Movie #268 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 *2011*

If you remember my blog about the past Harry Potter movie you will know that I was not impressed.  I thought that the movie was trying to appeal to the Twilight crowd too much and they lost the story of Potter in the process.  Therefore I was not totally sold on going to go see the final installment in the Potter franchise.  I was expecting more of the same.  Man was I wrong again. 

The final book in the Potter series was split into two movies.  When I first heard that I remember thinking that it was a total cash grab by WB to milk the fans of the books out of another $10 each.  Then people I know who said that the final book contained so much that it warranted a second movie may have swayed my opinion a little.  The Part 1 came out and I then, and still now, believe that I was right.  I think people (even kids) would sit though 1 4 hour movie if it took all of Part 2 and the best scenes from Part 1.  But I digress.

Part 2 starts off gunning from the first frame.  Where the last movie felt like the Zelda video game to me, as Harry had to collect gems in order to open a door then swing a wand to make something happen and so on, this film is a story in to its self.  It has a full arc for the characters. I would say that you could go to this film with no knowledge of any prior material, books or movies, and keep up with the what is going on for the most part.  If nothing else I will guarantee that you will be entertained.

In a way this movie is frustrating in that it is so good and so complete.  It makes me think that this type of movie exists in the books and I am disappointed that only a few times in the series do I feel like that was presented on screen.

I won't even bother to go into a plot synopsis.  Harry has to fight Voldemort.  That is all you really need to know.  This truly is epic.  It is easily the most epic of anything I have seen in theaters for the past few years.  The stakes couldn't be any higher and that is expressed through action and not through dialogue.  There is a real sense of impending doom.

Then there are all the side characters.  Many of whom have brought the momentum down in the past movies.  Weather by script or performance.  All of them shine here.  They all have small roles and short screen times, but they all serve a purpose and they all drive the story forward.  I like Luna quite a bit.  I LOVE Serious Black and I hated to see him go, but it is a nice cameo from beyond the grave in this movie.  Nevel is given a much meatier role and he makes the most of it.  Ron was still a bit of a wet blanket for me, but Hermoine was wonderful.  Their romance seemed a little wedged in, but not out of place when you consider it is a teenage love affair.  I really can't say enough about the cast of this film.

If I can't say enough about the cast then I really won't be able to say enough about the screenplay.  Of course I have never read the books, but I will take the words of those close to me and believe that the writers had great source material to work with.  There is barely a wasted word in this movie.  Every single exchange comments on the last, makes a declaration and introduces the next.  Again, I only wish the other films would have taken this approach instead of sort of waiting around for something interesting to happen.

The visual in this film are great as well.  The only thing that fell with a thud for me was the schools stone protectors.  I think they lacked detail and it made them look like overstuffed gingerbread men.  Out side of that it is easily the best overall Potter film as far as CGI goes and 2nd only Askaban for overall cinematography. 

As I left the theater (with 4 tween girls in toe) I felt like this could be the best Harry Potter movie yet.  Now I want to watch them all again just to be sure.  Anyway I give Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ★★★★.

Movie #85 Star Trek: The Motion Picture *1979*

Nerd Porn.

That was my first impression of this film.  It was fun to see that even back 31 years ago there were movies being made only to suit fans of source material.  I realized this at the point in the movie about 10 minutes into it when Scottie and Capt. Kirk are in a pod like device making there way to the Enterprise.  Apparently they have been doing some renovations to the ship.  Fans of the campy 70's TV series must have been frothing at the mouth in anticipation of seeing this.  I say that because one the space ship comes into view we spend what felt like the next 10 minutes in this pod circling the ship examining (what is obviously a model) every square inch of it.  The ship must have felt violated with as much detail and time spent raping it with our eyes.  On top of that the music was more self important than anything in Inception, and that is saying something.

The rest of the first act is spent getting the gang back together and laying out the plot.  A mysterious space cloud is approaching earth and needs to be stopped.  Kirk and the rest of The Enterprise struggle more internally than they ever do with the craft that is at the center of this cloud.

This film did charm me.  It was simple and pure.  It was totally made for fan boys and it didn't pretend otherwise.  This movie reminded me of the most recent Harry Potter movie Deathly Hallows part 1.  Except there was nothing charming about that film.  It was dull and lifeless credits to credits.  I am not going to spend time listing the cast or commenting on the acting.  It seems pointless.  If you don't know who makes up the cast of Star Trek then you most likely aren't going to see this film.

Another thing of note is that the movie was directed by Robert Wise.  The legendary director behind The Sound of Music, West Side Story, The Day the Earth Stood Still *1951* and many others.

