WARNING: SAD AND UNHAPPY THOUGHTS BELOW.
I've waited to post my thoughts on seeing this because, well, I was disappointed. I guess since Part 1 had done so well in setting it up, I thought Part 2 would hold to that. And, I dunno, I guess the whole idea that it was the
final movie made me think it would be somehow special.
And it wasn't. Now, I thought it was a good movie. But I didn't leave the theater crying (except out of frustration) or saddened by the fact that there were no more movies. It left me wanting. Which depresses me even more. It left me thinking that surely, I hadn't actually seen Part 2, it was still waiting out there! And while yes, I understand the need to change things from the books, I don't understand why they
needlessly change things. Though some of this would have the same reaction had there
not been a more awesome book - it's just basic continuity and storytelling that was lacking.
Some of you
may know that Fred and Neville are my favorite characters.
I might have mentioned it once or twice. And the movie did NOT do justice to their characters. Firstly, Fred. Disappointment, and not even from a book-reader standpoint. From the basic fact that he's been a character that the movie watchers have been invested in from the very first movie. He's a recurring character that is
always there, even when not in the exact forefront. There is
investment in him. And they didn't even show his death. Before you say "Well they didn't show Lupin and Tonks' deaths either" let me remind you that we don't know
how they died. In the book, we don't know they're dead until Harry sees their bodies. So while they could have added in a scene with them fighting and dying, it still works the same way. Also, we're less invested in them. Lupin's been around for a few, but Tonks is really hardly there in the movies. No disrespect to their fans (I love them too), but not as huge. Fred is killed by an explosion of wall right after being reunited with his brother who
finally comes back to the family. Okay, fine. You're not going to make a big deal of Percy coming back because that was never a part of the movies. I get that. But to not even show Fred dying? AND THEN. THEN. They don't give us proper time to grieve. We see the Weasley's huddled around. Then a brief glimpse of one of the twins leaning over another. It's perhaps 3 seconds longer than the shot in the trailer. AND THAT IS ALL. We don't even
know which twin it is for quite a while. Like, until Neville mentions that he didn't die in vain. There was absolutely nothing there for us to have the chance to take in his death. I'm pretty positive Lavender Brown's death got more attention than Fred's. And it irked me.
Now, onto Neville. My dear Neville. Yes, Neville got to kill Nagini. Good. I'm glad that it got people to recognize Neville's awesome. BUT. THEY HAD SO MUCH MORE AWESOME JUST WAITING FOR THEM in the book. Here you have all hope gone. Harry is "dead", Voldemort looks like he's won. Everyone could just give up. It is at this moment that Neville steps forward. So far the book and movie coincide. And then, in the movie, Neville gives a little speech. It's sweet. It's heartfelt. That's fine. At this moment, I was sitting in the theater in great anticipation waiting for him to say "I'll join you when hell freezes over" and then a nice swish and yay dead Nagini!
Oh, wait. One other thing before this. Yes, Neville is supposed to know that Nagini needs to be killed. Harry tells him. In the movie Harry hadn't told him. I was hoping that somehow Neville got the memo through Ron and Hermione. Because, I thought, they wouldn't mess up this big scene, would they?
So, back to the scene. Neville's speech is all nice and good, and then all of a sudden Harry pops up and starts running away. I FLIPPED OUT. My mom said later that she thought I was having a stroke or something. Neville's moment of glory, finally, finally, and it gets taken away. All hope is gone, and this character, who has been shafted every single book/movie, finally gets his moment to shine. Because he continues to stand up to Voldemort, even when he sees no reason why. But this is taken from him. Harry reveals himself, and now Neville is put back into the background. For a while, I was worried that they weren't even going to have him kill the snake. And when he does (yes, it looks awesome) you don't know if he actually knew he needed to or not. It was attacking Ron and Hermione. So, to all intents and purposes, he could just be killing it because he's saving his friends. Not because he's taking part in a finale battle against Voldemort.
And, on to other parts of the movie. I'm sorry Lar, but the Snape flashbacks were not that moving to me. I felt like it didn't get across the close friendship they had. It felt almost more as if Snape were a sort of stalker. Because you have them as little kids, and then you have Lily kissing James. It didn't really cover their growing up and sticking together for a while and all that. The end of his memories was beautiful, up through Lily's death I didn't like.
Snapping the Elder Wand in half. No. What? Um, that was Dumbledore's wand. I don't care what Harry thought about its powers, I thought he was too respectful of Dumbledore to do that. And what, he uses Malfoy's wand for the rest of his life?
If they must do the epilogue (*sigh*) they could at least make mention of other characters. Harry tells Lupin that he has a son. And then.....what, he drops off the face of the planet? What ever happened to him? And who were all the other random kids? No mention of anyone else. Which just felt a little...eeh to me.
Happy thoughts now?
So, I thought Helena Bonham-Carter as Hermione as Bellatrix was brilliant. A few times I thought "Wow, make up did a great job!" Yeah. So that was awesome. The whole Gringotts sequence was pretty good. Voldemort hugs are
hilarious. And the Malfoy storyline was done well. McGonagall using the spells to protect the castle was perfect and fantastic! And Harry going to his death was very beautifully done.
I think ıt was good but the book was more beautiful then movie. Lots of parts which was in the book weren't added.. So ı was a little bit disappointed. I was also unhappy because ı don't like endings..
and no, again they relied on people having read the books to fully understand that scene and Mrs. Weasley's famous line. Lazy people!
just didn't seem right, we should've been able to at least see how he died and grief him more.
I actually particularly like Vernon. Especially in the books. I feel we got to know the dursley's better in the books than in the fillms
