December 2, 2010
This was a very hard task for a film-maker - to film half a book in which not very much happens, lots of things go horribly wrong, and the heroes become very depressed and quarrel a lot. The Potter equivalent of The Empire Strikes Back, except that here everyone knows the story in advance. Somehow though, they have managed to wrestle an engaging, dramatic, and breathtakingly beautiful film out of this, so well done to them. The pace was less frenetic than in previous Potter outings (likely because they didn't have to cram 700-plus pages worth of plot into two and a half hours of film) and it's all the better for it; we got to spend more time with the characters and were moved and awed by the wild, sweet, savage beauty of the lesser-known nooks and crannies of our own dear country, in which the fugitives choose to hide out.
A particular plus was the development of Ralph Fiennes's Lord Voldemort, previously only spotted in brief glimpses when he was doing something evil; this film gave you a real sense of him inspiring absolute abject terror in his minions despite the high voice and Jacksonesque absent nose.
The FX and action sequences are excellent too - particularly the thing with the snake, which had the entire cinema jumping about two feet off their seats.
A word of warning - this film packs quite an emotional punch and it might be a bit too much for younger viewers. Both times I've seen it there were little mites of seven-ish who were heartbroken and sobbed uncontrollably pretty much all the way through the final half hour.
Cannot wait for the conclusion in July.
A particular plus was the development of Ralph Fiennes's Lord Voldemort, previously only spotted in brief glimpses when he was doing something evil; this film gave you a real sense of him inspiring absolute abject terror in his minions despite the high voice and Jacksonesque absent nose.
The FX and action sequences are excellent too - particularly the thing with the snake, which had the entire cinema jumping about two feet off their seats.
A word of warning - this film packs quite an emotional punch and it might be a bit too much for younger viewers. Both times I've seen it there were little mites of seven-ish who were heartbroken and sobbed uncontrollably pretty much all the way through the final half hour.
Cannot wait for the conclusion in July.
