Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt 2: Grading and reviews
- Thread starter Neroon
- Start date
Re: Harry Potter and teh Deathly Hallows, Pt 2: Grading and reviews
For those who read the books, there was one line in particular that stood out. I know of several people who elicited cheers when they read this line in the book, and there has been much speculation about whether it would be included in the film.
For me, that one line was a make-or-break ... If it's in the film, perfect. If it's not, the film would have been a disaster of Plan 9 proportions.
I'm thrilled to say not only is it in the book, but the scene that line is in, comes off better in the movie than in the book.
I was also beyond happy to see so many familiar faces come back ... Oliver, Professor Sprout, Pomfrey, Oliver Wood, among others.
I'll definitely be seeing it again, at least another time, maybe more, before it's gone from theaters.
For those who read the books, there was one line in particular that stood out. I know of several people who elicited cheers when they read this line in the book, and there has been much speculation about whether it would be included in the film.
For me, that one line was a make-or-break ... If it's in the film, perfect. If it's not, the film would have been a disaster of Plan 9 proportions.
I'm thrilled to say not only is it in the book, but the scene that line is in, comes off better in the movie than in the book.
I was also beyond happy to see so many familiar faces come back ... Oliver, Professor Sprout, Pomfrey, Oliver Wood, among others.
I'll definitely be seeing it again, at least another time, maybe more, before it's gone from theaters.
Re: Harry Potter and teh Deathly Hallows, Pt 2: Grading and reviews
To run a bit contrary to what appears to be the general opinion, I thought Part 1 was a stronger film than Part 2. I'd put this in the B+/A- range overall. It has some of the strongest moments in the series, but some setpieces aren't as well-realized as they might have been.
Hands down the best moment in the film is the meeting between Harry and the four ghosts in the forest. Beautifully acted by all involved.
I think the parts where the film (and, really, the series) is weakest is its understandable inability to incorporate the extensive backstory of the events depicted (the Marauders and Snape's history, Voldermort's history, Dumbledore's history) - all those things add so much to the series denouement in the books.
Nonetheless, a very solid sendoff to the film series. And I can tell from the theatre experience that most people were more unambiguously enthusiastic about it than I was, so that's a good sign. Maybe after a rewatch or two I'll come around.
Minor note, but did anyone else think that Dumbledore at King's Cross looked like Gandalf the White?
To run a bit contrary to what appears to be the general opinion, I thought Part 1 was a stronger film than Part 2. I'd put this in the B+/A- range overall. It has some of the strongest moments in the series, but some setpieces aren't as well-realized as they might have been.
Hands down the best moment in the film is the meeting between Harry and the four ghosts in the forest. Beautifully acted by all involved.
I think the parts where the film (and, really, the series) is weakest is its understandable inability to incorporate the extensive backstory of the events depicted (the Marauders and Snape's history, Voldermort's history, Dumbledore's history) - all those things add so much to the series denouement in the books.
Nonetheless, a very solid sendoff to the film series. And I can tell from the theatre experience that most people were more unambiguously enthusiastic about it than I was, so that's a good sign. Maybe after a rewatch or two I'll come around.
Minor note, but did anyone else think that Dumbledore at King's Cross looked like Gandalf the White?
Re: Harry Potter and teh Deathly Hallows, Pt 2: Grading and reviews
I dug it. I was glad a lot of the clunky exposition about backstory that was ultimately unimportant was cut.
I was glad McGonagall got some Moments of Awesome.
I dug it. I was glad a lot of the clunky exposition about backstory that was ultimately unimportant was cut.
I was glad McGonagall got some Moments of Awesome.
Re: Harry Potter and teh Deathly Hallows, Pt 2: Grading and reviews
"I always wanted to try that spell".
"I always wanted to try that spell".
Copied from the other thread:
Saw it tonight.
Overall an enjoyable movie. Very emotional moments (Snape!!) with sum fun lines in between (Hermellatrix!! Minerva!!).
Didn't like the way they dragged out the final Showdown with Voldemort and Nagini, and that they changed the location.
Peter Pettigrew's treatment earned a big WTF from me as he wasn't even in the movie although he hadn't been killed at Malfoys mansion in the previous movie.
I mean...what the hell happened to him? Judging from these movies, that treacherous bastard actually survived everything?? As opposed to the book??
What were Yates/Rowling smoking?
As for the 3D:
The Dragon was 3D, as were some effects in Hogwarts and that is pretty much it.
Most of the movie was in 2D, which is bordering on scam if you ask me.
