The weekend is over and if you haven’t seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2…WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! In honor of the last movie, based on my favorite book of the series, I wanted to start my blog off right with my thoughts about the last Harry Potter movie EVER (No!)…
First, I have to comment on the whole HP 7.2 experience: Regal stinks (at least the Jacksonville theater we went to) and I’m dying to see this movie again at our AMC theater here in Tallahassee. I saw a Soccer Mom and an older lady, in her late sixties/early seventies, both wearing Mischief Managed t-shirts. How awesome is that?! Watching young and old and everyone in between filling up the theater was exciting to see. Then hearing those same young and old sniffling and cheering won’t be anything I’ll ever forget. It was a good crowd for a 12:50pm show time.
Now, how about them trailers? Yeah, I was a bit disappointed with what we got stuck with (in no particular order):
Hugo – What is this movie even about? Horrible trailer. NEXT.
The Dark Knight Rises – Yes, please! Gary Oldman FTW!
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – I’ll see it but I get the feeling it won’t be as good as the first.
Some movie where elves wrapped a polar bear… moving on…
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Andy Serkis! As Caesar! I'm totally seeing this movie!
Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (and in case you need it, SPOILER ALERT!):
- The Beginning. Yes, we know Voldemort has the Elder Wand, yadda yadda yadda, let’s get to the good stuff!
- Who do I speak to about renting Shell Cottage for the summer?
- Hermione as Bellatrix (or Helena Bonham Carter as Emma Watson), funny, but let’s move it along now because I'm really anxious to see the ...
- Dragon! The part I’m more excited about because vault, horcrux, treasure multiplying, yadda yadda yadda…
- Escape from Gingotts on the Dragon! Yes! The Dragon flying through the air was beautiful and one of two scenes from the whole movie that was truly lovely, cinematically.
- What in the world did they rub on their hands after getting out of the lake? Hand sanitizer? And don’t tell me Dittany because they’re hands looked fine to me and there was nothing about the treasure burning them like the book.
- Pale, British boys taking off their wet shirts does not compare to Thor. IT DOES NOT!
- I was okay with the explanation of the mirror. I guess.
- Neville Longbottom emerging from the tunnel behind Ariana’s portrait!
- Neville revealing Harry to everyone in the Room of Requirement. I almost started cheering! And did you notice the Harry Potter theme playing over that scene? I loved it!
- McGonagall dueling Snape! LOVE!
- The castle statues preparing to defend Hogwarts and McGonagall giddy with excitement when using that spell for the first time. I was giddy too!
- Establishing the defenses of the castle sent chills up my spine as I watched the “Magic”.
- Seeing Ron and Hermione in the Chamber of Secrets destroying the cup horcrux was fun since we only heard about it in the book.
- But why couldn’t Ron have just told Hermione he remembered what Harry said in Parseltongue to open the locket in Part 1? Talking in his sleep? Really? How would Ron have known that he was saying something like “I’d like fries with that” instead of assuming it was “Open the damn door”?
- Never cared about Ron and Hermione’s first kiss so moving on…
- Fiendfyre! And I like that Harry destroyed the tiara with the Basilisk fang instead of using the Fiendfyre. It makes more sense rather than stopping the momentum of the movie to explain what Fiendfyre was and what it could do, when the movie audience already knew Basilisk fangs could do the same thing.
- I was fine with the explanation of Harry able to sense the horcruxes when they were near. I was worried how they would find them knowing they had a good idea what the objects could be by the end of Book 6 but none of that was discussed in the 6th movie.
- I really enjoyed the whole battle sequence and how awesome was Kingsley blasting some Death Eater away?!
- Snape’s death was even more brutal than the book! But how else could you kill such a powerful and skillful Wizard? I thought this was done better in the movie than in the book and it made it that much harder to bear when…
- SNAPE TOLD HARRY HE HAS IS MOTHER’S EYES! We all knew this was coming. We all knew the significance of “Look at me.” But that one additional line pushed me over the Emotional Edge of No Return!
- Thank goodness Fred’s death happened off screen because see above…
- Then of course, the moment (or rather, memories) we were all waiting for… THE PRINCE’S TALE! A young Severus and Lily lying under the trees together. That quick scene alone was enough to convey how much Severus loved Lily. It was lovely, yet heartbreaking knowing how it all ends... with Severus holding Lily’s lifeless body! SERIOUSLY, HOW COULD YOU, MOVIE?! Didn’t you already push me off the edge after the “You have your mother’s eyes” line?
- AND THEN THE FOREST AGAIN! And thank goodness for waterproof mascara!
- When reading the Deathly Hallows, it was always hard to imagine what that piece of Voldemort’s soul - that had been in Harry - looked like, so I was very pleased with the way it was interpreted in the movie: slightly indecent (just as Harry described it in the book), disturbing and grotesque.
- I like how the camera lingered on Narcissa Malfoy when she discovered Harry was still alive. Would she tell Voldemort? The Malfoy’s fate, I believe, hinged on her decision and I liked that the movie showed how that one decision was another contributing factor to the weakening of Voldemort’s power.
- I would have loved a “Dumbledore’s Army!” from Neville but his touching speech as he took a stand against Voldemort worked for me.
- Molly and Bellatrix duel! I would have liked a longer duel but then again, it wasn’t that long in the book either and Bellatrix still lost so I’m a happy camper.
- I liked that Nagini was loose and attacking while Ron and Hermione tried to destroy it with the Basilisk fang. It just made it that much more exciting when Neville chopped it’s head off with the Sword of Gryffindor!
- Harry vs. Voldemort: Extended Dueling Edition!
- But that took them away from the heat of the continuing battle and only Harry witnessed Voldemort’s death, which weakened the whole point that this was not just Harry’s fight but the whole Wizarding Community’s.
- Epilogue was alright. I got teary eyed when Harry reminded Albus Severus he was named after the bravest man Harry knew and when the movie faded out because IT WAS THE END! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Overall I really, really liked the movie. Neville needs his own Indiana Jones-like action adventure and I’m calling it now: Alan Rickman receiving his first Academy Award nomination and winning! OR ELSE. Is it too early to start talking about a reboot?
No comments:
Post a Comment