SPOILER WARNING - Enter at own risk.
>> The film had a curious disjointed quality, as though it had been compiled out of two or three different movies, made by different people. It didn't quite flow. Plot elements were introduced and then failed to continue.
There was the rom com strand, and "what's Draco up to?" strand, and the half-blood prince strand, and the Dumbledore and the horcruxes strand - and they remained seperate, some strands faltering or disappearing entirely. The half-blood prince strand, in particular, just faded into obscurity.
Each individual scene was generally fine - I think the film could have been saved by judicious editing. Or someone reviewing it in terms of overall plot development, rather than checking it scene by scene. Or something.
The scenes often worked individually, but failed to pull together to form a cohesive whole. So, at the time of watching, it was quite enthralling, but afterwards I was disappointed.
>> Draco was great - Tom Felton did a fine job with Draco's character - the bathroom scene was quite exciting, and his performance on the astrology tower scene was excellent.
>> Only two of the Tom Riddle memories were shown. It doesn't matter so much to a viewer familiar with the books, but others might feel the lack.
>> The astrology tower scene was quite good -- but the whole DE invasion of Hogwarts was an utter fail. Other than Bellatrix dancing on tables and smashing some windows, the DEs quietly entered, and then left after Dumbledore's death. No chaos, no violence. Harry's pursuit of Snape aross the school grounds is presented, but even the encounter with Snape was dissatisfying.
Early in the film, we see aurors patrolling Hogwarts and making themselves noticable - why was there no resistance to the DE break-in? Where were the aurors? Where were the Order members - Bill, Tonks and Remus etc?
>> Dumbledore's death and then the scene with his body lying at the bottom of the tower was really moving.
>> The cave and inferi scene was great. Really effective.
>> The Burrow scene: wtf! Have no idea why this was inserted. Initially quite dramatic, the scene sort of fizzled out before the Burrow burned down. ???
>> The film opens with dramatic scenes of DE violence - in the Muggle world, and briefly in Diagon Alley. But that doesn't really go anywhere - it would have been good to have a sense of the menace growing as the film progresses.
>> Lavender/Ron - nauseating - but that was true in the book. When Ron's in hospital after the mead incident, Hermione and Lavender have this public screaming frenzy, as in the book, but I don't recall Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape being there in the book(?) Then Ron does his "hermione" mumble - and then afterwards the Hermione/Ron just fades out with no real developoment. It's all quite strange.
>> Won't discuss the whole Remus/Tonks thing, other than mentioning that since the Order wasn't present during the DEs entrance into Hogwarts, I was spared from having to see the ghastly hospital scene. What I did see of Remus/Tonks (only little snuippets) was hideous enough.
>> Not only did the half-blood prince plot-strand fade away until the momnent Snape says "I am the half-blood prince" to Harry (as he's leaving Hogwarts), there just isn't enough of Snape in the film.
>> The Spinner's End scene was fine. But omg, Narcissa's hair! What were they thinking? I'd imagined Narcissa as more graceful and willowy, somehow.
>> There were some exciting scenes, and some of the visuals were superb - but the film was rather unsatisfying as a whole.
EDIT:![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
junewilliams7 just reminded me I hadn't mentioned anything about Slughorn. I thought the actor did a fine job, even though he wasn't entirely like the book-Slughorn. Slughorn was portrayed as a complex charcter - he was simultaneously sweet, avaricious, mercenary, self absorbed, creepy and endearingly vulnerable.
I can easily imagine this Slughorn at the Battle of Hogwarts, first hastily retreating with the children, and then later returning to fight.
EDIT: I've also recalled that I should also mention that the cinemtography was outstanding - really quite wonderful.
The marvelous visuals of Hogwarts and its towers and Borgin and Burke's) in Knockturn alley - brilliant.
And the repeated motif of Draco's isolation, occuring throughour the film. Like when we see Harry and Hermione on a balcony, then flash to Ron and Lav and then finally focus on Draco alone on the astronomy tower, standing there until the sun rises. That motif occurs repeatedly - it's really effective.
>> The film had a curious disjointed quality, as though it had been compiled out of two or three different movies, made by different people. It didn't quite flow. Plot elements were introduced and then failed to continue.
