The Potter Perceptions: The Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010)

Well, well, well. Here we are. Part one of the finale! This has been a long and I cannot say epic journey. Eric has trekked through it with me and has been such a trooper!

Well, here we are – approaching the end of the series, in a dramatic two part fashion even. I’m not sad that I am about done with this, because I haven’t really given two shits for these movies but I am sad that my interaction with Zoë might decline : ( don’t quit me ZUTS!!! As for this thing – you know, I just watched SIX of these movies and I’ve never read a single word of the books but – what in the fuck was going on in the first hour of this thing??? Did they just assume everyone in the world has read the books? I mean – why does whatshisface demon guy need Jason Isaacs’ wand? (Jason Isaacs = no relation) Why is Isaacs disgraced?? When did the blond haired kid turn into such a puss? Who is this character who gets eaten by the big snake?? How can Harry and his pals zip around the world teleporting??? They used to have to take a damned train to get anywhere…?? Why is Weasely so thick (and getting uglier)??? If Voldemort and company just want to kill Pooter, why did they “take down” the Ministry?? And then just re-open it under new leadership?? He must not be a very good dark wizard if he can’t just go find Pooter and kill him.

Some other thoughts: Are these characters really called “Snatchers” and did that guy really just say “What are you waiting for?? Go snatch them!!!” is Harry really going swimming again with his glasses on?? What the hell – here’s that Dobby guy again. These are very ineffective dark witches… why doesn’t Harry just bone whatshername already?? What is this??? What was the point of them going to Harry’s home? Did I miss something?? Why does no one but an old lady who turns into a snake live where he was born?? I’m sure the next one is three hours long but they sure have a lot of explaining to do.

If you can’t tell, I wasn’t really impressed with this one despite all of the hype that came with it.  It looked pretty though. Oh well – I guess it is what it is and it’s on to the next one.

The good:

•  Alan Rickman. Still tooting this train!
• Hermione did obliterate her family’s memory.
• Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort. He stills thrills me each and every single time, what a fantastic actor.
• Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy. He really is despicable.
• Nagini was well done.
• Voldemort flying. It looked really good and was well done.
• Wounded George. He really lost an ear and did the lame jokes that go with it.
• Bill Nighy as Scrimgeour. He was awesome, though I truly feel he was underused in this series.
• British actors. I really liked the way that the actors were pretty much all British, kept it very much as it should have been.
• Kingsley’s Patronus. “The ministry has fallen.” – I really, really enjoyed how that came together.
• Hermione’s beaded bag. It was very accurate and had just about everything jammed into it.
• Moody’s Grimmauld Place enchantments. They were pretty cool.
• Dobby and Kreacher. I just enjoyed these two, but I really liked the way Dobby pushed Kreacher  off of him like a jersey the whole time.
• Moody’s magical eye in Umbridge’s office door. Thank goodness this was added, although I don’t think that it will make any sense to most people.
• The documents in Umbridge’s office. Seeing that they were being hunted was good, and that she had a dossier on so many of them.
• Harry seeing into Voldemort’s mind. This was incredibly well done, although I wish there was more added to the film about what he was thinking about and what Harry was seeing.
• Ron’s jealousy. It was well done, though incredibly short lived. Also, everyone’s anger and frustration at Harry for nothing happening was good.
• Harry and Ron fighting. That was a solid fight.
• Godric’s Hollow graveyard scene. That really was a pretty sad scene.
• Harry chatting with Bathilda Bagshot in Parseltongue. At least it was not in English, and at least not in front of Hermione.
• Destroying the locket. That was incredibly well done and looked amazing.
• The Blackthorne wand. The way Harry tested it and it worked to the extremes was hilarious.
• The Deathly Hallows story. I loved the animation and the way the story was told, it looked great, the story was so cool. That artwork was amazing.
• Rhys Ifans. He was truly well cast to play Xenophilius Lovegood.
• Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange. She is properly cracked for this.
• Bellatrix interrogating Hermione. It was a very good interrogation.
• Dobby the hero. I was so proud of him for standing up to the Malfoys and saving his friends.
• Draco Malfoy’s reluctance. I liked how he was a little bit reluctant to help Voldemort, but at the same time reluctant to split on Harry.
• Dobby’s death. The way he died was incredibly painful and sad. His death itself was more heartbreaking in the movies, though is burial and Harry’s dealing with it was more sad in the books.
• Voldemort going for the Deathstick. The way he split Dumbledore’s tomb and reached for that wand was amazing, and how he took it and used it. I loved that scene. Probably the best of the whole movie.