So if your movie theater offers both versions, pick 2D. You'll be happier for it, since you won't be wasting any money.
On a final note: Breaking the wand in half that just saved your life twice is not just ungrateful, its actually rude.
After all that talk about wands and how they seem to be sentient, that scene was just weird.
Saw it tonight.
Overall an enjoyable movie. Very emotional moments (Snape!!) with sum fun lines in between (Hermellatrix!! Minerva!!).
Didn't like the way they dragged out the final Showdown with Voldemort and Nagini, and that they changed the location.
Peter Pettigrew's treatment earned a big WTF from me as he wasn't even in the movie although he hadn't been killed at Malfoys mansion in the previous movie.
I mean...what the hell happened to him? Judging from these movies, that treacherous bastard actually survived everything?? As opposed to the book??
What were Yates/Rowling smoking?
As for the 3D:
The Dragon was 3D, as were some effects in Hogwarts and that is pretty much it.
Most of the movie was in 2D, which is bordering on scam if you ask me.
So if your movie theater offers both versions, pick 2D. You'll be happier for it, since you won't be wasting any money.
On a final note: Breaking the wand in half that just saved your life twice is not just ungrateful, its actually rude.
After all that talk about wands and how they seem to be sentient, that scene was just weird.
Re: Harry Potter and teh Deathly Hallows, Pt 2: Grading and reviews
I saw it.
I loved it.
When I feel better I will go and see it again. It's my favorite of the series hands down.
Wait.
Where was he? I must have missed him.
I saw it.
I loved it.
When I feel better I will go and see it again. It's my favorite of the series hands down.
Wait.
Where was he? I must have missed him.
Re: Harry Potter and teh Deathly Hallows, Pt 2: Grading and reviews
I'll probably be going next weekend, let the crowds die down a bit
Surely he must've been there somewhere since OmahaStar mentioned him twice in the same sentence
I'll probably be going next weekend, let the crowds die down a bit
Cross-posting this review from another site:
I'm one of a very small minority of HP fans who can enjoy both the films and the novels on their own terms without comparing and contrasting them or nitpicking about the way certain things play out in the films as opposed to the books. With that perspective in mind, I absolutely loved the film. It is - HANDS DOWN - the best film in the series, and, once again, is a testament to how well the producers and writers know JKR's world and understand it.
Primary screenwriter Steve Kloves is often criticised - unfairly, IMO - for the alterations and/or revisions he has made with regards to the way that certain parts of JKR's story have played themselves out in the films, but he succeeds in adapting the final chapters of DH with a deft hand borne of his own understanding of and appreciation for JKR's words and the unique relationship he has had with her since the film franchise began. Over the course of the seven films he scripted, Kloves has developed a knack for knowing how much exposition to include and how to best convey it, and he once again proves it in DH P2 with the way he adapted 'The Prince's Tale' and 'Kings Cross', two of the most heavily expository chapters of the book.
Director David Yates once again joins Kloves in hitting a homerun; people have criticized two of Yates' previous directorial efforts - Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince - because of what are perceived to be unnecessary changes or omittances, but I maintain that Yates has a directorial style and an innate understanding of how to best tell JKR's storyline filmically that once again shines through in DH P2. Two examples of this are the film's opening montage and 'The Prince's Tale'; the latter succeeds as much because of the way it was shot and edited as it does because of the fantastic performances from Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, and the other actors involved. I also have to praise his decision to take the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort and expand it so that it ranged across almost the entirety of the Hogwarts grounds, because it added an epic quality to the sequence that, while present in the novel, is somewhat downplayed and could've resulted in said showdown feeling anticlimactic if adapted more straightforwardly.
Just so that this review isn't a complete 'squee-fest', I'm going to mention that I didn't really understand why Kloves and Yates kept the reference to Remus' son Teddy in the film when there was no mention of Tonks being pregnant in P1, nor was Teddy actually seen during the Epilogue; there was really no reason for Harry to mention Teddy during his conversation with the ghosts of Sirius, Remus, and his parents other than, IMO, to appease the hardcore book purists, and it felt out of place. I also would've liked a bit of exposition concerning the Fiendfyre, since it would have only enhanced the feeling of danger and peril of the scenes in the RoR.
DH P2 is, as previously noted, the best film in the franchise, and a fitting filmic ending to the story that JKR conceived and first brought to the world in literary form. I'm giving it a 10/10 (or 4 stars out of 4), and am also prepared to call it the single greatest book-to-film adaptation I think I've ever seen.