There was the rom com strand, and "what's Draco up to?" strand, and the half-blood prince strand, and the Dumbledore and the horcruxes strand - and they remained seperate, some strands faltering or disappearing entirely. The half-blood prince strand, in particular, just faded into obscurity.
Each individual scene was generally fine - I think the film could have been saved by judicious editing. Or someone reviewing it in terms of overall plot development, rather than checking it scene by scene. Or something.
The scenes often worked individually, but failed to pull together to form a cohesive whole. So, at the time of watching, it was quite enthralling, but afterwards I was disappointed.
>> Draco was great - Tom Felton did a fine job with Draco's character - the bathroom scene was quite exciting, and his performance on the astrology tower scene was excellent.
>> Only two of the Tom Riddle memories were shown. It doesn't matter so much to a viewer familiar with the books, but others might feel the lack.
>> The astrology tower scene was quite good -- but the whole DE invasion of Hogwarts was an utter fail. Other than Bellatrix dancing on tables and smashing some windows, the DEs quietly entered, and then left after Dumbledore's death. No chaos, no violence. Harry's pursuit of Snape aross the school grounds is presented, but even the encounter with Snape was dissatisfying.
Early in the film, we see aurors patrolling Hogwarts and making themselves noticable - why was there no resistance to the DE break-in? Where were the aurors? Where were the Order members - Bill, Tonks and Remus etc?
>> Dumbledore's death and then the scene with his body lying at the bottom of the tower was really moving.
>> The cave and inferi scene was great. Really effective.
>> The Burrow scene: wtf! Have no idea why this was inserted. Initially quite dramatic, the scene sort of fizzled out before the Burrow burned down. ???
>> The film opens with dramatic scenes of DE violence - in the Muggle world, and briefly in Diagon Alley. But that doesn't really go anywhere - it would have been good to have a sense of the menace growing as the film progresses.
>> Lavender/Ron - nauseating - but that was true in the book. When Ron's in hospital after the mead incident, Hermione and Lavender have this public screaming frenzy, as in the book, but I don't recall Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape being there in the book(?) Then Ron does his "hermione" mumble - and then afterwards the Hermione/Ron just fades out with no real developoment. It's all quite strange.
>> Won't discuss the whole Remus/Tonks thing, other than mentioning that since the Order wasn't present during the DEs entrance into Hogwarts, I was spared from having to see the ghastly hospital scene. What I did see of Remus/Tonks (only little snuippets) was hideous enough.
>> Not only did the half-blood prince plot-strand fade away until the momnent Snape says "I am the half-blood prince" to Harry (as he's leaving Hogwarts), there just isn't enough of Snape in the film.
>> The Spinner's End scene was fine. But omg, Narcissa's hair! What were they thinking? I'd imagined Narcissa as more graceful and willowy, somehow.
>> There were some exciting scenes, and some of the visuals were superb - but the film was rather unsatisfying as a whole.
EDIT:
junewilliams7 just reminded me I hadn't mentioned anything about Slughorn. I thought the actor did a fine job, even though he wasn't entirely like the book-Slughorn. Slughorn was portrayed as a complex charcter - he was simultaneously sweet, avaricious, mercenary, self absorbed, creepy and endearingly vulnerable. I can easily imagine this Slughorn at the Battle of Hogwarts, first hastily retreating with the children, and then later returning to fight.
EDIT: I've also recalled that I should also mention that the cinemtography was outstanding - really quite wonderful.
The marvelous visuals of Hogwarts and its towers and Borgin and Burke's) in Knockturn alley - brilliant.
And the repeated motif of Draco's isolation, occuring throughour the film. Like when we see Harry and Hermione on a balcony, then flash to Ron and Lav and then finally focus on Draco alone on the astronomy tower, standing there until the sun rises. That motif occurs repeatedly - it's really effective.
I've got the html for the cut - I just checked it, and have no idea why it's not working, because the coding is valid. I'm going to remove the contents, leaving a post here so that you can get this message, and try and re-post later.
Sorry again.
I look forward to readiing what others thought, too.
I forgot to mention Slughorn.
I quite liked him, even though he wasn't entirely like the book-Slughorn. But he did have this extraordinary mixture of qualities - simulataneously creepy, sweet, mercenary, avaricious, self-obsessed and endearingly vulnerable. Reflecting on it, the actor (Broadbent?) gave a remarkable performance.
