Friday, November 19, 2010

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (non-spoilery review)


I know many of you, like me saw HP7 pt. 1 last night, or are seeing it this weekend. I wanted to share some of my thoughts and impressions without giving much away.

But really, for most of you "spoilers" aren't going to be a big deal. Since the number one thing I liked about this movie over the others? It stuck to the book almost perfectly. I have to say almost because, come on, it's a movie, it is following books that have NOT explained everything and made things difficult to understand, emphasized the wrong story lines etc. But it certainly did a much better job.

Here is the thing. I do not understand people that nit-pick movies from books and get all upset about this was changed here, this moved there, this added here!!! There are not many movies made of books that can do that -- ie. the BBC 6 hour version of Pride and Prejudice... And most of those were made years and years ago. Take any movie made of a popular book in recent years and there will be changes. It's just the market we're in. So go with the flow, calm down people. Really, it isn't worth being upset about.

Now don't get me wrong when it's something that totally changes the nature of a character you love, or messes up with the importance of something that is in fact very important (ie Harry's patronus being a shield of light more than a stag) I get bugged...but I don't lose sleep over it either.

That being said there is one scene in HP7 that was added that many people have talked about. Calls to boycott the movie were spread around. I so completely disagree with this. First of all, you know my opinion on things being changed. The addition of the scene felt fluid, and made sense. Second, as far as the nudity goes -- it is much like any other PG-13 movie. Yes, you can tell that Harry is nude in a sexual situation with another character. Do you see private parts, no. Is it meant to turn you on, no...it's kind of meant to upset another character. Is it something that is happening in their "reality"? No. It is a hallucination. So again, don't get your panties in a bunch and just go enjoy the movie.

That being said the content of the movie, as the book, is certainly for an older audience. I mean really people, your 10 year-olds might be scared and the content is too much. But that is up for you to judge. I would just really stick to the age suggestion on the rating on this one 13 and up.

All in all it was an INCREDIBLE movie experience. And I already want to go see it again!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Just back from the movie and I agree with you, it was AWESOME. I was really impressed with the pacing and how they did keep a lot of the book intact. Obviously, everything can't be included, that's just madness.

I was disappointed with a few of the losses in the movie and how they were portrayed. I mean, if you read the books you know that Harry's beloved Owl perishes, trying to save him. In the book it was such a shock, but they didn't capitalize on it as much as I would've like to have seen. Hedwig was extremely important to Harry.

That's my only nitpick:)

Aubrey said...

yes I didn't think Hedwig's or Mad Eye's deaths were taken advantage of as much as they should have been. But I was very impressed with the pacing.

ivanova said...

Thanks for the non-spoilery review. I'll be seeing it next week. Looking forward to the nudity!