The reason that I can stand up and call DH P2 the gresest book-to-film adaptation I've ever seen is because of what that phrase - 'book to film adaptation' actually means. It doesn't mean (despite what some fans, like yourself, seem to believe) 'put the book on a movie screen word-for-word'; it means taking the book and finding the best way to make it and its story work as a film (for both general audiences and people who have read the literature upon which said film is based), and that is what David Yates, Steve Kloves, and the rest of the people involved with the HP film franchise have done. I could sit here and complain about how certain expository details were left out or altered, but, when you're dealing with the task of creating a version of JKR's story that works for both general film-going audiences as well as for the existing HP fandom, those details are, ultimately, not important and would only serve to slow things down and make the film weaker as opposed to strengthening it, especially since the story is able to be conveyed sufficiently enough without their being included.
As a huge fan of the novels (I once read the first four books - SS through GoF - in a cumulative period of 24 hours [which equals out to just over 4 hours a book]), I can honestly state that I feel that, aside from a few minor nitpicky and ultimately inconsequential details (many of them being expository in nature, as noted above), the HP filmmakers have superbly adapted all 7 of JKR's novels from page to screen, with DH P2 being their crowning achievement and the culmination of the experience they gained in making the previous 7 films.
I'm one of a very small minority of HP fans who can enjoy both the films and the novels on their own terms without comparing and contrasting them or nitpicking about the way certain things play out in the films as opposed to the books. With that perspective in mind, I absolutely loved the film. It is - HANDS DOWN - the best film in the series, and, once again, is a testament to how well the producers and writers know JKR's world and understand it.
Primary screenwriter Steve Kloves is often criticised - unfairly, IMO - for the alterations and/or revisions he has made with regards to the way that certain parts of JKR's story have played themselves out in the films, but he succeeds in adapting the final chapters of DH with a deft hand borne of his own understanding of and appreciation for JKR's words and the unique relationship he has had with her since the film franchise began. Over the course of the seven films he scripted, Kloves has developed a knack for knowing how much exposition to include and how to best convey it, and he once again proves it in DH P2 with the way he adapted 'The Prince's Tale' and 'Kings Cross', two of the most heavily expository chapters of the book.
Director David Yates once again joins Kloves in hitting a homerun; people have criticized two of Yates' previous directorial efforts - Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince - because of what are perceived to be unnecessary changes or omittances, but I maintain that Yates has a directorial style and an innate understanding of how to best tell JKR's storyline filmically that once again shines through in DH P2. Two examples of this are the film's opening montage and 'The Prince's Tale'; the latter succeeds as much because of the way it was shot and edited as it does because of the fantastic performances from Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, and the other actors involved. I also have to praise his decision to take the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort and expand it so that it ranged across almost the entirety of the Hogwarts grounds, because it added an epic quality to the sequence that, while present in the novel, is somewhat downplayed and could've resulted in said showdown feeling anticlimactic if adapted more straightforwardly.
Just so that this review isn't a complete 'squee-fest', I'm going to mention that I didn't really understand why Kloves and Yates kept the reference to Remus' son Teddy in the film when there was no mention of Tonks being pregnant in P1, nor was Teddy actually seen during the Epilogue; there was really no reason for Harry to mention Teddy during his conversation with the ghosts of Sirius, Remus, and his parents other than, IMO, to appease the hardcore book purists, and it felt out of place. I also would've liked a bit of exposition concerning the Fiendfyre, since it would have only enhanced the feeling of danger and peril of the scenes in the RoR.
DH P2 is, as previously noted, the best film in the franchise, and a fitting filmic ending to the story that JKR conceived and first brought to the world in literary form. I'm giving it a 10/10 (or 4 stars out of 4), and am also prepared to call it the single greatest book-to-film adaptation I think I've ever seen.
The reason that I can stand up and call DH P2 the gresest book-to-film adaptation I've ever seen is because of what that phrase - 'book to film adaptation' actually means. It doesn't mean (despite what some fans, like yourself, seem to believe) 'put the book on a movie screen word-for-word'; it means taking the book and finding the best way to make it and its story work as a film (for both general audiences and people who have read the literature upon which said film is based), and that is what David Yates, Steve Kloves, and the rest of the people involved with the HP film franchise have done. I could sit here and complain about how certain expository details were left out or altered, but, when you're dealing with the task of creating a version of JKR's story that works for both general film-going audiences as well as for the existing HP fandom, those details are, ultimately, not important and would only serve to slow things down and make the film weaker as opposed to strengthening it, especially since the story is able to be conveyed sufficiently enough without their being included.
