I have seen the first part of the last film of the Harry Potter series, and honestly, i do not know what to make of it...
The Harry Potter fan in me hated the film, but the film fan in me loved the movie.
The movie felt like an over extended act 1, and i am willing to forgive that, because it is an over extended act 1. Reading the book, the movie brings what you will exactly feel during the long camping days, (to be fair- the entire chapter on Grimaulds's place was greatly abridged) but the the lull in the middle was in my opinion was done purposefully by J. K. Rowling. they were young, inexperienced magical people, who were against the most powerful wizard that ever lived. it would have been a total stretch had they known right then and there what to do, where to go, while the more powerful, more experienced Order of Phoenix is not yet bent on anything at all.
that was the book, but that did not translate well into the film.
my problems with the movie were these, and mostly it's based on the fact that i know the book very, very well. the entire movie was not as moody as the book, the book describes the situation as being very grim bleak dark, the movie was adventure mode. I admit, the three are in some adventure, but it would have been more fun 9at least for the viewers had the director shown the mood that surrounds the entire Wizarding community. there was an air of paranoia, mistrust, even division and derision. such was not present in this film.
Basically, my problem with the film is that it wasn't scary at all. The movie was very light, almost dreamlike, (the amazing cinematography obviously did not help the cause) even the emptiness feels fake. The death eaters were not scary! Fenrir Greyback was handsome! He eats human flesh for crying out loud. the kids get scared just by the sight of him. The only death eater that is scary was Bellatrix Lestrange, but that only shows how good, i mean, how great of an actress Helena Bonham Carter is.
Other than that, this movie is the best yet for me. The acting is better, cinematography is great, and Aleandre Desplat is KING!!! the visual effects are amazing, the patronus are great, this time it's more magical, but i still prefer Cuaron's vision of pure white, solid animals and not just glowy, ghostly floating white lights. and dobby has never looked better, and Kreacher was never this gollum-esque.
the best part about the movie? (and i am not talking about a naked Hermione kissing Harry) the final scene... it left you excited about the second movie, and i think that is the only purpose of the over extended act 1...
