Well, it's out. We're on the other side of Harry Potter, so to speak, and it feels so odd. I still can't wrap my head around it and I don't really want to. I'll put it out there, after the last scene faded to black last night, I sobbed. There was a steady stream of tears going from The Prince's Tale through the end. Once the credits started rolling it just hit me that it was over and I couldn't keep it in. But enough about the sadness! What did you guys think of the movie? My first reaction? I thought it was amazing! In the past, upon leaving the theater for the first time I'd be critical of what they changed in the movie and what I didn't like, gradually warming up to the movie and talking about what I liked. With Part 2, though, my first thought after it was over (and after the tears) was "that was amazing!" I'm seeing it again in about an hour, so I'll be able to cement my opinion of it, but as of now it's my favorite of the movies. Yes, of course things were changed, but I think the movie was true to the spirit of the book and a great send off for the fans.
Okay, onto the list! Given today's momentous occasion, I've been planning on doing a Harry Potter related top five. I was actually going to do a top five list of moments from Harry Potter, but Casey beat me to it! So instead, I present to you my top five characters (excluding the trio).
1. Neville Longbottom. Do I even need to explain this one? No? Okay, good. I will a little bit anyway, though. Neville is a very real character to me. He's not the bravest, not the smartest, not the "-est" really (except in Herbology), but he always tries his best and doesn't lose heart. He's lived with tragedy his whole life, but perseveres regardless. And, come on, it's Neville. Okay, I will amend my earlier statement: Neville is the bad ass-est. (Which is now a word.)
2. Remus Lupin. My love for Lupin really started when I last reread Prisoner of Azkaban. It had only been a year or so since I'd last read it, but reading it as a 21 year old gave me an oddly different viewpoint of the book than reading it as a 20 year old. Maybe I'd grown up and matured more than I'd realized in that past year, but I felt like I was getting a much more "adult" view of the book than I had on previous readings. That new viewpoint made me sympathize with Lupin's character much more than I had before. He was really a wonderful role model for Harry and I wish we could have seen more of him in the books.
3. Bellatrix Lestrange. Evil to the core, yes, but she's so fascinating. She really is just bat shit crazy and we love and hate her for it. I'm failing at coming up with more reasoning behind this choice, but really she just fascinates me.
4. Severus Snape. You can't deny it, for the most part he really is a huge ass, but he's a brave ass who did the right thing. He lived with only one man knowing the truth about him, while nearly everyone else around him believed him to be deeply evil and despised him. Not the nicest or best person, but one of the best characters.
5. George Weasley. I always struggle when it gets to this point in a "favorite HP characters" list. I want to put down both Fred and George because the books and movies don't always make it the easiest task to discriminate between the two of them, but they are two different characters. I've chosen George because I do like his more reserved nature. Fred was the one who instigated most of their pranks and was more immediately outgoing, whereas George was a bit quieter and displayed a more caring nature. Both great characters, but what pushes me slightly over to George is that (if I had to choose), I think I'd rather be friends with him.
And there we are! I wish I could spend more time on this list to go into more detail about the characters, but I'm off to see Part 2 again!
**SPOILERS**
ReplyDeleteI felt like the movie was a bit rushed - you mention both Lupin and George, and they were part of the problem. Does the movie even mention that Tonks is pregnant, or that Ted Lupin died and they named their son Teddy for him? I feel like movie-only viewers are going to be immensely confused by the whole, "Remus, what about your son?" line. And their deaths, as well as Fred's, was crazy rushed and ambiguous. Lavender's was the worst of the bunch, though.
It was an okay movie - not the best of the series, not the worst, but it was the end. It did some thing's better than the book, it did some thing's worse, and some things were just weird additions/omissions, or were just... odd ways of showing it. I loved, loved, loved Snape and every second he was on screen. I really didn't understand why all of the bad guys died by exploding into bits (Bella, Voldie, the dudes at the bridge). Seeing Ron 'speak parseltongue' made it all the more silly to me, and speaking of silly, I think all I need to say is Voldemort. Every moment he was on screen was awkward.
I too thought the film was the best in the series, and maybe I was able to understand things because i've actually read the books (how many people are there left in the world who have only seen the movies and not the books?), but I still found the movie to be very very enjoyable regardless of the changes they made. I was shocked that they chose to kill Lavender, but I guess someone had to take the place of Colin Creevey, and the books really didn't have that many female character deaths (Tonks is the only one I can think of off the top of my head). Also, I was so afraid that they were going to give Harry Neville's moment of badassery, but I was glad to be wrong (although I hate that they still did their best to make him look silly).
ReplyDeleteAnd the movie did something the books didn't; I was finally able to like Snape. They really did make his death better by placing it in the boathouse thing, and I actually cried (I cried for every death in this movie except the goblins) and some people in the theater were flat out sobbing. Although, Snape was never as evil in the movies as he was in the books, and he was sometimes even a source of comic relief.
I really hope that there's an extended version to be released someday :)
I honestly really didn't like the movie the first time through. I'm off to see it again now though so perhaps I'll like it better now.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had cried more, and I probably would have if I had been with people who had cried. I was very very very very sad that I couldn't have seen it with my friends in a theatre that obviously showed more enthusiasm than the one I saw it in. Then I came home from my vacation and read all the tweets from the folks at LeakyCon and I read the people who got into Wizarding World at 3 in the morning and reading interviews of the cast and watching behind the scenes of people who got to work on the film and I was so filled with just wishing I could have been to all of these places to experience everything! I was so envious! I asked my sister how come something I love so so much is making me more sad than joyful! But I've been so lucky, I really don't have anything to complain about, and I just have to understand that.
ReplyDeleteI also think I would have enjoyed the film more if I'd been surrounded by the right people. As it were, I still enjoyed it and loved it! I did think some bits were awkward that other people loved. But I loved every minute with Snape and I really liked Voldemort in this film! His death was PERFECT! I was scared it would be cheesy, but I loved it! Oh my gosh, and Snape's death was just.... just... wow. So terrible, but incredibly well executed (no pun intended). And actually, the more and more I thought about it, the more and more I loved it! I've still only seen it once, but I really want to watch it again!
I was looking through a poster book and there was a picture of Parvati and Trelawney with the person covered in a blanket between them, but the face wasn't covered, I don't think it was Lavender. I admit she looked pretty dead though.
I'm not actually sure that Lavender died in the movies. When I saw it, I thought she died too, as it showed her getting bitten and then Trelawney covering up a body, with, I think, Parvati sitting next to her. So it only made sense to think it was Lavender, but I was looking through one of the DH2 poster books and it had a still of that scene, and it was certainly not Lavender that they were covering up with the blanket.
ReplyDeleteHere's a list of my top 5 favorite characters, if I must choose. Kudos to these guys for being amazing in their own ways.
1) Neville - Hero among heros. He defies all expectations. Not only is Neville a hero for the heroic acts themselves, but for showing us readers that we can also go against expectations and show the world what we got.
2) Snape - So many reason why I love this character, and you all know them. And I think it's reasonable to say he's the ultimate role model for not caring what others think of you.
3) Luna - Well, okay, Luna is also the ultimate role model for not caring what others think of you, perhaps more so. She's great in every way, and an inspiration to anyone that recognizes her greatness.
4) Hermione - Hermione never fails to act on her beliefs, and that is an admirable trait. For most people, if we get a negative reaction to something we say or do, it's easy for us to not say or do them again. She perseveres, no matter the sacrifices.
5) Draco - And as for Draco, I love him because he's not evil, but he's lost and stuck and scared. And though he lacks a sufficient amount of courage, he, and his family, realize they're not after power anymore, but safety for themselves. And that's endearing.