![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trude
Saw Deathly Hallows II last night. Like with most (all?) HP movies, I can’t decide whether it actually works as a story or not, but it was enjoyable throughout. (Except for the bit where I convinced myself that there was seven horcruxes, Harry not included, and desperately tried to remember the seventh one). Special kudos to Grint, Radcliffe and Watson, who never been better.
• Shell Cottage/Gringotts: Kilgaraaaah!!! And good to see Warwick Davies finally get the opportunity to do some acting. And Helena Bonham Carter as Hermione was fun and Ron looked very good in his fake beard.
• Aberforth – there was not enough Aberforth! Though, given that the movies has always concentrated on The Trio & Harry vs. Voldemort, and Dumbledore’s past was downplayed in the last movie, this wasn’t really surprising. And it spared us a lot of exposition. Naturally, I did love that Abe turn up for the battle in the end. And chillin with Dean and Seamus afterwards.
• NEVILLE!!!! There was an appropriate amount of Neville, and I liked that he got to keep his awkwardness and ugly cardigan alongside his newfound badassedness. Could have lived without Neville/Luna, but can live with it too.
• I really wonder how Luna could end up at Hogwarts before the Trio? But I liked her implied friendship with Helena Ravenclaw.
• Have no problem with Ginny being at Hogwarts earlier than in the book. In fact, the treatment of Ginny and Harry/Ginny is one area where I think the movies are superior to the books.
• Really liked Cho just being there, and NOT being the reason for any misplaced jealousy from Ginny’s side.
• Professor McGonagall! So awesome when dueling Snape or cheerfully sending statues into battle or showing her affection for Harry in the driest way possible. I didn’t care for her sending the Slytherin students to the dungeons, but otherwise I have nothing but love for her.
• Fiiiiilch! I will miss you.
• Hey, movie people, would it have killed you to make the film 30 second longer and give Tonks a line? And maybe mention Teddy before the forest scene? Could have led to greater emotional impact there, you know.
• Liked Remus making up inspirational quotes on the spot.
• I’m surprised (and a bit disappointed) that Fred’s death (and the twins, period) barely was there.
• Snapes memories: I loved the first scenes with little Sev and Lily (and Tuney) , but I wish they hadn’t set up Lily and James right after their sorting. Cause it really makes Snape the poor woobie whose best friend dumped him in favor of the brat who bullied him, and I really don’t like that interpretation of the Snape-Lily relationship. (Really enjoyed the re-use of dancing Lily and James from PoA, though.)
• The Forest Again: Liiily! Siiirius! Other dead guys! (I have no idea what was going on with David Thewlis nose in that scene.)
• It took a VERY long time before Hagrid showed up, but when he did, he was used well.
• Malfoys! I’ll never be a Lucius fan, but Jason Isaacs portrayal of his growing desperation (and stubble) in the last two movies has been excellent. And I loved the shot of Narcissa just grabbing Draco by the hand and walking away. (Narcissa isn’t a good or nice person by any measure, but I am a bit of a fan.)
• Dumbledore: what happened to his little hat? Again, I miss his backstory, but it saved us from a lot of exposition.
• I don’t really get the point of Molly blowing Bellatrix into Evil Confetti instead of simply killing her.
• Epilogue: kids were cute, and for some reason I loved the bit with them going through the barrier. Wish it could have been a bit longer, though, so we could have seen Teddy, and heard about professor Longbottom, and so Ron could have had some lines.
• Shell Cottage/Gringotts: Kilgaraaaah!!! And good to see Warwick Davies finally get the opportunity to do some acting. And Helena Bonham Carter as Hermione was fun and Ron looked very good in his fake beard.
• Aberforth – there was not enough Aberforth! Though, given that the movies has always concentrated on The Trio & Harry vs. Voldemort, and Dumbledore’s past was downplayed in the last movie, this wasn’t really surprising. And it spared us a lot of exposition. Naturally, I did love that Abe turn up for the battle in the end. And chillin with Dean and Seamus afterwards.
• NEVILLE!!!! There was an appropriate amount of Neville, and I liked that he got to keep his awkwardness and ugly cardigan alongside his newfound badassedness. Could have lived without Neville/Luna, but can live with it too.
• I really wonder how Luna could end up at Hogwarts before the Trio? But I liked her implied friendship with Helena Ravenclaw.
• Have no problem with Ginny being at Hogwarts earlier than in the book. In fact, the treatment of Ginny and Harry/Ginny is one area where I think the movies are superior to the books.
