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I went to the local premiere over here at midnight (probably a bad decision as I was already ill and will be paying the price for this in the next few days, but I'd already bought the tickets a while back and was very much looking forward to this -- but that's neither here nor there). My first impressions (major spoilers for both the movie and for those who haven't read the book, enter at your own risk):
The good:
- The possession scene (Voldemort trying to possess Harry during the battle with Dumbledore): awesome, awesome, awesomely done, the only truly compelling scene in the movie. Even Rowling could learn something from this
- Voldermort vs Dumbledore: not as good as in the book and not as good as I had hoped and expected, but still very well done. Special effects galore.
- Luna!
She's absolutely brilliant, best cast yet in the series. The chemistry between her and Harry is great -- if I didn't know better I'd almost have thought there might be something going on there. Her scenes are quite different from the books but they capture her and her relationship with Harry perfectly. Can't wait to see more of her in the next movie(s?).
- Umbridge is a pretty good cast as well: appropriately evil, exactly as you would expect her to be.
- Kingsley Shacklebolt A very minor character, even more so than in the books, but he's beyond cool.
- Bellatrix was wonderful also, but underused.
- The DA lessons. Quite different from the books, but very satisfying nonetheless.
- The Dementor attack. Again, nothing like the books, but pretty well done.
The bad:
The rest of the movie, really, where to begin? Snape's worst memory, the betrayal of the DA, the Battle of the Ministry (except for the Dumbledore vs Voldemort part), the scenes in Little Whinging, Harry and Dumbledore's final conversation and countless other scenes are butchered horribly and the very best scene in the entire series -- with Neville's parents in St Mungo's -- is cut entirely! Other things that were cut include Quidditch, lessons (beyond the absolute necessary for the plot), OWLs, Percy (he's an extra in a couple of scenes but only an extra), Dobby, Firenze and the rebellion of Hogwarts vs Umbridge after Fred and George's departure. Probably more that I'm forgetting right now.
Some of the best characters like Snape, Tonks, Draco, Bellatrix and Kreacher are terribly underused. The Dursleys are ridiculously over the top but their scenes are reduced to a fraction of what they need to be and Gambon is still a piss-poor Dumbledore (although not as bad as in GoF). The Harry-Cho relationship is extremely rushed, but that's probably a good thing as there was zero chemistry between them and the kissing scene, though almost word-for-word following the book for a change, was highly unconvincing.
The ugly:
Kreacher & Gwarp
(Both of which have very minor but good parts BTW, I suspect they were only kept in because they'll prove key characters in Deathly Hallows.)
I can't imagine that anyone who hasn't read the books could follow the story at all -- as far as the movie had a story, it was more a collection of loosely related scenes up to the point where the twins leave Hogwarts (which incidentally was done well enough: not especially awesome as one might expect, but not a disappointment either). There were gaping plot holes as entire key scenes were dropped and many others suffered from poor cuts. E.g. Harry, Ron and Hermione break into Umbridge's office and get caught, but without any kind of explanation Ginny, Neville and Luna are also 'arrested' for this even though they didn't feature in that storyline at all (no mention of them being look-outs or anything). Harry doesn't actually get to use the fireplace either, so he never talks to Kreacher; there's no explanation as to why he flies off to London after he escapes Umbridge, where two scenes before he was bent on contacting Sirius first. Percy betrayed his family and is working for the Ministry as you'd expect, but his name isn't even mentioned and he has no speaking part, so it's impossible to know what's up with him if you haven't read the books -- although I guess if you haven't odds are you didn't even notice his presence.
The whole movie was very much chopped up and highly rushed, in a way that makes GoF look positively cohesive. I guess that's a necessity since this was the largest book, but I'm sure there's a better way to go around it than to just drop half the plot and leave the (non-book-reading) audience guessing as to what's happening in between the scenes you do get to see. The story deviates VERY STRONGLY from the book: it completely rearranges the chronology (e.g. the Inquisitorial Squad is founded near the start of the year, Trelawny is chucked out much sooner and Hagrid returns much later), skips major plot points that are quite necessary to understand the story and makes up some scenes to replace some of the stuff that's left out (e.g. the way the Room of Requirement is first discovered and the DA is betrayed, as neither Dobby nor Marietta are in the movie). The only additions that I really liked were the Harry-Luna scenes and the way Umbridge/the Ministry taking over Hogwarts was portrayed: some scenes are added that aren't in the books but that illustrates quite well what's going on in a way that you couldn't have done in the movie if you followed the book more closely (and wanted to keep the film under 5 hours). The movie is never a compelling story though, and except for Neville (to some extent) there's no character development and none of the plotlines beyond the Battle of the Ministry get the attention they deserve. It seems more like a race to get to the grand finale, which itself isn't as good as it should have been. Especially the Order vs Deatheaters fight and Sirius's death are disappointing (and there's no time for grieving afterwards).
Overall I think this was the worst of the movies. If you're a Potter fan you'll still want to see it, if only for the purty pictures, but I wouldn't bother rushing out to see the first screenings, and certainly don't get your hopes up too high. Despite what I've seen just about every other reviewer claim, it's not nearly as good as the last two. Or maybe I'm just becoming too much of a curmudgeon...
