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It’s Oscar season 2012, and everyone is hungry for Harry to finally claim the Best Picture golden statue. Billbords have been slapped up and booklets have been passed out by Warner Bros. as a final push for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 to gain support from the academy. From a cinematic standpoint, the movie itself was blockbuster gold; bad guy dies, hero wins and gets the girl, flashy lights and exciting sounds during a huge battle scene. Critics raved, and it even received an amazing and rare 96% on the Tomato Meter. However, the fact that I can’t fathom is the fan’s ferocious fight for the film to finish in first. For me, it was 10 years of loving Harry Potter; re-reading the books, watching the movies over and over, and generally obsessing over all things Potter: Wizard Rock, MuggleCast, AVPM, AVPS, fanfiction, anything I could get my hands on. Finally the day came. After 18 hours of giddily and expectantly waiting in line for the most anticipated movie of my entire life while defending the rest of the films from my pessimistic friends, I can honestly say with all of my heart: WHAT THE HELL?!?!
Whenever I am asked by friends to describe the depths of my hatred for this movie, I always equate it to Grease 2: The worst film I had seen in my entire life (until July 17, 2011 rolled along). I really enjoyed how little the filmakers of the final movie stayed true to the book. As everyone knows, valiant and vital characters should be reduced to making throwaway one-liners that remove the audience from the tense atmosphere of a situation. Perhaps the best example of such a one liner was McGonagall’s giggled out “Do your duty to your school… I’ve always wanted to use that spell”. That despicable moment when McGonagall destroyed her character to extract a cheap laugh from the audience made me want to yell “GO RYDELL!”. The moment the Warner Bros. logo left the screen, the whole movie turned to S*%t. I understand and respect the fact that some material from the books must unfortunately be left out of the movies for the sake of time. Because of this, I have always been able to seperate the books from the movies, which is how I have coped with the removal of key plot points such as SPEW, the Marauder’s, and Dobby.
But when Warner Bros. decided to split the Final film into two parts to “accurately transpose the book onto screen for the fans” I expected the book to be followed at least somewhat. I was very impressed with the time that they took to explain the first half of the book in part 1, and although they also changed and removed aspects of the novel, the integrity of Rowling’s initial work was still present. It really set up the serious tone that part 2 was supposed to and expected to portray, but was completely killed. Warner Bros. had a whole hour and a half to re-enact a final battle that took about 20 minutes to read, but they completely butchered it! Since when does Harry confront Snape in the Great Hall in front of every Hogwarts student with no set up whatsoever, and then the Order of the Pheonix somehow just magically happens to appear behind him! I forgot about the part in the book when Ron and Hermione took the time to explain their Chamber of Secrets plan to Harry before going, and getting the Marauders map to locate him later.
We all know Professor McGonagall would suggest throwing the Slytherins in the dungeon during the final battle because in her mind petty house drama is way more important then the students safety. I love how Voldemort was able to apparate on Hogwarts grounds because you know that apparation has always been allowed within school limits. I completely forgot that Ron and Hermione kissed down in the Chamber away from everyone, instead of in the heat of the moment.
Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments was the fact that apparently Fred’s death was not worth showing on screen (nor was Percy’s triumphant return to the Weasley’s side). Last time I checked Harry didnt tell anyone he was going into the forest to meet his death. My favorite parts of the book were when Harry and Voldemort jumped off a cliff together while flying through the air in a fatal mid-air tussle.
Oh, and lets not forget Volde-fetus at Kings Cross, or the Voldefetti, a potent mixture of dust and bad guy particles that appears when a Death Eater spontaneously combusts… What the hell was that awkwardness?!?!?! And poor Neville Longbottom, the dopey comedic relief character, never received his triumphant moment where he defies Voldemort and kills Nagini. Instead, the film makers decided to add in some lame speech that Voldemort patiently waited through before Nagini’s death was transformed into some comedic chase through the school. Had I not read the books I would have walked out of the theatre thinking Snape was Harry’s father.
However, the scene that easily brings home the cream of the crap award, the one that all of the Draco/ Voldemort shippers had been fantasizing about since reading the book, is when Draco Malfoy received a hug from the Dark Lord himself. I couldnt even stomach it in the theater, while most fans were crying for the characters, I was sobbing from pure disappointment! Plot points being removed from the movie is one thing, but changing or altering scenes just so the common moviegoer will obediently clap and cheer and give praise is completely unacceptable.
The only explanation I can think of for the hardcore fans’ die-hard devotion to the movie is that they are lying to themselves so that they can come to grips with the end of this era. Harry Potter consumed my life, and I know that there is nothing more that I want than to get that fantasy ending where the last movie in the franchise is perfect. But because I read and loved the books, because I am a true hardcore fan, I refuse to lie to myself and can actually see this movie for what it truly is. A disappointment.
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