The bad:

• Dudley’s farewell. I thought them cutting Dudley’s farewell was pretty uncalled for man, it was rather important, something to truly finalise the end of normality.
• Voldemort’s wand knowledge. It was displayed way too early on, showing that Voldemort understood too much of the wand lore before it was even actually time to know.
• Bill Weasley. I have lamented the fact before that he was not in The Order of the Phoenix and that he was not maimed there, and that the explanation for his appearance was short lived, and that he was not nearly as hot as he was always described. Still crushes me.
• The Trace. The fact that after years in the wizarding community, being at school and even having been dragged in for hearings by the Ministry, Harry still has no idea what the Trace is. I call bullshit.
• Effects. Again, what the hell? They were very questionable at times, and fine at other intervals again. Way too inconsistent.
• Harry attempting to leave. Just like that? And the soppiest argument of all time to keep him there.
• Scrimgeour underused. Really? He was supposed to have a much larger deal than he got. Nighy was underutelised and that is scandalous.
• Slow paced and dragged out. This movie took me three watches to get through it. I know that The Deathly Hallows had a lot of information in it, and that is all good and well, but it felt that everything was just drawn out and ridiculous in here.
• Harry not disguised for wedding. That really grated my goose. He was not supposed to be recognised by anyone.
• The film is pretty badly laid out.
• The locket. It is just ridiculous man, doesn’t look right or anything, doesn’t look like anything that would be coveted by the Dark Lord.
• Harry’s inheritance. It was never adequately explained that Harry inherited Grimmauld Place from Sirius, or that Kreacher has fallen into the employ and ownership of Harry, and it is pretty important to know all that, and that Kreacher will abide by Harry’s rules, no matter what.
• Kreacher didn’t get the fake locket. This was very important for me, as it marked a total change in Kreacher as well as his loyalty to Harry.
• Harry is being hunted. It glossed over and never really explained, it is just expected that we will understand and accept that, and why everyone got on board with hunting him. Not shown that families were being tortured for information and investigated, etc.
• The Ministry break in. This was weak, pathetic and rushed, and made very little sense.
• Intense Ministry changes are not shown. I know you can’t put everything in, but this was pretty important to show how powerful Voldemort had become.
• Umbridge faking her heritage. Mundungus never explains that Umbridge took that locket and is using it to fake her heritage, and has no idea of its origins.
• Harry looking like Harry at the Ministry. The fact that he actually looked like himself and managed to get that far is totally beyond me.
• The two-way mirror. When in the hell did this become a thing, cause it sure as hell wasn’t present in The Order of the Phoenix!
• Gregorovitch. The fact that they knew who that was from the minute they heard the name was unbelievable.
• Hermione was incredibly short tempered. I mean this in the far more than usual kind of way.
• Snatchers. The fact that Harry, Ron and Hermione knew from the off what Snatchers were, which is something that became popular after they went on the run.
• How groomed they all were. On the run and looking that groomed?! I think not.
• Ron’s irritation with Harry and Hermione. While done very well, it was too rapid and too extreme.
• No Dumbledore rumours, etc. They are there, but they aren’t made important, and it was actually something that was rather important.
• This movie makes no sense. If you don’t have a backing in the world of Potter and a thorough understanding of the story, this movie will make no sense. As it is it barely made sense!
• Hermione discovering the Deathly Hallows symbol. Yep, all good and well, I get it, but the fact that she knew exactly what tombstone to flip the snow off is simply ludicrous.
• No statue or messages of encouragement. I was so excited to see the Potter statue in Godric’s Hollow, and it was never shown. Then, if that was no insult enough, it doesn’t show that the destroyed Potter home has been enchanted and hidden, and that people had been leaving Harry encouraging messages on there.
• Escaping from Nagini. It irritated me that Voldemort wasn’t there the second that they got away, clearly highlighting how narrow an escape it was and how angry Voldemort was about missing Harry again!
• Grindelwald identified too quickly. Like Gregorovitch, it was just far too quick. I am not saying drag it out forever, but this was not right.
• Harry’s upset over wand. This was not showcased or demonstrated correctly, and was just glossed over.
• Phineas Nigellus painting. It pained me that it was not amongst the possessions in Hermione’s beaded bag.
• Hermione’s freakout when Ron returns. It didn’t really feel… heartfelt.
• Xenophilius Lovegood defending Harry. This was not really drawn attention to.
• Lovegood’s betrayal. This was never shown, how he was printing Ministry-approved propaganda about Harry to have Luna returned safely.
• Not showing Luna’s bedroom. That really would have showcased how close she was with Neville, Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione, and how lonely she was without them.
• Being Snatched. They just got away from Lovegood and turned up immediately at a group of Snatchers.
• The Taboo about Voldemort’s name was never explained.
• No Potterwatch. That was really cool and would have been awesome to put in.
• Malfoys in ill-favour with Lord Voldemort. This was never done justice or explained properly.
• Harry knowing about the Deathstick. He figured it out and informed the other two of it way too early, and he was so chilled about it.

Well, here we go. One more left. This one looked nice but it was not nice. Three watches it took me to get through it, I was the most unhappy fish under the sun. But the next one that is coming is not the worst of all of them, and I am looking forward to watching Hogwarts burn again, and the whole community go to war!