Saw Harry Potter Part Two - Page 2

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 11:43am

*spoilers* (although I don't know why you're reading this thread if you don't want to be spoiled)

I saw it at midnight. It was worth being a zombie at work this morning. I loved it. Possibly one of my favorites of all the movies.

I think this movie, more than any of the others, managed to include all the moments I thought were important from the book. My sister and I were hitting each other in anticipation as soon as we could tell that our favorite moments were going to happen- like when the sword of Gryffindor appeared to Neville, and when Snape met alone with Voldemort in the boat house. Speaking of which, god, I was a wreck during the Prince's Tale. When Snape made his Patronus, I lost it.

The Molly Weasley line got a big cheer in the theatre, of course, but my favorite part of that scene has never been that she called Bellatrix a bitch, but that Molly Weasley, stay-at-home mom, was the one who took down the most powerful Deatheater. That's what I loved about Harry Potter- the most unexpected people end up being the heroes- Neville, Mrs. Weasley, Dobby- so I'm so glad those moments were included in the movie.

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 11:48am

"Maggie Smith finally got her moments. I've always been fond of McGonagall but she was never given the screen time she really deserved. She had two or three fantastic scenes and it was great that she was able to go out with a bang."

You did mean "BOOM" right? :)

Saw it last night too - loved it. In 2D the movie looked fantastic - no need at all for 3D. Rickman pulled off Snape perfectly and deserves a supporting actor nod. The special effects in the movie are beyond incredible. The dragon in the escape from Gringotts make the Jurassic Park dinosaurs look like Rex from Toy Story.

My ONLY quibble was that I wish they had given SLIGHTLY more time before Molly's line. Everyone knew it was coming, everyone expected it - but it felt like they put it in because they knew they HAD to. There is no context to the scene - I almost didn't even realize they'd jumped to it until she said the line.

Otherwise, a truly enjoyable and perfect fit for the series.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 12:01pm

I was just looking at the reviews and it's raves across the board. Looks like a serious contender for Best Picture. I'm looking forward to seeing it this weekend.

[Q]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 12:10pm

Rotten Tomatoes is at 97%!
Link.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 12:18pm

I always consult the Top Critics, which are at 100%! All critics includes too many unknown blogs and fan sites.

[littlegreen2]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 12:29pm

I'm trying to convince some friends (or maybe even my dad) to go again today. I think it was so much to process that this will take a few viewings to really come to terms with the end.

*SPOILER* (although the books were released years ago so if it's still a spoiler I have no sympathy hahaha)
I am a little disappointed that they completely left out the Teddy Lupin plotline. That was the most upsetting part of the entire film, I think, because Teddy's life was, in the book, a parallel to Harry's. And it makes it that much more devastating when Lupin and Tonks die - they just had a child together.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 12:36pm

I wasn't even given the cute eyeglass-shaped glasses. The theater I was at gave out Dolby Digital glasses.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 12:37pm

I just got out if it. I'll post my thoughts later when I stop SOBBING. But it was more perfect of an ending than I could have even asked for.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 12:44pm

Oh - and Alan Rickman MUST receive an Academy Award nomination for this. There's just no question about that.

[DAME]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 12:45pm

The movie was fantastic. Delivers on every level. So satisfying.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 12:55pm

I cannot wait to see this tonight!

Your enthusiasm has me really excited!

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 1:35pm

Early box offices estimates indicate a take of $43.5 million JUST FOR THE MIDNIGHT SHOW. That shatters the previous best, $30m for one of the Twilight series. It's also showing on something like 11,000 screens this weekend, which is a ridiculously high number.

[alliez92092]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 1:45pm

I just got back and I am at a loss for words. It was absolutely beautiful. Could it have been better? Yeah, but I'm not going to complain. That was the best movie in the series with fantastic performances from everyone involved. The Prince's Tale and The Forest Again had me bawling me eyes out. I even enjoyed the epilogue solely for the throwback to the original score which just sent me into hysterics again. Alan Rickman deserves every nomination under the sun for his performance. Wow I can't even think right now, I'm still tearing up. Thank you JK Rowling for these past 11 or 12 years of my life. These stories and characters will continue to live on thanks to your beautiful words and the cinematic adaptations. I am forever grateful.

