Dobby only meant to maim, or seriously injure.

[tortoisegirl]

Saw the new Harry Potter movie yesterday, and I have some thoughts!

First of all I went with my mom and since this graphic's been circulating recently it came to mind:


Because I was 14 or 15 when I saw my first HP movie in theaters with my mom and sisters, and now I'm seeing the last one with her at 23 (and I'll be 24 when the 2d part come out!). Also, seeing all the little kids in the theater it struck me that the whole Harry Potter series started before these kids were born. I felt old. :(

Onward to the movie though.


-First of all, I liked it a lot more than the 6th movie, which is good because I didn't like the 6th one at all. One of the issues with the 6th was pacing- I thought they had to rush through with a lot of really short scenes just for the sake of getting plot points in there, and with the 7th movie split into 2 they can avoid that.

-But something that does carry over from the 6th movie is Bellatrix- I really don't like the way Helena Bonham Carter plays her. I don't like the brand of crazy she gives Bellatrix. Might be a difference of interpretation but I pictured Bellatrix as more of a stoic, subtle person with bouts of wild madness, rather that Carter's crazy-eyed cackling mad Bellatrix. I can't stand the slow, whispery way she delivers the lines. The torture scene where she flips out on Hermione was really well done, and genuinely scary, but I think it would have been more effective if she wasn't that crazy all the time.

-I thought Ron was cheated out of some really emotional scenes, him freaking out over Hermione being tortured one of them. I really wanted to see him yelling and screaming at that. Another was the reunion with Harry when they were getting the Sword or Gryffindor- it was just "Oh hey Ron, you're back" and straight on to the Horcrux. It looks like they were saving the emotion for when Hermione was there to stress the Ron/Hermione romance, but c'mon movie, the Ron/Harry friendship was some of the best stuff in the book! Real shame it's not as important in the movie.

-It's also shame Harry and Dudley's reconciliation had to be cut (another of my favorites from the book), though I liked the scenes of all three of the trio preparing themselves in the beginning.

-Loved the sets for the Ministry of Magic. Also loved the three actors who played the polyjuiced trio in the Ministry and thought they did a great job of conveying that freaked out "oh god what I am doing" feeling the kids must have been feeling.

-So this random Death Eater whom I don't even remember from the books is...really hot. It's creating that dilemma of not wanting to be attracted to a character who's a really horrible person and does terrible things, but. Goddamn.

-This is a nitpick, but lol what was up with Snape's hair at the beginning? It looked like he came straight from the hair salon, all fluffy and bouncy. What happened to the ugly greasy-haired Snape?

-Introduction of Bill Weasley was pretty clumsy. And boooo, no Dean Thomas. Luckily Luna's there, and her father and house were exactly as I pictured them.

-LOVED the way they did the story of the Deathly Hallows/three brothers.

Overall I'm much happier with this one than I have been with the past few movies. Keep it up for the second half and I'll be one happy Harry Potter fan.

Comments

[doctor-anon.livejournal.com]

- Word for word, what you said about Bellatrix. Yes.

- That's true; I guess there are a lot of Ron's emotional scenes that were left out. But one of the strong impressions that struck me about the film was the surprisingly good acting from him (and, well, the three of them) when they were fighting about Horcruxes / parting ways / reuniting. Touching and painful, like their friendship is truly at its limit.

- The polyjuiced trio was definitely a high point! You could swear you could see the younger actors' performances!

- Agreed, re: that random Death Eater! And I don't know wtf was up with Snape's hair either. He must have just taken his curlers out before that meeting.

- YES! DIDN'T THE LOVEGOODs' HOUSE LOOK EXACTLY RIGHT??!! And I totally had the hots for Mr. L until I learned he's Spike from Notting Hill.

- The 3 brothers tale was the only part of the film that had me drop-jawed. (Not that I didn't enjoy the rest, but I adored the animated bit.)

I was not tempted anywhere near tears for part 1, but I will be a wreck for part 2.

[doctor-anon.livejournal.com]

I was not tempted anywhere near tears for part 1

Wait, I accidentally lied. When the doe patronus showed up.....! Definitely felt some tingling in the eyeballs then.

[tortoisegirl.livejournal.com]

I loooved the parts with Ron getting angry and them parting ways (even in the trailer it gave me chills), and I would have loved to see the closure to all that emotion in the reunion scene. They didn't even hug or anything ;_; The camaraderie afterward was awesome though.

YES YES the Lovegoods' house was perfect! They could have plucked that straight from my head.

Agh, part two. Honestly if I'm not crying after Snape's story and Harry meeting his parents in the woods, they've done something wrong.

[kendalish.livejournal.com]

-Carter does EVERYTHING over the top like that IMO. It's all she knows.

-I thought the polyjuiced adults did swell too. :]

-Uh, I thought that hot random Death Eater was Greyback the whole time, lawl?

-The animated brother story was honestly the highest point of the movie for me. It was very well done and Burton-esque without being too out there.

-Overall I LIKED the movie, and while I realize the seventh book is morbid-y and dark, the movie was literally TOO DARK. I got a headache from squinting at the dark screen, and had trouble telling Harry and Hermione apart a lot of the time. :(

I need to re-read the book..

[tortoisegirl.livejournal.com]

I thought it was Greyback too! Wasn't until I tried to find the actor that I realized it wasn't. In the books it's Greyback who pervs on Hermione; maybe the bestiality aspect of that was too much so they gave that to the hot human instead of the werewolf.

Yeah, all the later movies seem to be fond of really low lighting. How we gonna like the movie if we can't see it, huh directors?

[jackiemei.livejournal.com]

just got back from seeing the film, and wow yes. I agree with you on just about every point. (lol Snape's hair) AND YES, BELLATRIX, feels very off. but All and all sooo much better a film than part 6. I like Harry/Ginny and Herm/Ron, but there was just way too much teenage angst and not enough Harry and Dumbledore adventures, and Snape, and most of all screwy Voldemort back story in that movie. I'm glad to see this shaping up to be a good climax.:D

(and hells yeah rock-star deatheater, where did you come from sexy bad guy???)

[tortoisegirl.livejournal.com]

Yesss, that's exactly why the 6th movie annoys me; the plot feels shoved in and second to the teenage drama. It needed way more bb Voldemort. At least adult Voldemort is getting proper attention in this one!

[the-duckay.livejournal.com]

"This is a nitpick, but lol what was up with Snape's hair at the beginning? It looked like he came straight from the hair salon, all fluffy and bouncy."

Okay...that reminded me of this LJ icon that I remember from awhile ago, so I had to dig it up. hahaha. http://i644.photobucket.com/albums/uu166/4X3L/Animated%20Gifs/LOrealSnape.gif

[tortoisegirl.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, perfect. It was even fancier in this movie; he had curls going on. Maybe he wanted to look pretty for the big fancy Voldemort meeting :3