I will say that I did find the big twist at the end of the films totally ridiculous.  I suppose that is not a bad thing in a movie such as this one.  It did offend my intelligence, but I thought it was just kind of lame.  I give Star Trek: The Motion Picture a 3/5 stars.  It is good fun even if it drags in places and the effects are silly.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #41 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

If you have never read any of my blogs before allow me to restate a common thread through out.  I don't read.  The only books I read are books about movies or movie makers.  On my coffee table right now is a book about the late 90's independent film movement.  On the back of my toilet is a book detailing the interview Francis Truffaut gave Alfred Hitchcock.  I do listen to audio books and podcasts when I drive, but most of them are about films too.  It is should come as no surprise when I say that I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books.  I joke that "if a book is good enough they will make a movie out of it". 

I have seen all the Harry Potter movies.  All the titles get mixed up in my head like a fantasy version of Bond titles.  I was secretly excited about the latest instalment of the HP franchise.  The trailer looked good and all my booky friends told me that the last book in the series was fantastic.  The movie prior to Deathly Hallows was a bit of a let down but mostly because I enjoyed the movie prior to that very much.  Prisoner of Askaban or something like that.

I made this a special night by taking my tween daughters and a friend of each of theirs to the nearest multiplex to see the show.  Before hand we went to a classic American diner for supper.  Once we arrived at the theater we had to wait in line.  Not for tickets (I foresaw this problem) but instead we had to wait for the prior showing to be over and the theater cleaned before we could enter.  Security was very tight.  You had to show your tickets before entering or exiting the theater.  By the time we found our seats, the 5 of us had to sit in 2 different rows because there weren't 5 consecutive open chairs.  We got there 45 minutes before showtime.  it was madness.

I couldn't believe the crowd.  The couple in front of me were so drunk I could smell the booze on their breath from behind them.  There were people there with babies.  Not small or little children, babies.  Not able to hold their heads up aged babies.  Now on to the review.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This movie moved at a snails pace.  I strongly disliked it!  It wasn't poorly made, it just seemed very grandiose and unnecessary.  I know that all the book nerds rip these films to pieces for either not putting something in the movie that is in the book, or trying to use a little creative license and add something new to enhance the film.  That is no excuse for just being flat out boring though.

This was the first of two films based on the final book in the series.  The run time on this film alone is over 150 minutes.  I know everyone says there was too much in the final book to make one film out of it, but I could have easily shaved 45 minutes off this film without losing a beat.

The Lord of the Rings movies were mocked in Kevin Smith's film Clerks 2.  The characters in that film said it was 9 hours of people walking.  That is true, but at least there was motion.  I guarantee this film has at least 30 solid minutes of characters sitting or standing in deep reflective thought.  There is no activity at all.  This movie doesn't have one single memorable battle.  The jokes in DH seem to be geared 100% towards the younger audience so they don't get board watching people brune, and postulate. 

Then the film tries so hard to tie all the past HP's in with it.  The exposition seems to serve no purpose other than to evoke a sense of nostalgia.  Gobblty gook is what DH devolves into.  It reminded me a lot of the video game "Zelda".  Harry needs to get the sword of perseverance in order to unlock the crystal thing-a-ma-jig.  Then and only then will Pinocchio's secret handshake along with the star of Bartholomew open the Arc of the Covenant.  If you enjoy my writing in this paragraph then I say rush out and see this film. 

The acting in the movie is decent.  Especially Emma Watson as Hermione Granger.   There are too many cameos or secondary characters in this film.  Most of whom either don't have any lines or the lines they do have are merely filler.  They just make for another "Best of Harry Potter love fest". 

The music didn't seem to bother me but for the life of me I can't remember any of it.  There was one scene where the legend of the Deathly Hallows is explained.  At this point in the films it switches to animation.  I was intrigued at first as the animated characters danced around the screen as Hermione narrates their activities, then it grew old and harder to clarify what was happening in the cartoon.

Another thing.  I am sick of films that plan to have a sequel not completing their first movie.  A movie should be a movie.  One part of a series of films like this has to stand on it's own.  The comparison of the other movies in the collection is inevitable, but each need to represent a full idea and concept.  They all need structure.  Intro, action, struggle, resolution, conclusion.  HP has the intro that drew me in.  It was a nod or homage to something I think, but I am not sure what that is.  The films totally skips the action.  It attempts to replace action with character.  The problem is the characters need to drive the story then.  Aimless gazing didn't do anything for me. The film is over-soaked with struggle.  More like strangle.  It bogs down with shot after shot of our leads narrowly escaping a mildly menacing villain or villains.   The resolution might very well be in all the nonsense it puts forward.  I forgot my Hogwarts to English dictionary at home so I was lost.  Finally there is no conclusion at all.  The final shot seems to come out of no where and all it does is set up the final movie.  Take Back to the Future 1 or 2.  Both films knew there would be sequels but they told a full and entire story.  That is what this movie is missing.

Good news is I had a great time escorting 4 lovely young ladies around.  Nest time I will take them to go see a better film.  I give Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a 2/5 stars.  Check out the link below for the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EC2tmFVNNE