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autumnsoliloquy90So I've finally watched it, twice actually. First time in 2D, today in 3D. I thought 3D would be shit but it was a little bit better than 2D. Too bad student discounts didn't apply to 3D films. But anyway, the only english cinema in Frankfurt really effing sucks. I still can't forgive them for killing my movie experience for Part 1 last year, when the audio was so soft for about 15 min despite some of the audience having gotten out of their seat to complain, and the projector was extremely shaky. And now, they had an effing intermission for Part 2 which is like, what, 2 hours long?? My bladder has a huge capacity so I don't need the break thank you very much. And it was always at the worst place to cut, which is just before we find out so many characters are dead. Talk about ruining the atmosphere.
Now to the movie itself. I'm gonna be a bitch for saying it wasn't really up to my expectations. But then again, HP fans really went off the charts with their expectations with this one. But nevertheless, DH pt. 2 is still awesome. They didn't defile canon material in any way so I'm thankful for that. But the pacing was really rushed. I don't know if it was to keep the adrenaline pumping -- maybe the editors feared that if some scenes were dragged out, the movie would lose its momentum? But it just felt very very rushed. The whole film clocked only 130 min, which is relatively short already I think. They could have dragged each scene a little longer to make it a slightly longer 150 min. It's like the audience doesn't have enough time to really digest every scene, to really relish the emotions and make sense of it. There was also the transition to the last scene of the war which really stuck out like a sore thumb to me, because the editing and the scene transition was so... bleh.
The epilogue was... hilarious. I can't even. Personally I loved the epilogue in the book (maybe it's shipper's bias), but I know many fans hated it, and the movie's treatment of this part of the book is definitely not gonna help that case. In fact, I'm sure many people would hate the epilogue even more. Everyone looked horrible!! Except the kids of course. Seriously, Harry and Hermione were the best-looking adults. Ginny's hair looked very fake, while Ron... LOL seriously what's with the paunch?? Oh yeah, I forgot that Ron Weasley's major recurring role in the film series is to be the butt of jokes. Yup, some things never change. :/ Draco was... HAAH I CANT EVEN. Okay enough hatred
But besides all that nitpicking, the movie was really awesome!! I still say Part 1 was better overall, but Part 2 isn't lagging far behind. They really went all out with the action scenes. Sadly the giants still fall short in terms of being realistic (even Tim Burke admitted in an interview that Grawp was the worst CGI effect they had in HP), but otherwise everything else was perfect. I was seriously impressed with the Gringotts vault scene. The logistics of that scene, the CGI effects, etc. must have been complicated.
As for the acting, well, 3 people really stood out: Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman and Matt Lewis. The first two are self-explanatory, being the awesome hot actors they are, but Matt Lewis came as a surprise. Of course it's partly because Neville as a character became awesome, but it still required some talent to really pull off something like that and give justice to the character's development. I think he did quite well. Dan Rad did all right, his acting felt like Harry rather than Dan Radcliffe to me, so that was good. Even Emma managed to show off her acting chops (I loved that part where she's like "I'll go with you"), but Rupert was still the best in Part 1 (his grief towards Fred's death didn't quite move me -- or was it the quick change of scene?)
I'm glad that they romanticised/exaggerated the drama of The Prince's Tale. Reading the book it wasn't one of the most memorable things to me, maybe because DH had so many things going on that it was hard to really appreciate everything, or maybe because 5 years ago I was just an immature kid whose biggest concern was whether Ron and Hermione would end up together or not. (Well who can blame me? After years of fangirling, the 2002 and 2006 online ship wars and debates, crazy anvil sized hints...) I can never say this enough, but I love Alan Rickman's acting. I would even go so far to say that it was the shining moment of the movie. I teared up at that part. I hate unrequited tragic romances in general but fuck I was sad. Is it crazy to have hated Lily and James at that moment? I know they were Harry's folks and good people or GREAT people even but I was just... ugh. Snape is a horrible person too, but I just wanted a guy like that get some luv ya know? Le sigh. I never thought about this before, but fuck, did Snape die a virgin? Most probably. Skinny little gits with greasy hair who call their BFFs "mudblood" are destined to have such a fate :(
Okay now onto the Ron/Hermione parts, because I'm still a shipper and I don't think that would ever change. Overall I'm a satisfied shipper with all the moments, even though they all still feel somewhat forced to me, maybe because they just pale in comparison with the book moments. But whatever, I shall not complain. As for The Kiss, which everyone has been waiting for since 2002 (in my case at least), it was... up to my expectations I guess. Well I wasn't expecting much because I thought Emma and Rupes might not deliver, but whoa, they went all out didn't they? ;) Wanted to squee so much but I just had to content myself with grinning like a crazy idiotic fangirl. I still prefer the book kiss though. I mean come on!! Harry's "is this the moment??" (speaking on behalf of the rest of fandom) is priceless!! And the house-elves thing, the one thing that a wizard from an already open-minded pureblood family and a muggleborn witch cannot agree on, it added such an interesting dimension to the R/Hr ship! I wish they left that in. But again, I SHALL NOT COMPLAIN.
