****WARNING – CONTAINS SPOILERS****
So, I finally saw what has been a major event in my calendar, since it’s release was announced, and am writing a review about it. I did write a review about it on LoveFilm.com, but because there was so much I wanted to say, I decided to put EVERYTHING into a blog post instead.
As a reader of the books,The Deathly Hallows is an incredible read, and I was a bit sceptical of how it would carry into the film. I, personally, can’t see how anyone who has grown to love the characters, through either the films or the books, would find this film poor. Without the backdrop of Hogwarts you see the characters, and the young actors shine. You get to see them having to face up to the fact that they were truly alone, and that is, to me, what the book and the film both featured well.
My favourite scene, I think, was at Godric’s Hollow, where Harry saw the grave of his parents. It was one of two scenes where the audience in the screening I was in, were completely silent. It was tense, it was emotional, it was everything that scene deserved. My only disappointment with that part was the lack of notes when they came to the destroyed house, where Harry’s parents where killed. It was supposed to be vandalised with pieces of encouragement, which I felt helped Harry to see that not everyone was against them, which I’m sure that’s what he would have felt.
The other scene which silenced the noisy audience was when Dobby died. It was perfect, and exactly how I pictured the scene. It was Luna saying that if they ‘close his eyes, he’ll look like he’s sleeping’. It was just so powerful. The emotion in Harry’s voice when he announces they should bury Dobby, and not use magic. It was a good send-off, but so so sad.
I usually hate when they add ‘new things’ to the movies, but one change was good. Hedwig. In the book, her cage falls out of the side-car and plummets to earth, and that’s it. But in the movie, Hedwig is killed protecting Harry and is killed by a curse. So she gets a heroic send off, which is still sad, but it was so much better than her death in the books.
Also, the start of the movie, featured Hermione erasing her parents’ memories, and that was really well done, and so sad. I think it was one of the points, which helped the audience the seriousness about the whole situation she was going in to. It was role-reversal, that the child was protecting the parents, and I liked that. Speaking of the goodbyes, I wanted Dudley to say his piece to Harry. This was missed out, as was all the drama involved with the Dursleys leaving their home. It was just them packing things away, and they got under a minutes screen time. I can understand why it wasn’t there, in the grand scheme of things, but still, it was frustrating because I like the scene with Harry and Dudley, and would have loved to have seen it.
There wasn’t a lot of dialog between the trio, as most of it was either Ron and Harry, or Hermione and Harry. This worked well, as you could feel the emotion the characters, especially Daniel Radcliff. People have always questioned the casting of Daniel as Harry, but this movie was the most believable I’d seen Harry portrayed. He managed to capture Harry perfectly. Rupert Grint. Well, after being undecided on Rupert’s portrayal of Ron over the movie series, I didn’t expect him to improve so dramatically for the final movie. He was really good, and in fact, out of the trio, he has come the closest to my vision for him. Ron’s frustrations and fear as he left Hermione and Harry was really well done. And it’s where I feel Ron really came to life, just as I imagined him. Emma Watson, was the one person I felt never truly portrayed Hermione correctly. But, I do feel that she was really good in this movie. I think, having the scene with her parents at the start, made all the difference to how the audience perceived Hermione. I don’t know whether it was just because I felt for the movie version of Hermione, because she had been through a lot, and the stress was portrayed well on the screen. But…she still isn’t the Hermione I imagined. Which is sad, because it seemed like Harry and Ron were becoming the vision I had of them.
And Draco. You felt his fear. I just wanted Harry to take Draco with them. I always liked Draco’s character, and always felt that he was never truly bad, and the movie gave that angle. He was hesitant in whatever his father ordered him to do, although he still fought with the Death Eaters. It makes me want to see when they all meet again at Hogwarts for the final battle.
The story about the three brothers was something I liked. I felt that it added a nice break from all the drama, although I can see why it was one of the scenes that pushed it towards its 12A rating. I liked the style of the animation, but I did feel that it was slightly nightmare-ish. And the Deathly Hallows was explained so well, even my mum knew Harry had the cloak and Voldemort was looking for the wand, which is great for someone who got bored reading The Philosopher’s Stone.
I could really go on forever about this movie, but I am just going to go and talk about the rest on MuggleNet.
Overall, I feel this movie is the closest adaptation to the book from the whole series, and was very pleased with it. Although I did pick on a few things that were missing, I understand why they were missed out. If you have never seen the movies or read the books, don’t bother, this movie is confusing and possibly boring to someone who has no interest in the series. I’d advise on watching one of the more straight-forward movies first, because if you don’t like the world of Harry Potter, this film will just frustrate you, not make you love it. If you read the books, even if you hated the other movies, I advise you to see it. It is the version that every fan of the books wanted.
It is spectacular. 4.5/5 (it loses half a point for missing out a few bits I wanted to see)
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