this is my review of the film.. CAUTION= SPOILERS for those who didnt see it!!
The rustle of cloaks, the zip of spells just missing your ear (although it didnt miss George's ), the acrid smell of singed hair(and believe me, you could almost smell it!) the hiss of snakes, the whizz of brooms, these are the things which have constituted every Potter film till date. so what made this film different?
As usual, sitting in the theatre, i cannot help but squeal with excitement as the Warner Bros. logo comes popping out the screen..
the start definitely deserves special mention. it shows the Trio preparing for the dangerous venture they are about to undertake. I was moved to tears when Hermione obliviates her parents and her photos vanish.. Emma has never acted better than her performance in this film. you feel her emotions, her sorrow, her fear. The 7 potters scene was taken beautifully, the chase, even better. The special effects left us hanging off our seats and actually ended up fearing for harrys life, even though we have read the book, we are still on tenterhooks about how the chase would turn out! it showed what the book could not- actual fear, and a few visual gags, like moody's Harley-inspired broomstick.
I wish the wedding had a bit more to offer.. a wizard wedding should have been an explosion of ideas for the special effects guys!
(one thing to note though= i dont know if hermione and krum actually dance because the problem when u catch a flick here, you re never sure if you saw the whole thing or not. the Censorship board can be a little- um- enthusiastic. )
First, a beautiful romantic wedding, next second- Chaos.
The Grimmauld Place Scene scared me to bits (dusty dumbledore hurtling towards the screen isnt exactly a sight to behold)
Dobby as usual, looked adorable, and whoever gave his voice did an amazing job as we remember the Dobby from The Chamber of Secrets.. his dialogues " Dobby is a free elf " was quoted by many as they left the cinema!
the ministry scene was sudden, and kreacher never gets a chance to redeem himself. Barring a very funny scene where Mrs.Cattermole actually kisses ron (which was, again, cut by the Board) the escape wasnt anything spectacular. The acting by Ron is brilliant , the audience actaully winced when he splinched himself, and hermiones partial-histerics were very well done too.
the forest scenes, although they slowed down the movie, were never boring. at the same time, the audience could feast their eyes on the beauties of the English countryside, and (for most of us- myself included) Emma's wardrobe (i guess being brand ambassador for Burberry's has its advantages uh? her shirts were the envy of all the girls in the room... )
there are 3 scenes which i would love to highlight..
firstly the fight scene between ron and harry
Rupert has never been given the credit he deserves for his acting... because he was brilliant. Dan was relatively calm though, and it was actually funny when he lunged at ron suddenly :)
secondly, a very poignant scene where harry and hermione dance in their tent, is the type of scene which guarantees an "awwwwwwwwww" from the audience. for a few seconds you could actually see the hermione of yesteryears, cute and smiling. this happiness , however is short lived as she goes back to her mood off ways.
finally, there is a scene which shows the power of hermiones shields around the campsite, wehn a band of snatchers pass a hairs breadth in front of hermione but cannot see her.. i found myself holding my breath and praying that they would leave her alone.. there was some debate on whether the leader snatcher was Fenrir Greyback or not because he looked too cute to be him.. :)
from the hilarious to the hair raising, this movie has it all.. The Godric's hollow scene guarantees a scream from anyone who watches it, whether they are a pink smothered girl, or a black covered truck driver. Nagini has this horrifying habit of popping out of nowhere, and at this point i am totally relieved that the movie wasnt in 3D.
a special mention should go to the way the Three Brothers story was told. the animation was wonderful, and small details like Death picking up the second brother by the end of his noose was really well thought of. the whole story was told as is in the book.
The highlights of the movies where definitely the chase sequences with amazing camera angles and a few blurred shots which left you out of breath at the end.
speaking of which, the end was extremely abrupt, and if i would not have known it was ending there, i would have been shocked... although considering it is half a movie, i guess shouldnt be an issue.
the little role which malfoy and bellatrix had was crafted to perfection, and we were obliged to bow at their credits at the end :)
the ending was the kind of thing which left you begging for more, as voldemort shoots a spell into the air with the Elder Wand, though i wish it had ended with his maniacal laughter ringing in our ears.
Bottomline (finally!) : although a few scenes could have been shot better, and some things from the book which should have gone into the movie were cut (lupins fight scene, lilys letter, flashback at godric's hollow being just a few) i still enjoyed every moment of it. this movie was the perfect potrayal of The Beginning Of The End.
Cant wait for part 2!!
Another year has come to pass, and i think it is time to reflect on the things i realsied, the things i loved, the things i hated, and generally on the things that made this year worthwhile....
