[Posted originally July 18, 2011] So—it’s been more than 72 hours since the final installment of the Harry Potter & Friends film franchise debuted. I think we can safely say that the polite period of silence has passed, and it’s time for a spoiler-packed post discussing the film!
Overall I really enjoyed it, and I thought it struck an appropriate emotional tone to cap off the series. But of course, as I am a highly opinionated person, I have some thoughts on where the film succeeded, and where some choices left me scratching my head.
The Split I think the first film of The Deathly Hallows must have been the driver for when to split the two films. Deathly Hallows Part I took a somewhat meandering, action-less portion of the film and created a beautiful story arc about a friendship. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were tested beyond their limits, then their friendship was redeemed by selfless action and the ultimate sacrifice of a Free Elf. It was a whole story, driven by an emotional arc and the theme of the entire series: the power of friendship.
But that left this movie with little to build a similar arc around. David Yates & Co. had two hours’ worth of essential plot points (Gringotts, Aberforth, Diadem, Snape revelations, Harry’s death, showdown) that left little room for a cohesive emotional story to develop, or for the audience to get much of a break from the heightened intensity. In the second half of the book our favorite characters are still unsure of their plan, surrounded by chaos and confusion. And the same goes for the viewer, which makes this movie great, but also a more challenging watch.
Our Favorites McGonagall was amazing, and was given one of the only lighthearted moments in the film (“I’ve always wanted to do that spell!”). Her battle with Snape was fantastic—McGonagall whipping out hardcore attack spells and Snape defending—and it’s a testament to how well Maggie Smith portrayed the character that, when McGonagall starts to look genuinely scared we realize the shit is really going down.
However! One major problem I had with the screenplay was after Voldemort gives the Hogwarts crew the “give me Harry or die” ultimatum and Pansy Parkinson cries out for someone to grab Harry. In the film McGonagall says, “All Slytherins, get out!” (Paraphrasing a bit, here.) That was nothing short of a disastrous choice of dialogue. In the book McGonagall asks Pansy to lead the Slytherins out of the castle, to be followed by all the other houses. Every first year is evacuated, regardless of house. But when asked if some could stay to fight, McGonagall says any of-age wizard can stay behind. Of course that leads to the redemption of several members of Slytherin house, including Professor Slughorn. Leaving the quote as-is in the movie makes Slytherin a house filled with irredeemably bad wizards, which belies oh, you know, the entire point of the whole series.
I loved the Snape revelations. To be honest, all that information was a total infodump in the books, so the short and effective pensieve sequence was perfect. Of course Alan Rickman was devastating. Seeing him emote while wearing Snape’s robes was a bit shocking, to be honest, and his death slayed me. (Though I don’t quite understand the choice to have his tears hold memories, instead of… you know, a memory? I was like, “why is Harry scooping up his tears, this is awkward.”)
I ship this so hard.
Luna freaking Lovegood was amazing, per usual. But my favorite thing had to be when she stopped on the stairwell and shouted, “Harry Potter you stop right now and listen to me!” How many times did we wish someone would say that to Harry in the books?! He could be such an arrogantly myopic wanker. And the whole, “I’ve got the hots for Luna” revelation by Neville in the Battle? Totally not part of HP Canon (Neville marries Hannah Abott) but I dig it so much. These two are such badasses.
The kiss!! It was awesome. The timing was fantastic (duh who wouldn’t want a kiss after a near death-by-water-basilisk moment?) and of course these two were adorable.
The Battle of Hogwarts It was INTENSE, and the filmmakers made some necessary changes. The book’s version of events is, more or less, a string of blow-by-blow duels. For the film, though, it was important to give a visual context of how the castle was being attacked. For the most part those sweeping shots of Voldemort and his pale-faced avengers overlooking the castle (and the army of wood brogues led by a Johnny-Depp-as-Captain-Jack wannabe storming the bridge) replaced any duel scenes. I understand that, and thought it was successful for the most part.
However, in my opinion, that choice kept the film from mirroring the book Battle’s brutality. When I read the battle scenes for the first time I sat straight up, mouth agape, totally horrified by the uncurbed violence. It was abattle, for doxies’ sake. The film seemed much more detached. Not showing Fred’s death was a decision I don’t entirely disagree with, but it certainly was a glaring absence. And the one major duel that the film did choose to highlight—Molly Weasley striking down evil witches like a BAMF—was short, and lacked the savagery I remember from the book.
Another thing I thought noteworthy about the duels was the lack of verbal spells. In my opinion, it was incredibly important for us to see Molly Weasley use the Avada Kedavra spell, and Harry choose not to. When Molly annihilates Bellatrix using the most unforgivable of curses, we cheer along. We are a party to the bloodshed, as responsible for the destruction as anyone rooting for the other side. That’s crucial to the reader & viewers’ role in the series. And it’s equally crucial for us to see Harry use expelliarmus, his old first year fall-back spell, as the ultimate undoing for Voldy. The dichotomy is important, and I don’t think the film highlighted it well enough.
Voldemort’s Death Though it was a bit underwhelming, it was wholly accurate to the book. So props for authenticity on that one. But that leaves the best Voldemort battle, by far, as the showdown between he and Dumbledore in The Order of the Phoenix. THAT battle had all the elements I hoped to see more of in this film’s duels: tremendous acting, creative visual displays of magic, and cruelty and fierceness in equal measure.
The Epilogue We’re all pretending this didn’t happen, right?
The filmmakers had quite the high-pressure gig trying to get this story told properly, and I’d say that overall they did a fantastic job. I was crying and laughing, and it made me want to reread all the books—and isn’t that truly the point?
So, what about you?? Do you agree with my rambles? What did I get completely wrong? Also—big question: I maintain that there’s no way this film could be someone’s “favorite” Harry Potter film. Dr F vehemently disagrees. I made another blog post about it. What do you think??
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