[romantico]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 2:12pm

I loved it as well. Of course,I learned years ago that you have to separate the books from the movies. Every time I see one of the movies I am disappointed about them leaving something out and this last film was no exception. Still,I enjoyed every second of it.

I hope they release a super deluxe DVD box set of all the films. I have forced myself not to buy any of the films on Blu ray knowing that a box set is a must in the very near future.(I'm hoping by Christmas)

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 2:24pm

JK Rowling is personally responsible for creating a generation of readers. For that, she deserves every penny she's made from this franchise.

[littlegreen2]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 2:31pm

I'm seeing it again tonight. I have been crying just thinking about it today. I feel like Matthew Lewis (Neville) really got me, because he started out so short and awkward but grew into this man whose character turned out so brave.

I just have a lot of feelings today that don't make sense.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 2:46pm

Now that I can be more coherent in my thoughts, I'll say a few things:

I thought it would have been perfect if
1) Dumbledore explained why Harry could go back and he didn't have to die
2) It didn't look like Snape had botox in the otherwise beautiful Prince's Tale

I agree with everyone that Alan Rickman was truly amazing.

It's pretty clear that this movie is really only meant for people who have seen/read the previous ones. These two girls sitting behind me had never seen a Harry Potter movie and were annoyingly talking about how bad it was afterward. I really wanted to yell at them. I sort of laughed to myself in Shell Cottage when Harry said "that vault could have a Horcrux--another piece of his soul for us to destroy" because if anyone in the theater didn't know what a Horcrux is, there would be no chance in saving them.

This movie had a few references to what had happened in the books but not the movies, like Harry already knowing about Lupin's son, Ron saying "maybe he's in the room of requirement. It doesn't show up on the map, you said that last year", etc. I wondered how these moments worked for the people who hadn't read the books.

I saw it in imax 3d, both of which were unnecessary, but I felt like they didn't detract from the movie. I had read an interview with someone on the visual effects team who said that in 3d, the two big scenes that look really awesome are the Gringotts vault and the Room of Requirement fire scene, but neither of them really benefitted from 3d.

They really jumped right into the story. They included the scene in which Voldemort steals the elder wand, and then went straight into the conversations at Shell Cottage. I was quite happy that they decided not to waste any time warming up to the story.

I have thought that Steve Kloves's Harry Potter screenplays have really included too much humor in recent years, and this was no exception, but I sort of just decided to stop laughing at things and that really helped me appreciate the deep, intimate moments, that often immediately followed jokes that got huge laughs. Although I did appreciate a number of jokes in the movie, a couple I could have done without.

Everyone cheered at Mrs Weasley's line, Neville cutting off the snake's head, and a few other moments. This was good because I knew that I would have to applaud those moments no matter what happened.

Starting when Mrs Weasley killed Bellatrix, I sort of realized that this is really the end, and I became a sobbing mess. it was a really emotional night. The only other time I cried that hard was at Next to Normal.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione were looking out in the final shot before the epilogue, it was beautiful. The movie could have ended there, but I thought that the epilogue was really great. It was funny and intended to be a little campy, and it all worked. And I just have to say, how awesome must it be for those 12-year-old kids to be featured in the end of the final Harry Potter movie?

[littlegreen2]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 2:54pm

"I thought it would have been perfect if
1) Dumbledore explained why Harry could go back and he didn't have to die
2) It didn't look like Snape had botox in the otherwise beautiful Prince's Tale"

I'm SO GLAD you said something about the botox thing. It was stupid looking and the people around me didn't notice when I asked them after... I understand that they were trying to make him look younger but when I first saw him in that little segment I was like...is that even Alan Rickman?
Anyway, end rant.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 3:00pm

It looked quite cheesy. I figured it was necessary as Snape is only supposed to be 21 in that scene, but there was no reason they couldn't just decide that they were all older than in the books. My qualms about the botox were, however, made up for by Alan Rickman's beautiful performance.

