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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Movie Time! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

I was fortunate enough to go to one of the many midnight screenings of this film at the Event Cinenmas (more on that later), and it was well worth it. Deathly Hallows part two makes up for the failure of the first film and then some, going into the past of our beloved characters and following someone other than Harry for a lot of this installment.

Deathly Hallows part one took all of the boring bits from the book and put them into one film. This isn't so much of a bad thing when you think that it means that part two was going to be filled with all of the good bits, but they could have used the slow parts of part one to explain the necessaries of this film that were left out, say Lupins kid and Bill's scar. Nonetheless, the first part is what it is, and part two has now made its way into cinemas around the world.

Where part started with a bang and went downhill fast, part two started slow and then ramped the intencity level up to 11. The scenes in Gringotts were very well done indeed, and I liked the Hermoine/Bellatrix bits the best. Helena Bonham Carter did such a fantastic job not only playing the crazy Bella, but playing someone else playing crazy Bella. There's a reason this woman is famous, kids. Ralph Fiennes is fabulous once more as the dark lord, and Alan Rickman as Snape brought a tear to everyones eye I'm sure. But it's really Matthew Lewis who steals this one, playing the kick ass Neville Longbottom once more. Neville has always been a favourite of mine, and I'm glad they did right by him until the end. It was great to see Neville as leader for a change, rallying the troops and basically being a heck of a lot more awesome than Harry. No offence to the Harry lovers out there, but it's clear that he may have power on his side but Neville has all of the heart.



The locations are breathtaking, but with England as a back drop what else is new. While Hogwarts was never a safe place for the students, it was the safest place they had, and seeing it destroyed was almost as sad as seeing our favourite characters loose their lives. While special effects were responsible for a lot, the practical effects really drew home the horror. 


If there's any quibbles I have, it's that they didn't show the deaths of Lupin, Tonks, and Fred. They weren't shown in the book either, and it does drive home the realities of war when you can't keep track of everyone and people die, but it would have been nice to see them die heroically. I wonder what it was like for such renowned actors as David Thewlis and Gary Oldman to have two lines each. 


I wouldn't have been able to see this if it wasn't for the awesome team at Event Cinemas. They made the midnight screenings a true pleasure to attend with the lovely staff and great decorations. It's a shame to hear that some people stole a lot of the decorations, making it not as pretty for the people who are seeing the film today.


All in all, a terrific movie, and one that I can't wait to see again. What are your thoughts? Like it, love it, hate it? Put it in the comments. 


Kathy



Themes: Bellatrix LeStrange, Daniel Radcliff, David Thewlis, Deathly Hallows, Event Cinemas, Fred Weasly, Gary Oldman, hallows, Harry Potter, Helena Bonham Carter, horcrux, Matthew Lewis, movie time, Neville Longbottom, Ralph Fiennes, Reamus Lupin, review, Tonks, Voldemort

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