Sunday, July 17, 2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 ~ One of the things I like most about this movie is that it gets right down to it. There is no wasting time with introductions and what-has-gone-befores, it just jumps right in where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 left off, and let's get real - isn't that what any movie with the words 'part 2' in its title should do?

This flick has already, before the weekend is over, broken box office records, so I think it's safe to say most of the viewing public knows the score and is there to see how it all ends up. It's a pet peeve of mine. All that's needed is a good story, we don't need every character's entire background. And don't even get me started on superhero origin stories. We don't need to know it every time.

Our hero and his two sidekicks, looking every bit of late late teens and eight movies, move the search for horcruxes and the battle with Voldemort to Hogwarts. There's a lot of bloodshed and lost friends but we knew that, at least those of us who read the book. And that's another thing, not that I mind it - there's not a lot here I remember from the book. It could be my age, and my memory, but then again, for me, when the movies have gone into non-book territory it has always worked well.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of the way white afterlife scenes. They kinda reminded me of The Matrix and PBS' The Lathe of Heaven, and not in a good way. The Harry Potter-is-dead scenes went on a bit too long for my tastes, and while subtle in the books, I thought the Harry-as-Christ analogy was hammered a bit too hard here.

All that said, I liked the movie a lot. It was everything it should have been and more. I loved Neville Longbottom in every scene he appeared in, and wished he and Luna had been in the epilogue. It's a shame it's over, for now. Highly recommended.

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1 comment:

  1. The Matrix-Death scenes were in the book, and I think they actually spent more time there than they do in the movie, though I don't have a copy handy for reference. IMO, overall they did stay pretty faithful, at least as much as you can expect movie to book. But I definitely agree with you; more Neville would have been greatly appreciated. Call me a dirty old lady if you must, but I always knew he'd grow up to be a hottie... *^_^*

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