBP as Harry comes into his own and discovers the difficulty of doing the "right" thing - I wish there had been more to the Draco-Dumbledore final scene on top of the tower, but from what there was, and the scenes before that, everything was explained beautifully.
It ALSO followed the book so, so, so well. It did a brilliant job balancing the different elements of the plotline and keeping the light-hearted scenes along with the important angst-ridden moments, which was one of my major concerns, because HBP was a very complex book in that respect because so much was going on during the "comedic relief" bits that had a major impact on Harry emotionally and played a huge role in how he responded to the action later on.
One of the things that, at this point, I was most impressed with was the delicacy with which "non-canon" scenes were handled. Up until this point I've been adamantly against straying from the set plot, but I was very satisfied with what Yates chose to do. Unlike in PoA for example, the deviations actually made sense, and really honestly helped both the flow of the movie and the strength of the movie-plot. Dealing with a novel set in first-person limited omniscience, I would imagine, must be insanely difficult; Yates was entirely correct in finally straying from that tradition.
Details in spoilerific glory later, but sleep now. Oh, it was so good, I thought my heart might burst. I'm so happy. It was exactly what I'd hoped it would be.