• Really liked Cho just being there, and NOT being the reason for any misplaced jealousy from Ginny’s side.
• Professor McGonagall! So awesome when dueling Snape or cheerfully sending statues into battle or showing her affection for Harry in the driest way possible. I didn’t care for her sending the Slytherin students to the dungeons, but otherwise I have nothing but love for her.
• Fiiiiilch! I will miss you.
• Hey, movie people, would it have killed you to make the film 30 second longer and give Tonks a line? And maybe mention Teddy before the forest scene? Could have led to greater emotional impact there, you know.
• Liked Remus making up inspirational quotes on the spot.
• I’m surprised (and a bit disappointed) that Fred’s death (and the twins, period) barely was there.
• Snapes memories: I loved the first scenes with little Sev and Lily (and Tuney) , but I wish they hadn’t set up Lily and James right after their sorting. Cause it really makes Snape the poor woobie whose best friend dumped him in favor of the brat who bullied him, and I really don’t like that interpretation of the Snape-Lily relationship. (Really enjoyed the re-use of dancing Lily and James from PoA, though.)
• The Forest Again: Liiily! Siiirius! Other dead guys! (I have no idea what was going on with David Thewlis nose in that scene.)
• It took a VERY long time before Hagrid showed up, but when he did, he was used well.
• Malfoys! I’ll never be a Lucius fan, but Jason Isaacs portrayal of his growing desperation (and stubble) in the last two movies has been excellent. And I loved the shot of Narcissa just grabbing Draco by the hand and walking away. (Narcissa isn’t a good or nice person by any measure, but I am a bit of a fan.)
• Dumbledore: what happened to his little hat? Again, I miss his backstory, but it saved us from a lot of exposition.
• I don’t really get the point of Molly blowing Bellatrix into Evil Confetti instead of simply killing her.
• Epilogue: kids were cute, and for some reason I loved the bit with them going through the barrier. Wish it could have been a bit longer, though, so we could have seen Teddy, and heard about professor Longbottom, and so Ron could have had some lines.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-29 11:33 am (UTC)• Shell Cottage/Gringotts: Kilgaraaaah!!! And good to see Warwick Davies finally get the opportunity to do some acting. And Helena Bonham Carter as Hermione was fun and Ron looked very good in his fake beard.
Helena Bonham Carter was exceptionally good at playing Hermione pretending to be Bellatrix. And I love that while they really do make Hermione a bit more... action girly than she is in the books (what's wrong with just being extremely smart - something we almost never see in the films?), they still keep her awful acting.
Malfoys! I’ll never be a Lucius fan, but Jason Isaacs portrayal of his growing desperation (and stubble) in the last two movies has been excellent. And I loved the shot of Narcissa just grabbing Draco by the hand and walking away. (Narcissa isn’t a good or nice person by any measure, but I am a bit of a fan.)
What I like about the way JK Rowling has written them is that at the end of the day, they're a family. So many fanfics had Lucius as this child abuser and Narcissa as this crazy Stepford Wife, and I'm glad JK Rowling didn't go this direction but that she still did make them slightly sympathetic. Maybe some of it is the Slytherin, looking out for their narrowed interests above all, but nevertheless I love it, and I'm glad the films kept that in as well. Jason Isaac's Lucius was no longer the CoS Lucius who may have tried to kill Harry (in the film anyway), but a father distraught that he'd put his son in the middle of a war. I also liked Narcissa's horrified look upon seeing the Goblins. (Do we know if she was a DE in canon, or was she just amongst them by association?)
I don’t really get the point of Molly blowing Bellatrix into Evil Confetti instead of simply killing her.
Some people have told me that it was probably for the visual impact. I'm not sure if I agree that was necessary, but hey, it's Hollywood.
• Hey, movie people, would it have killed you to make the film 30 second longer and give Tonks a line? And maybe mention Teddy before the forest scene? Could have led to greater emotional impact there, you know.
Yeah, I was a bit taken aback when Harry brought up Teddy because
I'd just accepted that they'd decided not to include him... which in all honesty was fine by me.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-29 11:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-14 12:33 pm (UTC)(Do we know if she was a DE in canon, or was she just amongst them by association?)
I think JKR once said that Narcissa shared the DE:s worldview but wasn't active?
Some people have told me that it was probably for the visual impact.
It worked for me with Voldemort (barely human anymore) and Nagini (horcrux), but I always saw Bellatrix as a deeply horrible human and not a inhuman thing of evil, and I wish they hadn't muddled that. (And the scene itself was pretty brief and unimpressive anyway.)