Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

[havingascreen]

hahaha probably lots wearing their old halloween costumes .....I'll have to wait until next week. hope its better than the last one

[kevinknapman]

Just back from seeing this. Not really a Potter nut (haven't read the books, don't really care to) but I really enjoyed it.
High points: The animation used to tell the story of The Deathly Hallows is extraordinary and it's worth seeing for that alone. Newcomers to the films Rhys Ifans, Peter Mullan and Bill Nighy are all very good. Oh and any film that has Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds on the soundtrack is fine with me (even if you have to put up with Daniel Radcliffe's cheesy dancing at the same time).
Low points: Daniel Radcliffe is still a little stiff in the central role though Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have both improved somewhat. Some parts of the script are a bit dodgy especially during the tent scenes. Also having so many top Brit thespians but giving most of them so little to do seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity.
Overall though this is a pretty good effort compared to the rest of the series (I can't really remember much about the last one).
The 2hrs 30mins passed quite quickly and I'm looking forward to the conclusion next year.

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

OK my I'm gonna bore you guys with a mini review cos I just feel like it!

Well that was a pretty great entry, thoroughly rivetting in both its drama and action. This movie matures increasingly just as the books have and venturing ever deeper into non litted places (sorry just trying to avoid using the much overused "darkest episode yet"

But I'll be honest, as much as I enjoyed this film, I suspect this will be my least re-watched film in the series. I have watch all the previous films more than once (and for the record I love the first 2 just as much as the others). But this one is much more slowly paced, which is not my complaint, its the fact that it wraps up hardly any story thread in such a slow manner, that it warrants a very low rewatchability factor. But I will watch it again, just not as many times as the others which offer a more all round package of entertainment and a complete story.

There are other flaws. The main one being that there are too many elements thrown into the broth without a proper smooth narrative, so it just becomes too convoluted. There are even some important elements introduced that are just not explained at all (eg, the mirror shard). But I suppose this cannot be helped for the sake of making sure part 2 weaves together the main threads that are vital for the grand finale.

But this was still a great film despite my criticsms, simply because there was so much more brilliance that outweighs its admittedly plentiful flaws. The cinamatography was stunning, the score was beautifully mellow and majestic at the right moments, some absolutely thrilling set pieces, a nice sprinkle of humour and the magnificent acting by the 3 young leads stunned me. In previous films, the senior British stalwarts were always there to add gravitas around our young actors. But here we see the three young leads leaving the nest, and carrying this whole damn movie on their own with tremendous aplomb, each giving hands down the best performances of their film career. Nothing seems forced with them and not once do I ever feel they are acting, their relationship are so believable.

So roll on the grand finale of this magi-nificant series magi-nificant get it? alright keep groaning.

Yawn...huh? I'm even boring myself with my review...

8/10

[Celini]

love love it....

I read all the books and watched the previous movies, but my brain being a tad dodgy I never remember what I read or watched for more than a week or so, I just keep a feeling, did I like it did I not like it!
I remember not liking the 6th movie, and wasn't so sure I would like this one. My mistake, I loved it, the score, picture, direction were excellent. The animation telling the deathly hallows story was stunning and could have probably won an award as a short animated itself...

it was dark (I of course did not remember the book being so dark) and I am so looking forward to the next one!!!

8.5/10 for me

[juliemessenger]

I saw it at 11am yesterday and the cinema was packed, including a couple of children whose parents had obviously had no qualms about lying to the school about why their children were not going to be there that day. I don't think "I'm taking them to see Harry Potter" would have worked somehow!

I had just finished reading the book (literally, last 20 pages on the tram on the way to the cinema - sad or what) so the story was pretty fresh in my mind. I think the film finished at the right moment and know that the second film (roll on next July) will have a lot more action than the first.

I agree with "kevinknapman" that the character of Harry doesn't seem as strong as it should. The characters of Ron and Hermione are both very strong and in this film they seem to be making a lot more decisions than Harry. I liked the new characters. Bill Nighy was wonderful as Rufus Scrimgeour and I loved the accent but unfortunately he wasn't in it long enough. I was interested to see that Sophie Thompson was in it but very surprised when she just appeared and didn't say anything. The acting fraternity have obviously not forgiven her for the character she played in Eastenders!

I also agree about the song choice - my husband is a real Nick Cave addict (it wouldn't seem right to say "fan"!) and he nudged me when the track started playing and even in the gloom of the cinema I could see him slightly grin. He has also just commented that he thinks that it was the best film he has seen in the whole series and that the rest were a bit "twee" (his comments not mine).

As far as the story was concerned, they did change quite a bit of it. There was also a mistake which I am sure that most HP fans will note. We all know they are looking for 7 horcruxes and I think it is Ron who mentions that they only have 3 to look for when they have only found 3 at that point in the story.

Overall, it was worth taking the day off work and I am looking forward to seeing the second part next year.

[weliveandbreathewords]

Saw this at 11pm last night, I agree with MrGlass, I do think it will be the least rewatchable movie in the series but despite that it is still an interesting part of the series.
It has humour in all the right places, not too much and not too little, some things that were possibly not meant to be funny, amused me, [spoiler]Like the book inside Umbridges desk at the ministry "When Muggles Attack."[/spoiler]

I know the saying "its darker than the other movies" is a cliche when it comes to the potter films, but i do think it really applies to this one, think overall the sh*t really hits the fan, and that becomes obvious within the first few minutes.

I would say it is very enjoyable, not much rewatchable credibility, because of the bulk of content, but it does set the story in motion for part 2, which imo will blow us all out of the water :)

very good performances from emma and rupert, daniel is a bit 'stiff' still
and I will admit I cried! Dont think I need to mention which scene as it is obvious

8/10

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

and I will admit I cried! Dont think I need to mention which scene as it is obvious

Was it when the WB logo, heart wrenchingly, dissolved into ashes at the beginning?

[weliveandbreathewords]

ofcourse! its heartbreaking to see such a beautiful logo disintegrate right before your eyes

[Tiz]

Dudley Dursley (Harry Melling) on Merlin tonight BBC1 - If you hurry you'll just catch it!

[weliveandbreathewords]

aha just watched it :) looks very different to dudley! Lost alot of weight for merlin, then again, he might be wearing a chubsuit in HP