Thoughts on HP7.1
So we went on Wednesday and saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1. I think Jay is kind of sick of me talking about it and being all fandom-y (since he never read the books) so I figured I'd take some of my lingering thoughts to here where I know I'm appreciated for my dorky-ness :P
First of all I was really pleased how much they stuck to the books. They didn't take nearly as many liberties as the last few movies and as far as accuracy goes it's my favorite movie since Prisoner of Azkaban (yes the first two movies were really close to the books as well but PoA was where you could really start seeing the actors grow into the roles). Certain scenes were streamlined (like when they left the Lovegood house and Apparated right in the middle of the Snatchers, instead of using Voldemort's name and invoking the Taboo, although the Taboo was effectively kept intact when Xeno used the name in his house) and other less important scenes were left out (like for instance Lupin's insecurities in marrying Tonks and fathering a child with her...it was rather poignant in the book but might have seemed cumbersome in the movie), but they left in enough filler to avoid making the movie seem like a "highlight reel" like OotP and HBP. I liked that they left in the cafe scene, I thought they might cut that one out but it translated well to movie form. The couple of scenes they did make up (the first scene with the Snatchers, and the dance scene) fit well; the former shows how close they were to danger and being caught, and how unsafe they really are, and the latter was good for a tension-breaker. It was also fun to see Dan's energy shine through, if anyone's seen him on talk shows he's just a very animated and energetic person, and you can tell how subdued he has to be when playing Harry. So I bet that was a fun scene for him to be able to let loose a bit.
However, the dance scene, while I just said it was good for breaking the tension, also didn't sit well with me for one reason: it really seems like the movie is trying to set up a love triangle that really wasn't there in the books. In the book it's more of something that's perceived by Ron, especially when wearing the Horcrux, but it's very explicitly stated in the book that Harry loves Hermione "like a sister." It would have taken two seconds to add this line to the movie, and I kept waiting for it, but they didn't add it, and that combined with the dance scene seems like an attempt on the moviemakers' parts to make something out of nothing. Same with Hermione's little comment after Godric's Hollow about staying in the Forest of Dean an "growing old". Seeing all those extra implications was a little creepy for me, as I've always considered Harry and Hermione's relationship to be the brother-sister type, since it was pretty obvious to me from the start of the series that JKR intended Ron and Hermione to get together in the end.
The movie ended right around where I thought they would end it, it was a good dividing point that wraps up most of the events in the first part while leaving an effective cliffhanger to lead into the second part. Essentially what the critics who think the first movie was boring have to understand is that the first film is more or less a set-up for the second half, showing how Harry Ron and Hermione's journey prepares them for what's to come. I think for the most part they did a good job of covering a lot of the important things that were cut out of previous movies, except for the mirror. As far as I remember, they never showed Sirius giving Harry the mirror in the OotP movie, unless they decide to show some sort of flashback with the trio meets Aberforth.
So all in all, I was really pleased with the movie and can't wait for Part 2, I think it's gonna be epic :D
First of all I was really pleased how much they stuck to the books. They didn't take nearly as many liberties as the last few movies and as far as accuracy goes it's my favorite movie since Prisoner of Azkaban (yes the first two movies were really close to the books as well but PoA was where you could really start seeing the actors grow into the roles). Certain scenes were streamlined (like when they left the Lovegood house and Apparated right in the middle of the Snatchers, instead of using Voldemort's name and invoking the Taboo, although the Taboo was effectively kept intact when Xeno used the name in his house) and other less important scenes were left out (like for instance Lupin's insecurities in marrying Tonks and fathering a child with her...it was rather poignant in the book but might have seemed cumbersome in the movie), but they left in enough filler to avoid making the movie seem like a "highlight reel" like OotP and HBP. I liked that they left in the cafe scene, I thought they might cut that one out but it translated well to movie form. The couple of scenes they did make up (the first scene with the Snatchers, and the dance scene) fit well; the former shows how close they were to danger and being caught, and how unsafe they really are, and the latter was good for a tension-breaker. It was also fun to see Dan's energy shine through, if anyone's seen him on talk shows he's just a very animated and energetic person, and you can tell how subdued he has to be when playing Harry. So I bet that was a fun scene for him to be able to let loose a bit.
However, the dance scene, while I just said it was good for breaking the tension, also didn't sit well with me for one reason: it really seems like the movie is trying to set up a love triangle that really wasn't there in the books. In the book it's more of something that's perceived by Ron, especially when wearing the Horcrux, but it's very explicitly stated in the book that Harry loves Hermione "like a sister." It would have taken two seconds to add this line to the movie, and I kept waiting for it, but they didn't add it, and that combined with the dance scene seems like an attempt on the moviemakers' parts to make something out of nothing. Same with Hermione's little comment after Godric's Hollow about staying in the Forest of Dean an "growing old". Seeing all those extra implications was a little creepy for me, as I've always considered Harry and Hermione's relationship to be the brother-sister type, since it was pretty obvious to me from the start of the series that JKR intended Ron and Hermione to get together in the end.
The movie ended right around where I thought they would end it, it was a good dividing point that wraps up most of the events in the first part while leaving an effective cliffhanger to lead into the second part. Essentially what the critics who think the first movie was boring have to understand is that the first film is more or less a set-up for the second half, showing how Harry Ron and Hermione's journey prepares them for what's to come. I think for the most part they did a good job of covering a lot of the important things that were cut out of previous movies, except for the mirror. As far as I remember, they never showed Sirius giving Harry the mirror in the OotP movie, unless they decide to show some sort of flashback with the trio meets Aberforth.
So all in all, I was really pleased with the movie and can't wait for Part 2, I think it's gonna be epic :D