And I can really see this actor doing a wonderful job of Slughorn's involvement in the Battleof Hogwarts. The initial retreat, with the children, and then the return.
I'm glad you asked - I might edit my post to include a mention of Slughorn. Thanks!
Oh, forgot to ask: in HBP the movie, did they show Slughorn's party with Sanguini the vampire? Hermione and her date?
I've read fanfic that has made me view Slughorn with greater sympathy than my perspective from the books - the film's Slughorn will also inspire sympathy, I think. Such a human character, with human failings and weaknesses.
The party - Yes, that was included. I've been told that apparently Sanguini and the vampire author were there as part of the party crowd, but I didn't actually notice them.
Hermione hiding out from Cormac McCleggan was included - I think that particular section from the book was fully included in the fillm (as far as I could tell.)
One of the things the film definitely did for me was a more sympathetic viewing of Slughorn. It wasn't like I was particularly anti-Slughorn before, but I viewed him differently after the film to be certain. The scene where he gives Harry the memory was really well done and when he asked Harry to not think worse of him was rather heart-rending in my opinion.
Then I decided WTF! When I forgot the book AT ALL, I enjoyed the movie much, much more.
And this time, Severus Snape didn't have only one line. :)
I was astonished when I later realized how much of the film was different to the book. Often unneccessary changes too. Like adding the Burrow scene (presumably to create an exciting action scene), when the DEs entrance into Hogwarts could have been an exciting action sequence.
While I was actually watching the film, my internal critic was silent - I was too busy watching to analyse it.
This is really true for me as well. I am actually much less annoyed over all than I've ever been even though the Half-blood Prince storyline was non-existent for all practical purposes. Just as I set aside canon for fanfic I guess I've finally realized that film!canon is just the sanctioned version of fanfic.
Strangely enough, during the film, I loved it! Only afterwards, looking it at the film as a whole, I became aware of dissatisfaction.
When I forgot the book AT ALL, I enjoyed the movie much, much more. Yes. It was as I remembered the book that I became critical.
I find that this is true in general about movies based on books.
I'm wondering if the Burrow attack has anything to do with the fact that the makers of the movies decided to do away with the Bill-Fleur relationship, so there's no need to have the wedding take place there.
The whole Lavendar and Won-won thing could've been totally ditched, surely, and made way for much more important plot. Several people have mentioned that if you were unfamiliar with the books, you'd be totally lost in this film. I was bored half-way through.
Broadbent was great as Sluggie.
Why the hell were there no ramifications for Harry in using Sectumsempra?? Everyone just stood back and stared at him and that was it!
the editing was very peculiar and ruined any kind of anticipation or build-up: everything was dreadfully flat. Yes, the edting was very strange - I'm sure it undermined the flm's quality. Someone at my IJ mentioned that after having seen the film, they were looking forward to the extended version dvd! *g*
The whole Lavendar and Won-won thing could've been totally ditched, surely, and made way for much more important plot - the film would have been so improved without the whole teenage rom com thing being emphasised. Watching the director being nterviewed, he seemed to think the rom com was going to be adored by audiences.... Sad.
Several people have mentioned that if you were unfamiliar with the books, you'd be totally lost in this film. - I went with a friend who's read HP, but isn't obsessed *g* and afterwards she kept saying, "I read the book fairly recently but it as like I'd never read it... what was happening here?" Having read the book only once, she was quite lost!
That scene with Slughorn in Hagrid's hat was especially brilliant!! And I liked the goldfish story even though it wasn't from the book. Broadbent was great.
One version can focus on the younger characters and their (boring!) love lives and adventures. Families and kids can go to that movie.
The other version would focus more on the adult characters, especially Snape. :) Childless adults and parents without their kids can see that version.
Kids and adults would both get what they want. The studio would make more money. Everybody's happy.
I'm relieved they're making DH as two movies - HBP shows how difficult it is to get all the content into one movie.
Thank you! I'm glad I'm not the only person who felt this way. I've seen a few comments to the effect that the pacing "flowed" and was well-connected, and been quite perplexed by them. I was left with far more "wait -- what just happened in that film?" at the end than I was with any of the others, even OotP, despite being fairly familiar with the storyline of HBP.
Intriguing that the film can generate such a variety of reactions, though.