Thursday, November 25, 2010

Harry Potter gets very dark

Returned home less than upbeat after taking in Deathly Hallows Part 1. Poor Hedwig. Poor Dobby. 

Not that it wasn't well done, because it was. It's just not a happy movie. There are a few minutes of lightness, but not many. And some of those almost feel artificial. Ron Weasley is just a bit too out of touch, though his family keeps things light without seeming forced. 

One of the best scenes is created independently of the book, when Harry and Hermione are separated from Ron and to relieve things they dance together. It shows they are friends and under different circumstances could have been more than that. 

The three principals continue to show depth as actors. Much of the rest of the cast, other than Ralph Fiennes as He Who Must Not Be Named, are in and out of scenes so quickly as to be hardly noticeable. Fiennes is under so much makeup it's hard to get much more than a sense of menace from him. Best of the bunch is probably Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. 

If you like the books, you'll like the movie. If you love the books, you'll like the movie. If you haven't read the books, you will probably find it hard to follow along, especially if you haven't seen the earlier movies. But chances are if you haven't seen the others, you aren't going to see this one, so what's the point?

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