Dave
Staff member
First, let me say that I'm writing this as a big fucking post that comes in basically two parts. The first part is the day I spent yesterday and the second part is about the movie. Please note that I'm assuming one thing when I get to the movie part. I'm assuming that you've read the books. The reason for this is because I'm going to talk about the movie in very specific ways. These will undoubtedly be spoilers if you have NOT read the books. So when I get to the movie portion and you don't want to be spoilered, stop reading then. I'll warn you then.
So yesterday I took the entire day off. I had won advanced screening tickets to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" and had no idea if there would be a line. The main problem is that my daughter and I saw each HP movie on opening day and it's our "thing". But she's doing badly in a class at school and I didn't want to take her out early to do so. My wife stepped up and agreed to pick my daughter up at the end of school and bring her to the theater so I could wait in line.
The movie started at 6 so I stressed and finally showed up at noon. I was alone. I sat in the video game area for about 20 minutes when I spotted a woman bringing in a chair. I naturally assumed that she was a part of the line and made sure by just asking. Yup. And she was very surprised to see that she wasn't the first. Apparently she went to a lot of these and was always the first. Not this time. She showed me where the line would be and we set up camp...and were alone for about an hour. Then the people started showing up. Lots of people. Lots and lots of people. Several times we had to tell people to get to the back of the line. They'd try the old "hang out & talk to the promo people and just try and stand there when done talking" that I've seen before and was NOT going to fall for. It was the first time I've ever been to that theater and don't give a shit if they didn't like me. So I made it known that I was there first and was not going to let anyone cut.
Finally at about 5:15 they started letting people in and I - of course - rushed in quickly to find the best spot. Trouble is, all the promo people from the radio stations had their families come in and take the choicest spots. I did find 2 in the front row of the stadium seating so I grabbed them quickly and waited for my daughter to finally get in - she had a big bag and they searched it.
The movie only had 2 previews and they both SUCKED!! The first one was for the live action Yogi Bear movie. The second was a movie about teenage love and werewolves. Sound familiar? Yup. By the director of Twilight. It's called Red Riding Hoodand it looks like teenage girl bullshit yet again. I guess since they've ruined vampires for everyone werewolves are next. When is Frankenstein gonna get some hot teenage lovin'?
Anyway, I had a bad feeling about the crowd around us when they "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed about these and especially about the Yogi Bear one. Yes, I was surrounded by little kids and fucking morons. But since they were radio station family morons they didn't actually have to wait to get in since their seats were reserved. And why would they want to wait in line with - and I'm not kidding - 3 & 4 year old kids in tow? They had 3 & 4 year old kids with them to a pretty intense movie. Every time someone new would come on screen they would ask, "Who's that, mama?" and she'd answer them patiently. About the tenth time I turned around and said, "Really?" After that she started shushing the kids up but when really loud intense things would happen they'd scream. I truly and sincerely hope these kids have nightmares for the rest of their lives. Nightmares of giant snakes and bad men in black who kill you with a word and flick of a wrist...
So how was the movie, you ask? Let me tell you....[SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!]
I loved it. But I can also see how people who have not read the book might not care for it very much. There were several parts where things just happen without any explanation. I knew what was going on as did Sammi, but you could tell there were those around us who didn't know what the hell was happening. As always there were things in the book that didn't make it to the movie as well as some things that they did in the movie that were an improvement over the book. Also, several things that took FOREVER in the book were kinda glossed over in the movie - and I think that it was done for the better.
Examples of each:
When Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow and meet who they THINK is Bathilda Bagshot, Harry is separated and speaks only in parseltongue. In the book they explain that Harry was intentionally separated and didn't realize that he was speaking the language. In the movie he just does it. But if you didn't know what was happening it would be confusing. A lady near me said, "What the hell was that?!?" right before Nagini attacks. (Which caused the kids behind me to fucking freak out!!
When Harry, Ron and Hermione go on the run and get back to Sirius Black's house, there was a door that had a name plate reading "Regulus Arcturius Black". This lets them know who RAB is. This took like 5 seconds. In the book it took them CHAPTERS to figure it out.
Also done much, much more quickly was having Kreacher help out. In the book it was a real love/hate thing with them before he was sent out to find Mundungus but in the movie it was about 15 seconds of dialogue. (Okay, maybe a minute. But it was a LOT less!)
They had Ron listening to the radio while they were on the run, but they didn't have anyone from the Order broadcasting. All they got was news reports from the ministry. Actually the broadcasts could have been from the Order as they gave lists of missing wizards/witches but they never really touched on anything.
One thing they did very, very well was the story of the Three Brothers. Instead of telling it or reading it and just showing the characters reacting, they had Hermione reading the story while they animated the sequence. Holy shit was that well done! It was seriously one of the best parts of the movie. Sammi and I both loved it.
