As the title said, this will be filled with heaps of spoilers, so if you haven’t read the book (shame on you! :P) or want to watch the movie yourself and experience (a certain degree of) torture as I did, kindly refrain from reading lest you cast some Unforgivable curses on me. You have been forewarned.
First, I would like to mention that as with all the previous movies, this final installment is no stranger to discrepancies with the book and loads of omitted parts. Let me outline a few(?!) of the more extreme discrepancies.
1- Mr. Ollivander is NOT supposed to know anything about the Deathly Hallows except for the Elder Wand. While we’re on this subject, Harry was supposed to ask him if his broken wand could be mended, but it was sadly omitted out.
2- The treasure in the Lestrange’s vault merely multiplied, where in fact it was supposed to multiply AND burn upon contact.
3- The trio and Griphook were supposed to come across Travers the Death Eater, yet again they chose to neglect this part. While not entirely important, it would have been amusing to watch Travers wriggling into a crack in the wall when Harry cast an Imperius curse upon him, ordering him to hide.
4- The part with Aberforth was miserably short. As with Harry’s reunion with the DA. Upsetting, really.
5- The Dark Lord… lacks “oomph” =\ While Ralph Fiennes might be a good actor, I doubt anyone can portray the full terror which is Lord Voldemort.
And from this point on, I can’t even begin to explain the differences without practically talking about the whole book/movie. However, I’ll try to sum it up as best as I can.
- Harry was supposed to go to Ravenclaw’s common room, and have a run in with the Carrows, but nooo, Snape had to assemble all the students and ask anyone with information with Potter’s whereabouts to step out, and hey, whaddya know, Harry stepped out from the crowd! Le gasp!
- The diadem was supposed to be perched atop the stone warlock wearing a wig, not in a box!
- When… when the heck did Goyle turn black?! And skinny?!
- This whole part about retrieving Ravenclaw’s Lost Diadem was strangely anticlimactic. Even with all those flames.
- Severus’ death. The Dark Lord was supposed to ask Nagini to kill in Parseltongue, but I heard it clear as day “Kill” – in English. And when the Dark Lord flicked his wand, he wasn’t supposed to inflict any damage on Severus. He was moving Nagini’s cage.
- Speaking of which, WHERE THE HECK IS NAGINI’S DAMNED CAGE?!
- AND SILVERY BLUE SUBSTANCE WAS COMING FROM SEV, HE ASKED HARRY TO TAKE THOSE, NOT HIS TEARS! GOOD LORD! IS IT SO HARD TO RENDER THE LIQUIDY GAS SUBSTANCE WHEN YOU CAN MAKE A BLOODY DRAGON LOOK SO REAL?! *facepalms*
- His final words were “Look… at… me…”, the man was having a hard time talking, yet in the movie he was still able to manage out “Your eyes look exactly like your mother’s” so easily. Well I’m not saying Alan Rickman did a poor job, because quite frankly, I think he’s the best actor in the movie, but still, there was something gut-wrenching when you read it in the book, and the effect was somehow lost in the movie. *sulks*
- OMG YOUNG SNAPE IS SOOOOO CUTEEEEEE >3< *Coughs* Sorry, I forgot that I was in the middle of contradictions, we’ll get to the better stuff later ;D
- Right. The Prince’s Tale. While not devastatingly disappointing, it was still rather upsetting. Severus and Lily’s relationship wasn’t really shown in too much detail, you could figure it out I suppose, but it was just brushing the surface of it. My favorite chapter of the whole series, concised to barely 5 minutes. *sulks even more*
- Now then, moving on to King’s Cross Station. HARRY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE NAKED, NOT WEARING A T-SHIRT AND JEANS! *coughs* Yes well nudity probably isn’t sensible for the movie but at least have him wear robes, damn it! One thing I can’t quite tolerate in the movie is that they wear far too much muggle clothing. Witches and wizards are supposed to wear ROBES. Say it with me, r-o-b-e-s, robes!
- I can’t even tell you how people who have never read the book are expected to understand how Harry died, and then did not die. Dumbledore barely explained ANYTHING in the movie. Will three minutes of explanation kill you? Blimey!
- Neville… and Nagini. He killed her off at a totally different time. And loads of other stuff regarding Neville were different. I’m not even going to go into detail on this.
- And now the climax. Harry James Potter vs. Tom Marvolo Riddle. The battle was… completely altered. Where they were supposed to circle each other in the Great Hall, talking things out (in a manner of speaking…), the movie turned it into an action packed scene. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this; on one hand I’m scandalized at how they gave it a 180 degree makeover, but on the other, I think it’s rather good for people who are not fond of long talks. People who just watch movies for the action scenes, to be exact. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, because I doubt the effect will be as good as when you’re reading the book, so I’m on the fence here.
- Last but most certainly not least, Harry mended his wand with the Elder Wand, and decided to put the Elder Wand back where it came from, NOT SNAP IT IN HALF AND CHUCK IT AWAY!!
So there you have it. My dissatisfactions with the movie. Having said that, if I was being COMPLETELY unbiased and not compare it to the book AT ALL (painful for me to do so, but I must not be so judgmental! I have been trained to expect disappointment if I keep comparing it to the books, because honestly, NOTHING can beat it), I think that this is probably the best Harry Potter movie made. Although incorrect, the action scenes were substantial and, if I may say so, rather enjoyable. A fair number of things were left unexplained, like how important it was for the Dark Lord to resurrect with Harry’s blood and why it had to be him who kills Harry with his own hands, but all in all, it was rather understandable. It’s leaps and bounds better than the 1st part of the movie, which was a complete and utter disaster. Oh, and somewhat (totally) irrelevant, but young Severus Snape and Albus Severus Potter are absolutely adorable! xD
Right then, I suppose I’ve ranted a little too much, and I doubt anyone would be remotely interested in reading this, so I’ll be ending it here. With mixed feelings, I bid farewell to the journey I have been on for ten years.
P/S : Apparently Voldemort’s cries of “NUOOOOO”s were exaggerated and repeated only in the trailer… I think I counted only 3 or 4 in the movie… hmm…
(Completely unbiased) Rating : 7.5/10 FINE, IF I DO NOT HOLD A GRUDGE AGAINST WHAT THEY DID WITH SEV, 8/10, HAPPY?
(I say completely unbiased, or I would have given it a measly 3/10. The points go to the impeccable CGs and Sir Alan Rickman.)
SocialVibe