Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

[alexandral]

I have just came back from watching "Harry Potter" with my daughter. She insisted on watching it in 3D , so I had to pay 20 pounds for the tickets. ** sigh ** What would you not do for your kids. You see, I am not a huge fan of the franchise. As far as the cultural impact goes, I applaud "Harry Potter", but if anyone tried to prove any literature value of the books, I would discuss the following to my death: from the top of my mind, I can name at least 5 young adult book series that are more original and better written. A school of wizardry? I have been reading books about schools of wizardry since I was 10 and this was a long time ago. And the main character, Harry Potter, a special boy with a special destiny, cannot be killed? What can I do but to roll my eyes?

Ok, I am still grumpy after having to pay 20 pounds (I am such a pirate at heart).

As far as the film goes, this was one of the best in the series. My favourite is still Prisoner of Azkaban (filmed beautifully by Alfonso Cuarón) which I think is the only film in the series that has other value than to be a part of the series, but I liked both parts of "Deathly Hallows", mostly because both of these films didn't feel as rushed as Order of the Phoenix or Half-Blood Prince. There was more time to stop and show the character interactions, and there was more time to show spectacular special effects. The special effects were spectacular, by the way, they had made me giddy with the sensory delight.

I remembered again how much I do not care for Harry and how much I love Ron, who made me laugh during all the inappropriate moments again, with his well-placed "Blimey" and "This is unfortunate". But overall, I think my actor love goes to Ralph Fiennes for his portrayal of Voldermot (gosh, so scary, I had goosebumps!).

Also, the favourite quote from the film. Dumbledore:
Of course it's all in your head, Harry, but why should that mean it isn't real?

Comments

[earenwe.livejournal.com]

I really don't think the books were supposed to be about any big surprise; the bigger surprise would be if someone really thought that they would end without Harry defeating Voldemort in some grand manner. The story is all about the journey and the greater idea of goodness and friendship and perseverance versus its antithesis. I also wholeheartedly disagree that there is no lasting literary value in these books and don't understand why there always has to be a competition in that someone is not as good of a magician as X other character - why can't a book be good of its own merit?

I haven't seen the film yet due to work but I'm hoping to find a theatre that will do a back-to-back showing of part 1 and part 2 so I can see them all in one go. I cannot wait.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

There is no competition - just some books are better written than others (have better language, more original story, free of "magical boy" characters). I am not sure if HP books will last (I think most likely they will as the story is "wholesome"), but i do think these are just mass-consumption books, which can be good too, there is nothing wrong with mass consumption per se.

[kem-viva.livejournal.com]

Totally agree :)