I'll make the official declaration of spoiler alert from this point on.
I saw it at midnight last night. Lots of people in costume, including Tonks, Lavender Brown, 3 sets of Weasley twins and a Hagrid in my theatre who lead a countdown cheer every 15 minutes. I'm not that nerdy myself, but it's the perfect kind of atmosphere to see the movie in.
I just reread the book Wednesday, so the story was fresh in my mind. There were cuts, but at first viewing, it didn't seem as awkward as Order of the Phoenix felt to me. I thought it helped with the pace to take out some of the extra characters who came in only to drop an important tidbit of information, like Krum at the wedding, or overhearing Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell, Dean Thomas and the goblins discuss the sword.
I wasn't expecting the animation for the Tale of the Three Brothers, but I kind of liked it. It did a good job presenting it as a fairytale and separating it from the real life action of the book, and it was stylized enough to keep it from looking cheesy. It kind of reminded me of The Man of La Mancha.
I'm surprised the studios had no qualms about lingering shots of shirtless Harry Potter. I don't care in the slightest, but I can imagine the parental outrage in the media will start Monday.
I'm sure I'll think of more things to post as the days go on, I'm still kind of mulling over the details. I had guessed the other day where the movie would cut-off, because the time at Shell Cottage seemed like a fitting break in the action. I can't wait for the next movie.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never
knowing how