I’ve already given my take on this weekend’s big release, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” People have been lining up for hours, days, whatever, to see this closing installment, so it’s time to offer a place for you to have your say on the film. Let us know when you get around to it. And keep an eye on that box office.
Comments
108 responses to “Tell us what you thought of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’”
Finally saw it. Finally … haha, after 3 days of official release.
Technically, I think that the film is excellent. The desaturated cinematography, immaculate art direction, wonderful costumes, make-up (Voldemort, the goblins), variance of sound design, musical score, visual effects (WOW), etc.. — all of that is superb.
I also liked particulars: 1) the escape on the dragon. 2) Maggie Smith kicking ass and her line about being able to cast that spell. 3) Alan Rickman in the memory (from his tears). 4) that entire sequence. 5) the King’s Cross scene, beautiful. 6) the forest. 7) not my daughter, you bitch! (or something like that). 8) I could go on & on with stand-out moments.
I didn’t even mind the epilogue.
Allllllllll of that said, it’s probably no more than an 8 out of 10 for me because I also (like many here) felt shortchanged with the emotion. And the final duel could have been grander.
So WHAT (sorry, Kris, haha) if the film was mercifully 130 minutes long. This needed to be a good 150-160 to properly wrap things up; which it doesn’t.
And I also agree that proper groundwork from some of the others could have gone along way in improving this Finale.
Still, it IS one of the better films I’ve seen this year, thus far. But I’m not sure it’s one of the top 3 Harry films I’d be eager to re-visit. The magic is sadly over.
My ONLY favorite thing is Helena Bonham Carter playing Emma Watson’s horrible acting.
She completely nailed how awful that kid acts. Helena rules.
The rest was horrible. Voldemort’s death must be to most anticlimatic thing I’ve seen in cinema in years.
And don’t get me started on that epilogue. Ugh..
It was basically everything I thought it would be. Nice action and design, but once again, ever since the 5th movie, Steve Kloves and David Yates decided that they could write a better story than J.K. Rowling. Please explain the logic in deciding to make the final confrontation with Voldy a twisty, smoke-filled, “I’m going to stretch your face until you’re dead” wrestling match, instead of the wonderfully-written circling duel by Rowling? Don’t tell me it was more exciting. Don’t tell me the viewer wouldn’t understand it? From the moment he took over the franchise, Yates threw subtlety out the window in favor of action and schmaltz.
HOWEVER, there were many good things about the film, starting with the Gringott’s break-in. Possibly the best segment of the entire series. Warwick Davis as always does great work, and his malicious turn as Griphook was fantastic. The Gringott’s dragon was amazing. For this alone, HP7:2 should have a visual effects nomination.
They did a great job with The Prince’s Tale. Rickman, as usual was best in show. His monologue in front of the Hogwarts students dripped with suspense.
Great imagery of the Hogwarts suits of armor coming to life. I only wish we could have seen McGonagall lead the school desks into battle too. :)
Score, tech elements all top-notch. I expect 3-5 noms, and at least 2 wins – probably effects and definitely art direction. Maybe one of the sound categories.
So now my rankings:
1. Azkaban
2. Goblet of Fire
3. Hallows Part 1
4. Hallows Part 2
5. Phoenix
6. Chamber of Secrets
7. Sorcerer’s Stone
8. Half-Blood Prince
As a Potter fan who has religiously watched all of these movies, I for one am ecstatic this series is over. I’m exhausted from getting built up for each film, only to come away partially-satisfied, at best. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the team behind these films post-Potter. I think Radcliffe and Watson will be fine, the latter will be a bonafide movie star. Grint will exist on the periphery of film (and in doing so might have the most longevity). Yates is the one I’m worried about. Apparently Warners has given him carte blanche of any project on the books. For his sake, I hope he chooses something as far removed from the Potterverse as you can get.
My rankings:
——-fantastic—————-
1) Goblet of Fire
2) Sorcerer’s Stone
3) Deathly Hallows: Part 1
——–very good, but disappointing in ways—–
4) Chamber of Secrets
5) Deathly Hallows Part 2
6) Azkaban
——–satisfactory, with issues———
7) Half-Blood Prince
8) Order of the Phoenix
I don’t blame the actors or the tech team for anything for this last film. I think they all were superb. If I blame anything, it’s the directing/writing/editing for flyyyying through things and neglecting us fans of some proper pacing & closure for the major events near the end.
I, too, am glad it’s all over ^. I’ve enjoyed them immensely. But sheesh. I can move on.
I found 7.2 and 1/3 a disappointing slog for the most part, and I rather unexpectedly loved pt 1 — much lyrical, quiet stuff to like there. I would wager, in fact, that the brevity some are lauding it for is part of what keeps it from lifting off into anything special: like the back half of the book, its emotional beats are rushed and major narrative details are plopped down awkwardly in strange places. Rowling mishandles Snape’s story by having it revealed through her hero dunking his head in a memory bowl of tears (basically), then rushing off without registering the significance of what he’s seen, and Yates follows suit, actually pruning away the most important elements of the story — Snape’s flirtation with pure-blood fascism, the complexity of his double agent work, the depth of his bond with Lily, everything. It’s a good example of the close-but-no-cigarness of Harry Potter both in print and on-screen: so much untapped potential, slightly smudged into incoherence at the finish, where emotional resonance counts.
That said, I have a deep sentimental attachment to this series that cannot be accounted for either by my age (too old to have grown up with it) or my familiarity with the books, which are too convoluted by a mile. It’s been sweet watching these kids grow up on screen, and I feel like the films have done a better job of capturing their maturity and the intricacies of their relationships with one another than Rowling in a curious way; Radcliffe and Watson have a lovely makeshift-sibling bond, for one.
Very well said, qwiggles.
I disagree with a lot of qwiggles post, but I definitely agree with what he said about the quiet moments in DH1. One thing Yates did right in the first film was capture the loneliness and despair of the trio on the road from the law. Of course, not nearly as well as Rowling did (a ridiculous argument).
Why ridiculous?