The movie started interestingly. It showed Ron, Hermione and Harry all getting ready to strike out on their own, not going to Hogwarts. Harry watched as the Dursleys packed up their stuff and moved away. I was a bit annoyed that they didn't show Dudley & Harry making up. I thought it did a lot for the Dudley character in the books and helped Harry to realize that he did, indeed have a family. I guess they didn't think it was that important to keep in.
Ron didn't do much to get ready other than standing outside their house looking apprehensively into the distance, contemplating what was to come.
Hermione...well, Hermione's vignette was heartbreaking. In the books they almost gloss over the fact that to keep her parents safe she erases their memories of her. In the movie they actually show her doing it. She cries silently behind them as you can see their faces go blank and she fades out of family photos.
These three things happen before they show the movie title. Very powerful and very well done.
Then it opens with a closeup of Bill Nighy as the Minister of Magic, assuring the people that things were perfectly fine. Of course, they are not. Right after that they cut to the scene where Voldemort murders Charity Burbage, feeding the body to Nagini. This also freaked out the kids behind me. -heh-
Next they go to Harry's fleeing of the place he'd always known as home and although they show the death of Hedwig, Mad-Eye dies off-screen and his death doesn't seem to be as powerful as it was in the book. Later, when Harry goes to the Ministry he sees Mad-Eye's magical eye on Umbridge's door yet doesn't seem to care like he does in the book.
After the attack at the wedding the movie tends to drag a bit. Not sure if that's supposed to be that way as the characters felt the same way, but it did drag - especially after Ron left. The scene where Ron comes back was well done and you get to see an animated partially nude Harry and Hermione making out & possibly more. They came VERY close to taking this scene to an "R" rating and the mother with the little kids behind me went, "Oh my!"
When Ron destroys the locket it is very well done. And this is where I thought they'd end this portion of the movie but instead they chose an ending closer to "The Empire Strikes Back". *I* thought that they'd end it on a happy note with Ron coming back, destroying the horcrux and having them reunite.
Nope.
After Ron comes back they go to Lovegood's, learn about Luna being taken, then getting captured themselves. The movie ended when they escaped Malfoy's house, ending up on a beach with a dying Dobby. Harry, Hermione and Ron bury Dobby and it cuts to Voldemort entering Dumbledore's grave - retrieving the "Elder Wand" that makes him unbeatable in a duel. He raises it to the sky and releases a huge lightning storm...end of movie.
So the movie ended on a real down note with a (sort of) major character dying and the bad guy getting the unbeatable weapon. A heard a few people who were unsatisfied with it, but when listening to them further I realized that these people hadn't read the book. Pretty much everyone else I spoke to liked it...and each of them had read it.
So my rating is a bit odd.
If you've read the book I give this 8/10 stars.
If you have not you'll probably rate it at about 6/10.
So yesterday I took the entire day off. I had won advanced screening tickets to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" and had no idea if there would be a line. The main problem is that my daughter and I saw each HP movie on opening day and it's our "thing". But she's doing badly in a class at school and I didn't want to take her out early to do so. My wife stepped up and agreed to pick my daughter up at the end of school and bring her to the theater so I could wait in line.
The movie started at 6 so I stressed and finally showed up at noon. I was alone. I sat in the video game area for about 20 minutes when I spotted a woman bringing in a chair. I naturally assumed that she was a part of the line and made sure by just asking. Yup. And she was very surprised to see that she wasn't the first. Apparently she went to a lot of these and was always the first. Not this time. She showed me where the line would be and we set up camp...and were alone for about an hour. Then the people started showing up. Lots of people. Lots and lots of people. Several times we had to tell people to get to the back of the line. They'd try the old "hang out & talk to the promo people and just try and stand there when done talking" that I've seen before and was NOT going to fall for. It was the first time I've ever been to that theater and don't give a shit if they didn't like me. So I made it known that I was there first and was not going to let anyone cut.
Finally at about 5:15 they started letting people in and I - of course - rushed in quickly to find the best spot. Trouble is, all the promo people from the radio stations had their families come in and take the choicest spots. I did find 2 in the front row of the stadium seating so I grabbed them quickly and waited for my daughter to finally get in - she had a big bag and they searched it.
The movie only had 2 previews and they both SUCKED!! The first one was for the live action Yogi Bear movie. The second was a movie about teenage love and werewolves. Sound familiar? Yup. By the director of Twilight. It's called Red Riding Hoodand it looks like teenage girl bullshit yet again. I guess since they've ruined vampires for everyone werewolves are next. When is Frankenstein gonna get some hot teenage lovin'?
Anyway, I had a bad feeling about the crowd around us when they "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed about these and especially about the Yogi Bear one. Yes, I was surrounded by little kids and fucking morons. But since they were radio station family morons they didn't actually have to wait to get in since their seats were reserved. And why would they want to wait in line with - and I'm not kidding - 3 & 4 year old kids in tow? They had 3 & 4 year old kids with them to a pretty intense movie. Every time someone new would come on screen they would ask, "Who's that, mama?" and she'd answer them patiently. About the tenth time I turned around and said, "Really?" After that she started shushing the kids up but when really loud intense things would happen they'd scream. I truly and sincerely hope these kids have nightmares for the rest of their lives. Nightmares of giant snakes and bad men in black who kill you with a word and flick of a wrist...
