Saturday, July 16, 2011

Movie review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

And so we have now truly come to the end of an era. I won't do a plot review because it turns out there are several people in the world who haven't read the books and therefore don't know what happens! I will just say that this is probably the best adaptation of all the books - it occurred to me that we're seeing what amounts to perhaps the last 1/3 of the final book in its own 2 hour movie. That leaves quite a bit of time to show as much of the book as possible, although some things were cut short or omitted altogether.


Pros

  • Alan Rickman as Professor Snape. Well done. 
  • Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) IS DA BOMB!!! She really knows how to wave a wand like she means business!
  • Not too much Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright). This is a problem with casting children and having to keep them through the years. 
  • The effects. Just...wow! Particularly the dragon flying over London and the final battle.
  • The Ron-Hermione kiss is not as squirm-inducing as the Harry-Hermione kiss
  • Oh god, it almost made me cry!

Cons

  • I thought Dumbledore's history was one of the best sub-plots of the final book and was disappointed that it wasn't represented more in the movie. In fact, everything that they cut to make up time :(
  • Props to the director for not casting different actors for the epilogue but the make up to age everyone made them look pretty ridiculous and garnered quite the laughter count from the audience. 
  •  Oh god, it almost made me cry - but I didn't actually cry! But that might be saying more about me than the movie. 

A satisfying end to the series and to my extended youth! *sigh*
8/10!

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