I can go on and on and on but I shall end here. I felt really really sad after watching it yesterday for the first time. Partly because of the fucking intermission, and maybe also because I watched it alone so I had no one to fangirl and go crazy with, and the rest of the audience were so effing reserved. Where art thou, thee crazy HP fanatics?? I'm sure you exist somewhere in Germany right?? Maybe not in Frankfurt then... unless all of them went to watch the German version. Blehhhh. And yeah, I was really moved by The Prince's Tale. I know this appreciation for Snape is long overdue and everyone's like, dude, you're ten years late, but yeah. Maybe because now, I can actually truly relate to someone shitty like that. (Vanity only allows you to relate to people who are close to perfect and awesome and heroic.)
So, end of crazy fangirl's review of the movie. Someday I'm gonna buy the first three books which I only read loaned from the library, and get all the DVDs. Yeah yeah, not a true blue fan if you don't have these, but I wanna buy them with my own money next time, not my parents'. SIGH IT'S OVER. FML IT FEELS SO EMPTY NOW. FUCKKK. THIS IS WHAT DUMBLEDORE MEANT WHEN HE SAID TO HARRY, "IT DOES NOT DO TO DWELL ON DREAMS AND FORGET TO LIVE." T________T
Now to the movie itself. I'm gonna be a bitch for saying it wasn't really up to my expectations. But then again, HP fans really went off the charts with their expectations with this one. But nevertheless, DH pt. 2 is still awesome. They didn't defile canon material in any way so I'm thankful for that. But the pacing was really rushed. I don't know if it was to keep the adrenaline pumping -- maybe the editors feared that if some scenes were dragged out, the movie would lose its momentum? But it just felt very very rushed. The whole film clocked only 130 min, which is relatively short already I think. They could have dragged each scene a little longer to make it a slightly longer 150 min. It's like the audience doesn't have enough time to really digest every scene, to really relish the emotions and make sense of it. There was also the transition to the last scene of the war which really stuck out like a sore thumb to me, because the editing and the scene transition was so... bleh.
The epilogue was... hilarious. I can't even. Personally I loved the epilogue in the book (maybe it's shipper's bias), but I know many fans hated it, and the movie's treatment of this part of the book is definitely not gonna help that case. In fact, I'm sure many people would hate the epilogue even more. Everyone looked horrible!! Except the kids of course. Seriously, Harry and Hermione were the best-looking adults. Ginny's hair looked very fake, while Ron... LOL seriously what's with the paunch?? Oh yeah, I forgot that Ron Weasley's major recurring role in the film series is to be the butt of jokes. Yup, some things never change. :/ Draco was... HAAH I CANT EVEN. Okay enough hatred
But besides all that nitpicking, the movie was really awesome!! I still say Part 1 was better overall, but Part 2 isn't lagging far behind. They really went all out with the action scenes. Sadly the giants still fall short in terms of being realistic (even Tim Burke admitted in an interview that Grawp was the worst CGI effect they had in HP), but otherwise everything else was perfect. I was seriously impressed with the Gringotts vault scene. The logistics of that scene, the CGI effects, etc. must have been complicated.
As for the acting, well, 3 people really stood out: Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman and Matt Lewis. The first two are self-explanatory, being the awesome hot actors they are, but Matt Lewis came as a surprise. Of course it's partly because Neville as a character became awesome, but it still required some talent to really pull off something like that and give justice to the character's development. I think he did quite well. Dan Rad did all right, his acting felt like Harry rather than Dan Radcliffe to me, so that was good. Even Emma managed to show off her acting chops (I loved that part where she's like "I'll go with you"), but Rupert was still the best in Part 1 (his grief towards Fred's death didn't quite move me -- or was it the quick change of scene?)