Ah well, at least the book's only 9 days away, should still be a good summer for Potter fans
The good:
- The possession scene (Voldemort trying to possess Harry during the battle with Dumbledore): awesome, awesome, awesomely done, the only truly compelling scene in the movie. Even Rowling could learn something from this
- Voldermort vs Dumbledore: not as good as in the book and not as good as I had hoped and expected, but still very well done. Special effects galore.
- Luna!
She's absolutely brilliant, best cast yet in the series. The chemistry between her and Harry is great -- if I didn't know better I'd almost have thought there might be something going on there. Her scenes are quite different from the books but they capture her and her relationship with Harry perfectly. Can't wait to see more of her in the next movie(s?).- Umbridge is a pretty good cast as well: appropriately evil, exactly as you would expect her to be.
- Kingsley Shacklebolt
A very minor character, even more so than in the books, but he's beyond cool.- Bellatrix was wonderful also, but underused.
- The DA lessons. Quite different from the books, but very satisfying nonetheless.
- The Dementor attack. Again, nothing like the books, but pretty well done.
The bad:
The rest of the movie, really, where to begin? Snape's worst memory, the betrayal of the DA, the Battle of the Ministry (except for the Dumbledore vs Voldemort part), the scenes in Little Whinging, Harry and Dumbledore's final conversation and countless other scenes are butchered horribly and the very best scene in the entire series -- with Neville's parents in St Mungo's -- is cut entirely! Other things that were cut include Quidditch, lessons (beyond the absolute necessary for the plot), OWLs, Percy (he's an extra in a couple of scenes but only an extra), Dobby, Firenze and the rebellion of Hogwarts vs Umbridge after Fred and George's departure. Probably more that I'm forgetting right now.
Some of the best characters like Snape, Tonks, Draco, Bellatrix and Kreacher are terribly underused. The Dursleys are ridiculously over the top but their scenes are reduced to a fraction of what they need to be and Gambon is still a piss-poor Dumbledore (although not as bad as in GoF). The Harry-Cho relationship is extremely rushed, but that's probably a good thing as there was zero chemistry between them and the kissing scene, though almost word-for-word following the book for a change, was highly unconvincing.
The ugly:
Kreacher & Gwarp
(Both of which have very minor but good parts BTW, I suspect they were only kept in because they'll prove key characters in Deathly Hallows.)
I can't imagine that anyone who hasn't read the books could follow the story at all -- as far as the movie had a story, it was more a collection of loosely related scenes up to the point where the twins leave Hogwarts (which incidentally was done well enough: not especially awesome as one might expect, but not a disappointment either). There were gaping plot holes as entire key scenes were dropped and many others suffered from poor cuts. E.g. Harry, Ron and Hermione break into Umbridge's office and get caught, but without any kind of explanation Ginny, Neville and Luna are also 'arrested' for this even though they didn't feature in that storyline at all (no mention of them being look-outs or anything). Harry doesn't actually get to use the fireplace either, so he never talks to Kreacher; there's no explanation as to why he flies off to London after he escapes Umbridge, where two scenes before he was bent on contacting Sirius first. Percy betrayed his family and is working for the Ministry as you'd expect, but his name isn't even mentioned and he has no speaking part, so it's impossible to know what's up with him if you haven't read the books -- although I guess if you haven't odds are you didn't even notice his presence.
The whole movie was very much chopped up and highly rushed, in a way that makes GoF look positively cohesive. I guess that's a necessity since this was the largest book, but I'm sure there's a better way to go around it than to just drop half the plot and leave the (non-book-reading) audience guessing as to what's happening in between the scenes you do get to see. The story deviates VERY STRONGLY from the book: it completely rearranges the chronology (e.g. the Inquisitorial Squad is founded near the start of the year, Trelawny is chucked out much sooner and Hagrid returns much later), skips major plot points that are quite necessary to understand the story and makes up some scenes to replace some of the stuff that's left out (e.g. the way the Room of Requirement is first discovered and the DA is betrayed, as neither Dobby nor Marietta are in the movie). The only additions that I really liked were the Harry-Luna scenes and the way Umbridge/the Ministry taking over Hogwarts was portrayed: some scenes are added that aren't in the books but that illustrates quite well what's going on in a way that you couldn't have done in the movie if you followed the book more closely (and wanted to keep the film under 5 hours). The movie is never a compelling story though, and except for Neville (to some extent) there's no character development and none of the plotlines beyond the Battle of the Ministry get the attention they deserve. It seems more like a race to get to the grand finale, which itself isn't as good as it should have been. Especially the Order vs Deatheaters fight and Sirius's death are disappointing (and there's no time for grieving afterwards).
Overall I think this was the worst of the movies. If you're a Potter fan you'll still want to see it, if only for the purty pictures, but I wouldn't bother rushing out to see the first screenings, and certainly don't get your hopes up too high. Despite what I've seen just about every other reviewer claim, it's not nearly as good as the last two. Or maybe I'm just becoming too much of a curmudgeon...
Ah well, at least the book's only 9 days away, should still be a good summer for Potter fans
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