Review Friday
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1

Trailer



Overview

In my personal opinion this is the best Potter book to film adaptation. The third film is still my favorite, but this one captured all of the most important parts of the 7th book, as well as being pitch perfect on the tone of both the book and the characters. Fans have often lamented than Ron's best lines from the book are given to Hermione in the film. But this was Ron at his best.

Overall, the pacing, which I feel has been the biggest problem in the last two films, was perfectly executed. I never felt things were to slow or too fast. In pacing, it's actually even better than the book, as I did feel the camping dragged on too long, but in the movie it was great character building and well integrated with excitement and suspense.

There were a couple quibbles I had with things being confusing if you hadn't read the books, but I actually saw the film with someone who had never read the books and had only seen the first film. And the only thing she said she didn't understand were the horcruxes.

Finally, the part where they chose to cut it worked surprisingly well. Many fans had been speculating they might cut it at Dobby's death but that it would be really depressing. By having Vodemort stealing the wand be the very last seen they balance that bleakness with suspense. I am eagerly looking forward to part 2.

Spoilers

Okay, so the mirror shard that Harry carries and sees what he thinks is Dumbledore's eye through, was my biggest complaint. They never explained it in any of the films and they didn't in this one either! The girl I was with who hadn't seen them probably assumed it had been explained and perhaps that's why she wasn't confused. But I knew they hadn't, so that annoyed me. But honestly I don't think it's that important. I think they could have left it out entirely. Many fans claim there's no other way to explain how Aberforth knew to send Dobby to help them. But trust me, there's always another way. But I'll reserve final judgement in the hopes they explain the mirror in part 2.

A change I loved was Hedwig saving Harry instead of simply exploding. At least she went out heroically and not trapped in a burning cage.

I also loved Dobby's speech. Only seriously maim. Golden. Some fans seem to feel it was too comedic, but I think it was just right. You can't have the entire film be dark, it would be too much. Plus, considering that we haven't seen Dobby since the second film, I think it was crucial to remind us why we love this little elf before he gets killed. Cruel, yes, but necessary to make us care.

Harry Potter and the
Obnoxious Bike-Tire-Puncturing Plant

The following review DOES contain SPOILERS and non-verbal spells.

So my sister and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last night. I will address that far more pleasant part of our escapade first. So, we had a pleasant ride to the theater because we went at night so it wasn't the unbearably oppressive 101 degrees it has been in the day. It's possible it got as cool as 80 degrees which was very nice. I also got to see a very quick trailer to Percy Jackson which was awesome. I'm really hyped to see that.

Now, a review of Harry Potter:

I would like to establish that I did enjoy this film. The trouble is I always complain more in reviews than remark on positive things.

That being said, none of the Harry Potter movies have been able to include everything from the books, nor would I want them to. But ever since the fourth film I've had the sense that they're very disjointed visual cliff-notes versions of the books. This film did not improve on that. The pacing is so off at times that I can often be completely unaware how much time is supposed to have passed from one scene to the next. I was frequently confused and wondered if I'd missed something vital whenever I would look away from the screen for a few seconds to glare at someone on their cell phone. (By the way, I officially hate anyone who cannot sit through an entire movie without using their cell phone and wish I had X-Men super powers to short circuit any phone opened within several feet of me. Yes, even those expensive iPhones. Especially the expensive iPhones. Would serve them right...). Anyway, the point is, the pacing was off.

The characters, however, were all right on the spot. With the exception of strange nameless twins brought in (possibly to replace the Patils?), I loved all the characters, both big and small. Snape, of course, is always great, which was particulalry important in this film. Got to love pwning Harry too. Snape just flicks his wand and Harry goes flying. Brilliant. Though I wish they'd had the "Don't all me a coward!" line.

Even Dumbledore was great, though. That's saying something for me because, while I liked Micheal Gambon's performance in the third film, his portrayals of Dumbledore in the fourth and fifth film struck entirely the wrong cord. He was alternatingly too aggressive or too weak. But in this film, ala Goldilocks, he was just right. A shame it's the one where he dies. But at least he finally got it right. Maybe someone just needed to tell him Dumbledore was gay a long time ago. Perhaps that was the breakthrough he needed.

As for Harry, I found him to be a bit funnier in this one than the last two ones. Not that he's been without humor but I felt like I laughed out loud more in this one than I have in a while. I found his comment about Aragog's pincers and subsequent miming to be particularly amusing. I think they wasted a bit of time on having him flirt with a waitress, and that part seemed a little off and unnecessary. But otherwise Harry was fine.

I've never cared much for Hermione's character but I feel Emma Watson's acting has improved immensely. At least, I didn't have to watch her amazing dancing eyebrows this time. I even found myself enjoying several Hermione bits. I was actually really looking forward to the bird scene and was very glad they kept it in but I do wish more of the birds had actually hit Ron....

Speaking of Ron, he was also right on the money for how he was in the book. Which means he continues to be a disappointment to me as a character. Ron was my favorite character for the first four books, one I even related to. But he started going drastically downhill the last three books to the point where, even though I don't like Hermione, I think she deserves better. Why? He's insecure, jealous, and possessive. Besides that, he and Hermione don't share any common interests. Yes, there is the possibility that they can balance each other's personalities--Hermione giving Ron some sense and Ron making her relax more. But I always felt that Hermione became more relaxed over time on her own and didn't really need Ron. Anyway, we won't go too far down that road. I'll just say I'm NOT a Harry/Hermione shipper either. I just got really annoyed with Ron in the end.

Lavendar was perfect. Breathing on the window. Priceless.

So getting away from that controversial topic, I will also say Horace Slughorn was great. My sister felt he was even better than in the book, but I felt he was just as good. The armchair thing was well-done.

I was disappointed about them skipping the end battle in exchange for using their wands for what looked like lighters at a rock concert. Strange as well that Aragog got a funeral and Dumbledore didn't. I also wish the waitress scene could have been exchanged for Merope Gaunt's scene. But overall I had a good time and all the really important things were there.

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Now for the adventure that commenced after the movie. Preceeding the movie we had pushed our bikes over a place without sidewalk. It was dark and we couldn't see well and ended up pushing our bikes through the sticker bushes of doom! My sister had encountered these many times before but we couldn't see them in the dark. They flattened the tires on both our bikes and we had to walk two miles home at 2AM.



GAH! Crush! Kill! Destroy!

Waiting...

Today's picture is a cart full of Harry Potter 7 books that wouldn't fit on the shelf! I took this pic before I left the library. I have a theory that we got an overload because so many of the people who wanted to read Harry Potter 7, bought Harry Potter 7. Not that I'm saying we shouldn't have bought it or that we didn't need it for quite some time. I just find it fun to theorize on the economics of book circulation in libraries. Twilight, for instance, still had lots of holds on it when I left. True some of the renewed popularity was due to the movie but I also think it's because not as many people are as willing to buy Twilight before they've read it, whereas Harry Potter is more of a given.

Anyway, I'm waiting for the moving truck today. Then I'm going to unload all my stuff. I just wish I knew when of if I'll be doing that again before the year's out. I've been wanting to make more videos for the people who do like them but I haven't had the chance yet. I've also been making a lot of reviews because I've been meaning to for a long time and have a backlog, but also because I don't remember how to use the alternative movie making software that allows me to edit things I've made on my normal camera. But maybe I'll get around to tinkering with it.