Reviewing this film for your sake is pointless. Most people will have known if they were going to see it for years by now. It's less about the film and more about Potter and what the industry has achieved and it's more event than film.
So I will just give you my opinion without trying to be useful.Minor spoilers ahoy.
The beginning and end are shaky but the middle part, stretching from the time where the Hogwarts teachers show how badass they are to the end of Snapes reveal is all parts awesome, and very very moving. It helped that I was already attached to the characters but their are rumours that my face was nearly damp towards the end of that setting.
The writers made good decisions as to what would leave out. Dumbledore, whose hugely complex life and morality was shown and resolved over the course of one book, was always impossible to include in the film and although the film cannot be as good as the book without it, it was sensible to leave out. The only bits they left in (regarding his brother) felt as awkward as it might. The only shaky cut, is the Hallows business which they cut out entirely (despite being the title of the film and established in the last one) when a certain more-magical-than-normal event happens to Harry you are given no explanations as to why, and in fact the way he's treated the hallows up to this point actually obscures the reason. He doesn't even have all three on him.
The things they added make less sense. They made Neville less bad ass and turned his crowning moment of awesome into a protracted and flukey fight scene. They turned the showdown between Harry and Voldemort into a protracted and flukey fight scene. Rather than how it happened in the books, which was all about, not striking back and taking the suffering (which is why people who hate Harry Potter on christian grounds are treating a slightly more subtle version of the Narnia series as if it was satanic) they just have a fight. It's not even clear why it ends like it does.
The fight with Bellatrix on the other hand, isn't long enough and the extra bits they added to the Gringotts scene add some pretty large plot flaws.
In the end the film excels at setting and imagery and at one amazing moment manages to outshine the book. Until then it's a slightly misty reflection of amazing subject material.
Deathly Hallows Pt2: Goodish
Reviewing this film for your sake is pointless. Most people will have known if they were going to see it for years by now. It's less about the film and more about Potter and what the industry has achieved and it's more event than film.
So I will just give you my opinion without trying to be useful.Minor spoilers ahoy.
The beginning and end are shaky but the middle part, stretching from the time where the Hogwarts teachers show how badass they are to the end of Snapes reveal is all parts awesome, and very very moving. It helped that I was already attached to the characters but their are rumours that my face was nearly damp towards the end of that setting.
The writers made good decisions as to what would leave out. Dumbledore, whose hugely complex life and morality was shown and resolved over the course of one book, was always impossible to include in the film and although the film cannot be as good as the book without it, it was sensible to leave out. The only bits they left in (regarding his brother) felt as awkward as it might. The only shaky cut, is the Hallows business which they cut out entirely (despite being the title of the film and established in the last one) when a certain more-magical-than-normal event happens to Harry you are given no explanations as to why, and in fact the way he's treated the hallows up to this point actually obscures the reason. He doesn't even have all three on him.
The things they added make less sense. They made Neville less bad ass and turned his crowning moment of awesome into a protracted and flukey fight scene. They turned the showdown between Harry and Voldemort into a protracted and flukey fight scene. Rather than how it happened in the books, which was all about, not striking back and taking the suffering (which is why people who hate Harry Potter on christian grounds are treating a slightly more subtle version of the Narnia series as if it was satanic) they just have a fight. It's not even clear why it ends like it does.
The fight with Bellatrix on the other hand, isn't long enough and the extra bits they added to the Gringotts scene add some pretty large plot flaws.
In the end the film excels at setting and imagery and at one amazing moment manages to outshine the book. Until then it's a slightly misty reflection of amazing subject material.