I'm glad that they romanticised/exaggerated the drama of The Prince's Tale. Reading the book it wasn't one of the most memorable things to me, maybe because DH had so many things going on that it was hard to really appreciate everything, or maybe because 5 years ago I was just an immature kid whose biggest concern was whether Ron and Hermione would end up together or not. (Well who can blame me? After years of fangirling, the 2002 and 2006 online ship wars and debates, crazy anvil sized hints...) I can never say this enough, but I love Alan Rickman's acting. I would even go so far to say that it was the shining moment of the movie. I teared up at that part. I hate unrequited tragic romances in general but fuck I was sad. Is it crazy to have hated Lily and James at that moment? I know they were Harry's folks and good people or GREAT people even but I was just... ugh. Snape is a horrible person too, but I just wanted a guy like that get some luv ya know? Le sigh. I never thought about this before, but fuck, did Snape die a virgin? Most probably. Skinny little gits with greasy hair who call their BFFs "mudblood" are destined to have such a fate :(
Okay now onto the Ron/Hermione parts, because I'm still a shipper and I don't think that would ever change. Overall I'm a satisfied shipper with all the moments, even though they all still feel somewhat forced to me, maybe because they just pale in comparison with the book moments. But whatever, I shall not complain. As for The Kiss, which everyone has been waiting for since 2002 (in my case at least), it was... up to my expectations I guess. Well I wasn't expecting much because I thought Emma and Rupes might not deliver, but whoa, they went all out didn't they? ;) Wanted to squee so much but I just had to content myself with grinning like a crazy idiotic fangirl. I still prefer the book kiss though. I mean come on!! Harry's "is this the moment??" (speaking on behalf of the rest of fandom) is priceless!! And the house-elves thing, the one thing that a wizard from an already open-minded pureblood family and a muggleborn witch cannot agree on, it added such an interesting dimension to the R/Hr ship! I wish they left that in. But again, I SHALL NOT COMPLAIN.
I can go on and on and on but I shall end here. I felt really really sad after watching it yesterday for the first time. Partly because of the fucking intermission, and maybe also because I watched it alone so I had no one to fangirl and go crazy with, and the rest of the audience were so effing reserved. Where art thou, thee crazy HP fanatics?? I'm sure you exist somewhere in Germany right?? Maybe not in Frankfurt then... unless all of them went to watch the German version. Blehhhh. And yeah, I was really moved by The Prince's Tale. I know this appreciation for Snape is long overdue and everyone's like, dude, you're ten years late, but yeah. Maybe because now, I can actually truly relate to someone shitty like that. (Vanity only allows you to relate to people who are close to perfect and awesome and heroic.)
So, end of crazy fangirl's review of the movie. Someday I'm gonna buy the first three books which I only read loaned from the library, and get all the DVDs. Yeah yeah, not a true blue fan if you don't have these, but I wanna buy them with my own money next time, not my parents'. SIGH IT'S OVER. FML IT FEELS SO EMPTY NOW. FUCKKK. THIS IS WHAT DUMBLEDORE MEANT WHEN HE SAID TO HARRY, "IT DOES NOT DO TO DWELL ON DREAMS AND FORGET TO LIVE." T________T
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Date: 2011-07-15 04:56 am (UTC)Disagree about how un-lovely how Snape is because he has ALWAYS been LOVELY despite being who he is. Felt sad in the book but the movie just made it so much tighter, ya know? but agree, it was v rushed.
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Date: 2011-07-15 07:06 am (UTC)omg kristine my life is really over. it's ok i'mma keep re-reading the books as always :'((((((((((
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Date: 2011-07-16 06:38 pm (UTC)Snape's past was absolutely heartbreaking. I mean, there are no words to describe that scene in the movie. I was moved to tears by the book, but Alan Rickman shined like none other, I really hope he gets an Oscar nod (as all the HP movies should this upcoming season, opening weekend with 100+million?). Snape is my favorite character and the only real canon ship I enjoyed was him and Lily, so maybe my bias is showing, but goddamn, that scene should make everyone shed at least a tear. I can understand people don't have to all be sobbing like myself.
So I have to beg to differ. Snape may have been an ass, we all can be, but he didn't deserve what James and his gang put him through. I feel like he could have done a lot to change his fate with Lily, but the way things ended up wasn't all his fault. James was awful to him for no reason, and bullying can do a number on someone. It's completely evident that Snape truly loved Lily, probably more than the short lived romance James had with her. But because of her rejection, that really fucked him up, so I don't think it's fair to think he deserved to be alone.
This was actually part of the movie I wished had been stretched a bit more. There was no insight into how Lily's rejection turned him to the dark side or even his infamous " scene. For those who know the story already, it was easy enough to put the dots together, but i saw the movie with someone who only saw the movies and they were a bit confused from the pacing of the scene and the tragic beauty was lost. Regardless though, to me, that scene was so well carried by Mr. Rickman that I will probably have a hard time watching it a second time. My heart just sched so bad watching him hold dead Lily while split scening showing Dumbledore his patronus.
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Date: 2011-07-17 09:23 pm (UTC)As for the movie.. well I think they tried their best. The Prince's Tale is definitely the highlight of the whole thing. After watching it a few times, I'm starting to see major flaws in it but the Prince's Tale is still pretty much satisfactory. People are complaining about Snape hugging Lily's dead body and why he was there in the first place, but I can sorta twist it into my head-canon. Maybe he left before Sirius and Hagrid arrived? IDK but it was definitely my fave part of the film! (Time to read all the Sev/Lily fics...)
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Date: 2011-07-18 09:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-16 11:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-17 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-17 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-17 09:50 pm (UTC)meep sorry, had to correct that xD