The end of an era
Aug. 18th, 2011 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brabbel123Well, I finally managed to watch "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"...
I thought it was a good ending to the series, although I have a few issues with the movie:
* Cho? What's Cho doing at Hogwarts as a student?!?
* way too many action sequences just targeted to be included in the computer game - the whole Gringotts sequence and of course the final battle(s). Some sequences were really well done, like the "Hogwarts prepares for battle" one, but the last confrontation just dragged out too long. And actually, why was there the priori incantatem effect again?
* the Malfoys just leaving the battle - in the book they stayed and faced the music...
* Why couldn't they just leave out the epilogue? The aging just looked ridiculous on some actors (Ginny) - but the Albus-Harry-scene was well done, but that's a small consolation for ruining the mood at the "real" end.
What I liked:
* the pensieve sequence - honestly, I already enjoyed that scene in the book but in the movie I felt even more empathy with Snape and his unrequited love for Lily, his being played by two masters, his realizing and being horrified by Harry's role in the war. Definitely much more emotional than in written form.
* the Harry goes to his death-part - my favourite scene of the book, and the movie delivered it brilliantly, especially Sirius and Lily, also the moment Voldemort killed him was not overdone but just right (if only the couple sitting next to me wouldn't have chosen just that moment start munching loudly on their chips... I could have strangled them! Talk about killing the mood...)
* McGonagall - I loved her in all movies, though I found her to be a bit too passive in the books. At least she got to shine here as she directed Hogwarts' defense ("I always wanted to try out that spell").
* Snape - Of course, his role wasn't a mystery as it was in the books (well, not that I believed back then him to be a bad guy...), unless to a complete Harry Potter novice. But Rickman really managed to portray the subtle nuances, f.e. when he stands at the window looking down at the students being led to the Great Hall, his reluctance to fight McGonagall, the expression in his eyes when he knew that he would die... And I actually loved it that Voldemort cursed him prior to sending Nagini to kill him off as I never believed him to be so stupid as not to be prepared for Nagini's venom...
* I also liked that while Harry and the others still thought Snape to be a bad guy, Harry at least showed compassion when Snape died - that was an alteration to the book I very much appreciated because compassion and empathy is what differentiates good from evil. And in the book I sometimes wondered who was on which side. At least, like this, Snape's dying wish, to look in Harry's/Lily's eyes didn't seem as much as sacrifice for Harry as it did in the book.
* And I especially paid attention to the fate of the Elder Wand - and I'm happy that the scriptwriters did as well. It never made any sense to me that Harry didn't destroy it in the book, further more that JKR said Harry went on to Auror training. Talk about a disaster waiting to happen if ownership of the Elder Wand would change whenever there's a training duel on schedule. So, kudos for avoiding that particularly mind-boggling idea by simply breaking the wand in two.
The best part, though, was that I got to see the movie with my dear friend,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
quillscribe, who I had the opportunity to finally meet personally after years of emailing. And since we met through Harry Potter-fanfiction it was only too appropriate to watch the end of an era together. :)
I thought it was a good ending to the series, although I have a few issues with the movie:
* Cho? What's Cho doing at Hogwarts as a student?!?
* way too many action sequences just targeted to be included in the computer game - the whole Gringotts sequence and of course the final battle(s). Some sequences were really well done, like the "Hogwarts prepares for battle" one, but the last confrontation just dragged out too long. And actually, why was there the priori incantatem effect again?
* the Malfoys just leaving the battle - in the book they stayed and faced the music...
* Why couldn't they just leave out the epilogue? The aging just looked ridiculous on some actors (Ginny) - but the Albus-Harry-scene was well done, but that's a small consolation for ruining the mood at the "real" end.
What I liked:
* the pensieve sequence - honestly, I already enjoyed that scene in the book but in the movie I felt even more empathy with Snape and his unrequited love for Lily, his being played by two masters, his realizing and being horrified by Harry's role in the war. Definitely much more emotional than in written form.
* the Harry goes to his death-part - my favourite scene of the book, and the movie delivered it brilliantly, especially Sirius and Lily, also the moment Voldemort killed him was not overdone but just right (if only the couple sitting next to me wouldn't have chosen just that moment start munching loudly on their chips... I could have strangled them! Talk about killing the mood...)
* McGonagall - I loved her in all movies, though I found her to be a bit too passive in the books. At least she got to shine here as she directed Hogwarts' defense ("I always wanted to try out that spell").
* Snape - Of course, his role wasn't a mystery as it was in the books (well, not that I believed back then him to be a bad guy...), unless to a complete Harry Potter novice. But Rickman really managed to portray the subtle nuances, f.e. when he stands at the window looking down at the students being led to the Great Hall, his reluctance to fight McGonagall, the expression in his eyes when he knew that he would die... And I actually loved it that Voldemort cursed him prior to sending Nagini to kill him off as I never believed him to be so stupid as not to be prepared for Nagini's venom...
* I also liked that while Harry and the others still thought Snape to be a bad guy, Harry at least showed compassion when Snape died - that was an alteration to the book I very much appreciated because compassion and empathy is what differentiates good from evil. And in the book I sometimes wondered who was on which side. At least, like this, Snape's dying wish, to look in Harry's/Lily's eyes didn't seem as much as sacrifice for Harry as it did in the book.
* And I especially paid attention to the fate of the Elder Wand - and I'm happy that the scriptwriters did as well. It never made any sense to me that Harry didn't destroy it in the book, further more that JKR said Harry went on to Auror training. Talk about a disaster waiting to happen if ownership of the Elder Wand would change whenever there's a training duel on schedule. So, kudos for avoiding that particularly mind-boggling idea by simply breaking the wand in two.
The best part, though, was that I got to see the movie with my dear friend,
quillscribe, who I had the opportunity to finally meet personally after years of emailing. And since we met through Harry Potter-fanfiction it was only too appropriate to watch the end of an era together. :)
