Author Topic: The Harry Potter Marathon  (Read 58819 times)

1SO

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #430 on: April 06, 2020, 12:36:56 AM »
I'll be watching this soon myself, but I find as time goes on I am more uncomfortable with the moment where Bellatrix tortures Hermione. Hearing a character we've grown with cry out in pain like that is very difficult, and it's kind of masterful that this is broken by the funny image of Dobby stunning and de-wanding Wormtail. Then moments later when Bellatrix is again threatening Hermione, everyone looks up to see Dobby casually unscrewing the ceiling light.

I like this one a lot, but after cramming so much book into so little time, it's odd to get a film that has the time to breathe in the world so deeply. Enough time for a lengthy camping expedition and a little dancing. 

smirnoff

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #431 on: April 06, 2020, 08:31:40 PM »
I'll be watching this soon myself, but I find as time goes on I am more uncomfortable with the moment where Bellatrix tortures Hermione. Hearing a character we've grown with cry out in pain like that is very difficult, and it's kind of masterful that this is broken by the funny image of Dobby stunning and de-wanding Wormtail. Then moments later when Bellatrix is again threatening Hermione, everyone looks up to see Dobby casually unscrewing the ceiling light.

The content in this film is decidedly more graphic eh. Right from the get go with the captured Hogwarts Professor, who floats uncomfortably for the duration of the scene before being murdered and then fed to the snake, for everyone present to witness. It's definitely Voldemort flexing and testing the stomach of his followers... but it's on another level to anything we've seen before.

And then yea... Hermoine getting cut up... suddenly the series gets really real in that moment. It's quite a few levels beyond the bloody noses and scraped knees.

smirnoff

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #432 on: April 06, 2020, 11:56:10 PM »
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2   -   7/10

Something I remember about Chamber is how long the polyjuice potion took to brew. Particularly in the books the length of time was emphasized a lot. I swear it was like more than month that Hermoine spent tending to it before adding the finishing touches (hair). Since then polyjuice potion is like whipping up a milkshake. In this film they once again have need to transform themselves. One minute Hermoine is holding up a hair of Bellatrix, the next minute she has transformed. I dunno, maybe they keep an almost finished brew ready to go at all times. Eh best not to think too much about it.

Things slow down a bit towards the climax of the film. Once the Harry/Voldy showdown begins I was only halfway engaged. It's a film that feels drawn out in the wrong areas... though I can't exactly blame them for doing it that way. The showdown is everything we've built towards, but mostly it's everyone but Harry and Voldy that is fun to watch during that time. Seeing everyone really flex their magical abilities. Even Hogwarts itself has a few tricks up it's sleeve.


I would've liked a bigger moment for Ron and Hermoine somewhere in this story. Neville gets a moment. Snape gets a moment. Even Ron's mom gets a moment. But Ron and Hermoine feel small in this chapter. After all this time there isn't much of a payoff for them. Even romantically there's very little except the epilogue. It seems a terrible shame to not give them something either together or individually.

Harry and Ginny get a kiss... but honestly, I could take or leave Ginny in these films. She's kind of inert as a character. There's more of a spark when Harry and Luna are together even. Speaking of Luna, she doesn't get a good moment either.

To me the film and everything in it recovers a little too quickly post-Voldemort. Things are battered, people are bloodied, but already they are enjoying a cup of tea in the common room. The atmostphere is a bit too light for a school that almost experienced a complete massacre, and particularly Harry. It's as if it were only a big a deal as previous endings in the series. I feel that the film wimps out a bit, and takes the pain and stress away too quickly.

Overall though, it's good enough. I feel reasonably fulfilled, if not quite as emotionally spent as I would like.