So Greenbeanteenqueen and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last night, and I have to say it was awesome. I have never been so impressed with a Harry Potter film since the first two, and since I did not get into Harry Potter until after those movies I have never up until this morning left a theater feeling satisfied after a Potter Movie.
We dressed up as Lupin and Tonks as we did for the book 7 release, but our costumes were a bit half hearted this time due to lack of time and money restrictions. There were a lot of people dressed up at the movies but none of the fantastic costumes we had seen at previous movies.
The movie itself surpassed all my expectations. Yes, if you have not read the book you might get a little lost with all of the hows and whys of the story. Yes, by itself this movie is nothing special (meaning if it did not have a book series backing it up it would not stand alone). Yes, it ends on a cliffhanger and it has some pacing issues during between the capture of the locket and the trip to Godric's Hollow. But that does not change the fact that the movie stayed true to the book and had vast majority of everything that I wanted to see from part one. And yes Dobby's death is just as poignant a moment as it is in the book.
Successes:
Rupert and Emma are fantastic, I think they really nailed the Ron/Hermione dynamic in this one (Particularly Emma)
Voldemort is amazing
Nagini is terrifying
Dobby is just perfect
They ended part one at what I think is the best possible spot.
I felt like the movie ended too soon and would have been happy to stay for another two and a half hours and watch part two
The scope is much more epic and the emotions more raw
So much action
The courtroom seen and its aftermath was wonderful
The story of the three brothers could not have been more well done
Bathelda Bagshot was super creepy
The Bellatrix/Hermione interrogation was great.
Failures:
Scrimgeour is too nice
Potter Watch is replaced by an ongoing newscast in the background that has important information but is more distracting than helpful
The Harry/Hermione dance/near kiss was superfluous
Harry never tells Ron that he does not have feelings for Hermione
I wanted Harry to realize that when he was in the ministry he was someone important
Bill's introduction was awkward
Tonks and Lupin's baby was hinted at but was never explicitly stated
They never showed Dobby's grave
They showed but never explained the name taboo on Voldemort
This movie was awesome. I want to go back and see it again today. I don't think I will, but I will see it in theaters at least one more time. I can't wait for part 2
Loved it. I agree. So satisfying! Glad you enjoyed it too! Pictures of you and your Tonks!!
ReplyDeleteLOVED It, and it's funny, right after it ended I turned to Jason and said, "OMG, I wish they would have just included another 2 1/2 hours- I totally would have stayed to watch" It felt like it was really short because of all the action. I wanted it to go on forever!
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I didn't see a "near kiss" between Harry and Hermione. I only got brother/sister relationship trying to break the tension a little. But no kiss or feelings. But that's me. I really didn't see anything I didn't like, and I think I'm happy I didn't read the book right beforehand. I couldn't remember anything being left out, and they included all the big stuff I did remember. So to me, it was great.
We are having a bit of trouble remember the wand story, so I may have to ask you about that at work on Monday. (I let someone borrow my book so we don't have it at home right now)