[littlegreen2]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 3:12pm

I agree. I was so moved and hope that he is recognized for this.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 4:01pm

There is indeed Oscar buzz for the film, especially given the option of 10 films. The question is whether the nomination comes ala Toy Story 3 or Return of the King (a win). I would be very happy with a Rickman nomination, and it doesn't seem far fetched given the way the Academy thinks--it would be recognition for a brilliant character in 8 films and for a marvelous actor, who I don't recall ever being nominated.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 4:05pm

I saw the midnight show and had a 7 am work shift so I thought I would need the biggest cup of coffee but honestly I needed a sleeping pill after watching the film because I had so much euphoria.

Loved Rickman's performance with every single emphasized enunciated word.

I adored Maggie Smith during the Hogwarts scene especially her excitement over giving the order to the soldiers to protect the school. To quote my sister, McGonagall is a BAMF! Aside from the opening credits she got the first cheers when she defended Harry.

I thought all of the three leads were good but I agree a lot of the acting that I admired them for were mostly in Part 1 though I thought Rupert did a fine job when Ron had lines that were for comic relief. Him and Watson's kiss got pretty loud cheers in my theater. I thought that scene was handled well. It went from adrenaline rush to real romantic feelings bottled up for years released, finally, within a few seconds.

Neville's comeuppance was so satisfying to watch on the screen.

I was holding my breath when I saw the the captions to the epilogue (hated it in the book) but it was satisfying. So many people squeed when they saw the children for the first time. Harry and Ron's makeup looked pretty convincing. Not sure if it was the distance or the fact Draco's makeup was so poor (and not what I remember reading in the epilogue) that David Yates put him at a good distance from the camera.

My issue with the film was like quite a bit in Part 1, David Yates really likes to have the deaths occur off-screen. I guess you would argue seeing the villains disintegrate but Snape dying was the only death of major characters we 'see' through Harry's eyes. That was quite effective and I could hear people break into tears in the theater just seeing Lupin and Tonks lie there together but it seemed to be a running theme that certain characters dying were not seen.

Aside from Avatar this is the only 3-D film I have seen. I liked it though mostly for the experience because it was a smaller theater with a lot of hardcore fans (the theater showed Part 1 in 3-D as a double-feature option in addition to the midnight screening). Plus the other theater that had the 2-D supposedly had problems (which has tended to happen in that said theater as of late). I will say the whole lead up to Snape getting killed was not exactly the best 3-D experience when it had Harry looking through stained glass. But I thought the 3-D was not just some cheap throw in for more money, there were some great visuals.




Updated On: 7/15/11 at 04:05 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 4:35pm

The only reason I saw it in 3D was because when I handed the woman my ticket (I bought a ticket for the regular 2D showing) she handed me glasses so I just went into the 3D show. 3D added some nice depth to the picture but that's about it. I see absolutely no reason to pay the extra money to see this in anything other than standard 2D.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 6:39pm

Also thinking back, I just loved when McGonagall said Voldemort's name. I found that so satisfying for some reason..

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 7:14pm

I was sad that I missed the midnight showing, but ultimately I think it worked out for the best as I was able to do the first showing this morning at the AMC (and for $6, gotta love that), with a very less crowded theatre and no line waiting to get in.

I started reading this books 10 years ago when working on A Christmas Carol because the kids left multiple copies around the green room. I was hooked. It's crazy to think that it's really over, but that was one hella fantastic way to end it.

This movie hit me so emotionally. Like others I feel Alan Rickman needs to be recognized come awards time. It was amazing to see Maggie Smith get to finally command the screen for those few moments, as I feel she was underused in the films before this. I also loved how Helena Bonham Carter was able to channel some of Emma Watson's mannerisms for the Gringott's scenes.

Basically I was choking back tears for much of the movie and full on sobbing for many scenes. You're going to find people who will always have something to gripe about in terms of what was left out, but I really think we got the best possible movie we could realistically want, especially as some of the things that I have already seen people complain about have been ignored since the beginning and would have felt out of place suddenly being thrown in now (like the involvement of the Hogwarts Houselves).