As a huge fan of the novels (I once read the first four books - SS through GoF - in a cumulative period of 24 hours [which equals out to just over 4 hours a book]), I can honestly state that I feel that, aside from a few minor nitpicky and ultimately inconsequential details (many of them being expository in nature, as noted above), the HP filmmakers have superbly adapted all 7 of JKR's novels from page to screen, with DH P2 being their crowning achievement and the culmination of the experience they gained in making the previous 7 films.
In the opening scene on Privet Drive Tonks is interrupted from announcing what was clearly going to be the pregnancy, so I'm guessing there were other scenes that got cut.
In terms of shortcomings of the series as a whole, I think the film version of Harry/Ginny suffered a lot due to running-time issues. It's not an amazing story in the book either, but I liked it fine; however, the films barely have room for Ginny even when she's plot-relevant (ie, Chamber of Secrets), and it's not helped by the fact that there are two other much more plot-relevant female characters (Hermione and Luna) who share a lot more screentime with Harry and are played by actresses who have much more chemistry with Daniel Radcliffe (Bonnie Wright does fine with what she's given, mind you).
Because of the differences between the filmic and literary mediums, Ginny becomes a much more tertiary character in the films than she is in the books, thus minimizing the amount of time that can be spent developing her and Harry's relationship in the films. Given that, I really can't see what else the filmmakers could've done, on the whole, to strengthen the development of that relationship or its impact.
It's easy to imagine what they could have done, which is try and include her more.
Well had they not mucked up Order of the Phoenix, which was written by the man who wrote the Green Lantern movie and not Steve Kloves, then she would have been in more. OotP is when Ginny moved into the limelight outside Chamber of Secrets.
Order of the Phoenix is one of the best, and Ginny does get good stuff in that one as part of the Order.
It's easy to just say that, but trickier to be specific as to how.
Re: OotP, there are very few things within that particular story in terms of Ginny's involvement that are relevant - directly - to her romance with Harry; the only thing that really fits into the 'romance subplot' category is the 'Chocolate in the Library' stuff, and I'm not entirely sure what, if anything, that would've added to the way that OotP's plot played itself out.
Order of the Phoenix was nothing like the book, and the book is one of the best, Umbridge was the only good thing from it. IMO
Ginny had some good stuff in it, yes, but not nearly as much as she had in the book. If she had half of what she had in the book then she would have been much better in the movies.
Re: Harry Potter and teh Deathly Hallows, Pt 2: Grading and reviews
The first one was supposed to be Olivander, but I guess I have Oliver Wood on the brain. It happens.
The first one was supposed to be Olivander, but I guess I have Oliver Wood on the brain. It happens.
I'm starting to succumb to the hype. I think I'll try to hit a matinee tomorrow morning.
I thought it was nearly perfect. Ron/Hermione had better chemistry in this movie than ever before and I actually bought them. I nearly bought Harry/Ginny. The important parts of the flashbacks were left in the film and the battle was expanded to be even more exciting.
The only thing I did not like is them changing the ending with the fate of the Elder Wand. It seemed like such a waste and I really enjoyed what Harry did with it in the books.
But besides this, this movie has cemented Harry Potter as a great movie series whereas before it was an alright but overrated one.
As an aside, I saw the movie in 3D. To me it made it that much better. This was my first 3D movie and it was pretty awesome and drew me (and my friends) into the movie all the more. Prehaps they could have done more with it but I didn't notice a lacking of it and most importantly it wasn't overly distracting but used in all the right places. It wasn't quite as packed as I thought it would be (my theater wasn't full) but I had heard of people changing their 3D tickets for regular ones when they showed up opening night.
The only thing I did not like is them changing the ending with the fate of the Elder Wand. It seemed like such a waste and I really enjoyed what Harry did with it in the books.
But besides this, this movie has cemented Harry Potter as a great movie series whereas before it was an alright but overrated one.
As an aside, I saw the movie in 3D. To me it made it that much better. This was my first 3D movie and it was pretty awesome and drew me (and my friends) into the movie all the more. Prehaps they could have done more with it but I didn't notice a lacking of it and most importantly it wasn't overly distracting but used in all the right places. It wasn't quite as packed as I thought it would be (my theater wasn't full) but I had heard of people changing their 3D tickets for regular ones when they showed up opening night.
Similar threads
- Poll
- Poll
