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loony_moonyYOU GUYS. IT'S A GENUINELY MAGNIFICENT PIECE OF CINEMA. Kudos, David Yates. You made me completely forget Chris Columbus used to helm this franchise.
THIS MOVIE IS JUST SO FUCKING ENJOYABLE TO WATCH. Hilarious, horrific, sad, grandiose, intimate, emotional. It's made the characters come to life in a way the book really didn't do a great job of.
Cinematographically speaking, the movie is GORGEOUS (unsurprisingly, considering this DP also shot "Girl with a Pearl Earring"). It is exquisitely shot, lit, CGI'd and then edited. The battles really pop out, the emotional moments resonate, the horror scenes literally made EVERYONE in the theater (including me) jump in their seats. This is just a great movie. It truly is.
A couple of scenes that come to mind on first viewing (oh yes, I shall be rewatching, and this time on Imax):
1. The Death Eaters assembly at Malfoy Manor: Just Snape's approach to the house was SUCH a telling shot. I don't think I've ever seen him this way in the movies, and it was like he jumped right out of the books. Plus, wow. The gothic, grimy, dusty horror that is the assembly scene really cements to the viewer that a) the Malfoys are really not so grand anymore, b) the shit Snape had to pull off in his long career as a triple spy is truly terrible, and c) Voldemort is BONKERS and he is as homicidal and twisted as he is bonkers.
2. The Seven Harrys - KUDOS, DANIEL RADCLIFFE. I love you and I love watching you. I think this scene, more than any other in the movie, shows that Daniel Radcliffe is essentially a comic actor with a dramatically chiseled face. In light of the horror that ensues Operation PolySmuggle, this scene diffuses the situation, and gives the viewer a breather before the deep plunge.
3. The expository montage - Hermione obliviating her parents is something I don't remember her doing in the books, and it chilled my blood. If you think about it, if the DEs do find her parents, it's not going to matter they don't remember her. It's going to matter that she remembers them.
4. The ministry interloping - I think that for once, all the Nazi parallels drawn are not off the mark, considering the type of racism displayed by the DEs is very similar to Hitler's, just in a different field. I was not thrown off by it, unlike in LotR, for instance. I especially like the Umbridge's office is a mixture of her distasteful cat love, and what looks like stolen set pieces from "The Great Dictator". I enjoyed how Harry sets off a WWW toy to mask his burglary, in an awesome echo of OotP.
5. The Lovegood House - Knowing what happens in the book, I was expecting the drawing out of the scene, but the movie makes it even more obvious that this is ostensibly a mistaken visit. Had Hermione put her head into the book Dumbledore gave her, she would've found out the Deathly Hallows were things she already knew of. However, Harry needing an explanation is one of the only times a plot device shows itself so clearly in the movie. The animation of the story, however, more than makes up for it.
6. Godric's Hollow - OH GOD THAT FAKE BATHILDA BAGSHOT WAS TERRIFYING. I completely forgot about this in the book, and so I was completely taken by surprise. Just...TERRIFYING. Such terrfying horror, and interlaced with Christmas and the Potters' graves, makes it just so perfectly set. YOU GUYS, THIS MOVIE IS JUST SO WELL MADE.
7. Interrogation at the Manor - UGH UGH UGH THAT HERMIONE TORTURE SCENE WAS HORRIFIC. It was horrific because we don't get to see what Bellatrix has done to her until after the escape, so we're left imagining a whole slew of terrible things. Dobby's following death scene is heartbreaking.
So Voldemort scored the Elder Wand. Harry has the invisibility cloak. I need to brush up on my Potter lore to remember what happens next, but hey, I've got till July, don't I.
I STILL WANT TO SEE PART 2 NOW, THOUGH.
A+++++++
THIS MOVIE IS JUST SO FUCKING ENJOYABLE TO WATCH. Hilarious, horrific, sad, grandiose, intimate, emotional. It's made the characters come to life in a way the book really didn't do a great job of.
Cinematographically speaking, the movie is GORGEOUS (unsurprisingly, considering this DP also shot "Girl with a Pearl Earring"). It is exquisitely shot, lit, CGI'd and then edited. The battles really pop out, the emotional moments resonate, the horror scenes literally made EVERYONE in the theater (including me) jump in their seats. This is just a great movie. It truly is.
A couple of scenes that come to mind on first viewing (oh yes, I shall be rewatching, and this time on Imax):
1. The Death Eaters assembly at Malfoy Manor: Just Snape's approach to the house was SUCH a telling shot. I don't think I've ever seen him this way in the movies, and it was like he jumped right out of the books. Plus, wow. The gothic, grimy, dusty horror that is the assembly scene really cements to the viewer that a) the Malfoys are really not so grand anymore, b) the shit Snape had to pull off in his long career as a triple spy is truly terrible, and c) Voldemort is BONKERS and he is as homicidal and twisted as he is bonkers.
2. The Seven Harrys - KUDOS, DANIEL RADCLIFFE. I love you and I love watching you. I think this scene, more than any other in the movie, shows that Daniel Radcliffe is essentially a comic actor with a dramatically chiseled face. In light of the horror that ensues Operation PolySmuggle, this scene diffuses the situation, and gives the viewer a breather before the deep plunge.
3. The expository montage - Hermione obliviating her parents is something I don't remember her doing in the books, and it chilled my blood. If you think about it, if the DEs do find her parents, it's not going to matter they don't remember her. It's going to matter that she remembers them.
4. The ministry interloping - I think that for once, all the Nazi parallels drawn are not off the mark, considering the type of racism displayed by the DEs is very similar to Hitler's, just in a different field. I was not thrown off by it, unlike in LotR, for instance. I especially like the Umbridge's office is a mixture of her distasteful cat love, and what looks like stolen set pieces from "The Great Dictator". I enjoyed how Harry sets off a WWW toy to mask his burglary, in an awesome echo of OotP.
5. The Lovegood House - Knowing what happens in the book, I was expecting the drawing out of the scene, but the movie makes it even more obvious that this is ostensibly a mistaken visit. Had Hermione put her head into the book Dumbledore gave her, she would've found out the Deathly Hallows were things she already knew of. However, Harry needing an explanation is one of the only times a plot device shows itself so clearly in the movie. The animation of the story, however, more than makes up for it.
6. Godric's Hollow - OH GOD THAT FAKE BATHILDA BAGSHOT WAS TERRIFYING. I completely forgot about this in the book, and so I was completely taken by surprise. Just...TERRIFYING. Such terrfying horror, and interlaced with Christmas and the Potters' graves, makes it just so perfectly set. YOU GUYS, THIS MOVIE IS JUST SO WELL MADE.
7. Interrogation at the Manor - UGH UGH UGH THAT HERMIONE TORTURE SCENE WAS HORRIFIC. It was horrific because we don't get to see what Bellatrix has done to her until after the escape, so we're left imagining a whole slew of terrible things. Dobby's following death scene is heartbreaking.
So Voldemort scored the Elder Wand. Harry has the invisibility cloak. I need to brush up on my Potter lore to remember what happens next, but hey, I've got till July, don't I.
I STILL WANT TO SEE PART 2 NOW, THOUGH.
A+++++++
