I loved the Harry Potter books, but while I've enjoyed the movie series as a way to remember the books, I haven't thought any of them stood on their own as great movies (they are all varying degrees of good, but not great), until the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1. So, Pt. 2 was the first in the series I went into with a real sense of anticipation. I was severely disappointed as it was back in the good not great category.
I've seen a lot of movies without an ending. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 was the first I've ever seen without a beginning. Voldemort shoots some lighting, the title pops up, then BAM! you're in the middle of an important conversation expected to know everything that happened in the previous movie. True, there was no natural split in the novel, no one was expected to see this movie without seeing part one (or the rest of the series for that matter), and a "Previously on..." wouldn't work on the big screen, but starting this way was jarring and took me out of the movie for several minutes. This could have been resolved with a longer title sequence, maybe showing silent clips or stills from part one.
Of all the Harry Potter series, this movie is the least faithful adaptation. Every movie had at least one plotline cut out or truncated, but this is the only one that was significantly padded. While Rowling's novels were exquisitely detailed, few of the details were insignificant. The additions in to the battle of Hogwarts, particularly having Ron and Hermione chased by the snake only weakened the tension. This extra time would have been better spent lengthening the beginning by showing the planing of the Gringotts breaking in. Other parts of the book which could have gotten more attention include the histories of Dumbledore and Snape. There was way too much unshot material in the novel to justify all the padding.
My big complaint with this movie is that many of the changes for the film adaptation paint bulls-eyes around a series of glaring logic errors in the source material. But first, one that wasn't changed...
Voldemort thinks he must kill Snape to gain control of the Elder Wand. But instead of doing the job himself, he chooses to have his snake do it. It seems he is unnecessarily risking losing the power of the wand forever. Then, Voldemort leaves while Snape is still very much alive, allowing Snape the opportunity to pass Harry valuable information. If I've learned anything from Bond villains, it's that you don't use unnecessarily elaborate murder methods and you make sure your victim is dead.
Now, to the changes...
In the book, when Harry dies, he imparts the same protection on all of Hogwarts that his mother gave him when she died. Voldemort tries to kill some people after Harry's death and it just doesn't work. To be consistent with the first book, those killing spells should have seriously backfired. In the movie, Voldemort only tries to kill Harry after Harry dies. (Yes, that sentence makes perfect sense.)
In the book, Harry tells Voldemort, in front of a room full of people (including Death Eaters), that he is the rightful owner of the Elder Wand before Voldemort's spell backfires. Another important lesson in The Bond Villain Guidebook, is that you don't tell your enemy your plans. Movie Harry has apparently read this book.
After Voldemort dies, Book Harry chooses to lock the Elder Wand away and let its power expire with him. This is not a good strategy when you have just told a bunch of people, including many who already want to kill you, that you have an object that makes you the most powerful sorcerer in the world and that they'll have to kill you to get it. Movie Harry just snaps the Elder Wand in half. While the Lord of the Rings fan in me doesn't like that such a powerful magical object can be destroyed so easily, it is a much simpler solution. Although, he could have fixed his old wand first.
Lastly, I would have liked to see the epilogue as an after the credits bonus scene for the fans who had read the book and knew to expect it.
The movie actually cleaned up several problematic issues in the novel, but the book was so deeply engrossing that it got away with these errors. (The Deathly Hallows movies did leave several mysteries unresolved that were concluded in the book.) What really aggravated me about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 is the painful realization that J.K. Rowling is not perfect. If only I had a Time Turner, I could go back and stop myself from watching this movie...
No comments:
Post a Comment