"These are dark times. There is no denying."
I've been a big fan of the Harry Potter books for a long while now, longer than I'd have thought. My sister received the first three as a Christmas present when I was about 13 or so. I read them all just in time for the hype to kick-off big time when the fourth book came out in 2000. Since then I've re-read them multiple times in preparation for each subsequent book all the way through to the final installment in 2007. I enjoyed the Deathly Hallows just as much as any of the other ones, but have yet to revisit it since my first time reading, making it the book I remember least, despite it being the most recent. Additionally, even though I've seen all the films as they've come out, I rarely ever revisit them after experiencing them in theatres, so I went into this film feeling about as unprepared as I could when it comes to something I like so much.
A lot of people accused this movie of being boring, and I can kind of see where they're coming from. It's 2+ hours worth of set-up for a payoff that you know is going to be awesome but you don't get to see. And the leisurly pacing of the film makes it feel like you're watching an incredibly long first act, and then the movie ends right as the second act begins. It is a bit frustrating. However, if any of these movies should be made for fans of the books, it's these last two. If you've made it this far through the movies and still haven't read the books, that's your crappy decision.
There's still plenty to like here. These final films (by which I mean 5, 6 and this one) all feel like a cohesive whole thanks to David Yates. And although he sacrifices some of the wonder of the early films for a grimmer, more down-to-earth tone, I think that's a wise decision given the dire circumstances of the later books. The last film was deservedly nominated for an Oscar for cinematography, and although Yates had a different cinematographer for this film, it still looks incredible. This is the first film that is able to escape the environment of Hogwarts and Yates takes full advantage of this, giving us sweeping vistas of cliffs, fields and forests as the trio goes on the run from Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Never forgetting that the film takes place in the fall, Yates blankets the entire movie in a chilly autumn atmosphere that gives a lot of texture and depth to otherwise minimalist scenes of the kids hanging out and looking depressed. The movie also had really great sound design. The lack of music and the amplified breathing during the chase sequence in the woods was strange but incredibly effective. And I don't care what anyone says, I liked the Nick Cave scene. A nice carry over of the minimilist motif to the sound effects and just letting the music carry the emotions.
Speaking of which, even thought the story requires them all to play pretty much the same note the entire movie (irritated and frightened), the kids all feel more natural in this film than they have in the past. Their interaction with each other seems genuine, Emma Watson has stopped acting entirely with her (admittedly adorable) eyebrows and Daniel Radcliffe is a lot more subtle than he was even two movies ago. Rupert Grint has kind of always been great. I wish he hadn't been absent for half the film. The parade of British thespians playing the adults are great as always. Kind of pissed Brendan Gleeson died off screen, even if that is how it happened in the book. Ralph Fiennes continues to kick complete ass as Voldemort and even thought he's only in one scene, Alan Rickman is always a pleasure as Snape. He should have way more to do in the next movie, so I'm looking forward to that. And the less I say about how disturbingly attractive I find Helena Bonham Carter's Bellatrix, the better.
These movies have been dark since 3 and 4, but this movie is definitely going to be The Temple Of Doom for a whole generation of little Potter fans. The opening scene, with the woman hovering above the table was emotionally grueling as is but at the end of it when Voldemort FEEDS HER CORPSE TO HIS FUCKING SNAKE I knew this movie wasn't screwing around. Between that, the second scene in Godric's Hollow with the snake (which actually made me jump) and the gruesome depiction of what Apparating is actually like (it was describe as being disturbing in the books, but the movie got that across much more effectively). It's nice to see them going for the gusto with the violence; it's what the material deserves. And again, it should make the last movie pretty crazy.
Overall, this movie was pretty risky. Between the violence, Nick Cave, one of the major action sequences/plot movements happening with extras standing in for the main characters, it's actually pretty wild that they were able to pull all this off in a multi-billion dollar franchise. Sorry if this review seems haphazard, I'm kind of out of it, and like I said, I'm a bit rusty on my Harry Potter intensity. I'm going to try to re-read the 7th book by the time the final flick comes out. I don't want to struggle to wrap this up, so I'm going to do my stray observations thing that I usually save for the TV reviews.
Stray Observations:
- Considering that I didn't like Dobby all that much in the books and he was only in the 2nd movie and this one, his swan song was incredibly well done in the movie. I got a little faklempt.
- Another reason it helps to have accomplished British actors in these movies: the immense swaths of exposition that are just dumped in your lap every twenty minutes or so.
- Holy crap, how awesome was the animated sequence? I'd never heard of Ben Hibon, the Swiss animator who directed that sequence, but I would like his feature length debut now please.
- I greatly prefer the wild west style wand shoot outs in this film to the more formal fencing-style duels of the early films. I hope they just go for broke and have someone duel wielding wands in the next movie, even if it didn't happen in the book.
UP NEXT: How To Train Your Dragon and those Kurasawa movies, whenever I get around to watching them.
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