So how was the movie, you ask? Let me tell you....[SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!]
I loved it. But I can also see how people who have not read the book might not care for it very much. There were several parts where things just happen without any explanation. I knew what was going on as did Sammi, but you could tell there were those around us who didn't know what the hell was happening. As always there were things in the book that didn't make it to the movie as well as some things that they did in the movie that were an improvement over the book. Also, several things that took FOREVER in the book were kinda glossed over in the movie - and I think that it was done for the better.
Examples of each:
When Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow and meet who they THINK is Bathilda Bagshot, Harry is separated and speaks only in parseltongue. In the book they explain that Harry was intentionally separated and didn't realize that he was speaking the language. In the movie he just does it. But if you didn't know what was happening it would be confusing. A lady near me said, "What the hell was that?!?" right before Nagini attacks. (Which caused the kids behind me to fucking freak out!!
When Harry, Ron and Hermione go on the run and get back to Sirius Black's house, there was a door that had a name plate reading "Regulus Arcturius Black". This lets them know who RAB is. This took like 5 seconds. In the book it took them CHAPTERS to figure it out.
Also done much, much more quickly was having Kreacher help out. In the book it was a real love/hate thing with them before he was sent out to find Mundungus but in the movie it was about 15 seconds of dialogue. (Okay, maybe a minute. But it was a LOT less!)
They had Ron listening to the radio while they were on the run, but they didn't have anyone from the Order broadcasting. All they got was news reports from the ministry. Actually the broadcasts could have been from the Order as they gave lists of missing wizards/witches but they never really touched on anything.
One thing they did very, very well was the story of the Three Brothers. Instead of telling it or reading it and just showing the characters reacting, they had Hermione reading the story while they animated the sequence. Holy shit was that well done! It was seriously one of the best parts of the movie. Sammi and I both loved it.
The movie started interestingly. It showed Ron, Hermione and Harry all getting ready to strike out on their own, not going to Hogwarts. Harry watched as the Dursleys packed up their stuff and moved away. I was a bit annoyed that they didn't show Dudley & Harry making up. I thought it did a lot for the Dudley character in the books and helped Harry to realize that he did, indeed have a family. I guess they didn't think it was that important to keep in.
Ron didn't do much to get ready other than standing outside their house looking apprehensively into the distance, contemplating what was to come.
Hermione...well, Hermione's vignette was heartbreaking. In the books they almost gloss over the fact that to keep her parents safe she erases their memories of her. In the movie they actually show her doing it. She cries silently behind them as you can see their faces go blank and she fades out of family photos.
These three things happen before they show the movie title. Very powerful and very well done.
Then it opens with a closeup of Bill Nighy as the Minister of Magic, assuring the people that things were perfectly fine. Of course, they are not. Right after that they cut to the scene where Voldemort murders Charity Burbage, feeding the body to Nagini. This also freaked out the kids behind me. -heh-
Next they go to Harry's fleeing of the place he'd always known as home and although they show the death of Hedwig, Mad-Eye dies off-screen and his death doesn't seem to be as powerful as it was in the book. Later, when Harry goes to the Ministry he sees Mad-Eye's magical eye on Umbridge's door yet doesn't seem to care like he does in the book.
After the attack at the wedding the movie tends to drag a bit. Not sure if that's supposed to be that way as the characters felt the same way, but it did drag - especially after Ron left. The scene where Ron comes back was well done and you get to see an animated partially nude Harry and Hermione making out & possibly more. They came VERY close to taking this scene to an "R" rating and the mother with the little kids behind me went, "Oh my!"
When Ron destroys the locket it is very well done. And this is where I thought they'd end this portion of the movie but instead they chose an ending closer to "The Empire Strikes Back". *I* thought that they'd end it on a happy note with Ron coming back, destroying the horcrux and having them reunite.
Nope.
After Ron comes back they go to Lovegood's, learn about Luna being taken, then getting captured themselves. The movie ended when they escaped Malfoy's house, ending up on a beach with a dying Dobby. Harry, Hermione and Ron bury Dobby and it cuts to Voldemort entering Dumbledore's grave - retrieving the "Elder Wand" that makes him unbeatable in a duel. He raises it to the sky and releases a huge lightning storm...end of movie.
So the movie ended on a real down note with a (sort of) major character dying and the bad guy getting the unbeatable weapon. A heard a few people who were unsatisfied with it, but when listening to them further I realized that these people hadn't read the book. Pretty much everyone else I spoke to liked it...and each of them had read it.
So my rating is a bit odd.
If you've read the book I give this 8/10 stars.
If you have not you'll probably rate it at about 6/10.
