Movie Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

So it's over. Harry Potter 8, aka Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Now, something that I may or may not have mentioned on here before is that I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter books. I love them. My dad read the first 4 to me when I was too young to read a huge novel, and I devoured the rest within days of them being released. They are, undoubtedly, my absolute favorite books in the whole wide world. I wouldn't say they're the best books ever written, but as far as sheer enjoyment I got out of them, the books are my favorites. Ever. They, in a nutshell, were my childhood. They changed who I am. I wouldn't have half my love of literature if it weren't for those books.

The movies however, I'm not quite as attached to. Mind you, I still like the movies a whole heck of a lot, but they weren't a defining part of my childhood like the books were. So, since we're now on the shockingly high number of 8 total films, let me give you a brief run down of how I liked the last 7.

Sorcerer's Stone - Loved it
Chamber of Secrets - Loved it
Prisoner of Azkaban - Liked it, but not quite as much as the first two.
Goblet of Fire - Still good, but probably the weakest of the films.
Order of the Pheonix - Fairly good.
Half-Blood Prince - Loved it.
Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 - Absolutely loved it. Virtually the perfect adaptation.

So, now with the final film coming (at least until Rowling decides she needs a bigger money pit) there would be large shoes to fill. Book seven was my favorite book in the series because it took place outside of Hogwarts and showed us the rest of the wizarding world, plus it still ended in a satisfactory way for everyone.



I went to a midnight release of Harry Potter 8, since there was no way I was letting my favorite books in the whole wide world's movie series end any other way. So how did the film series end? A high note? A low point? Somewhere in the middle?

That. Was. Awesome.

Seriously, what a perfect way to end the films. A near-perfect adaptation of the books. It was great! I'm not surprised, since the last film was absolutely great, but this one was a great adaptation of the series.

The film stayed true to the books, though it did stray slightly at a few moments. The only slight variations I noticed (keep in mind I haven't read the 7th book since it came out, so I'm slightly sketchy on some details) were that they neglected to clarify why exactly Voldemort chose some of the Horcruxs he did. However, that's understandable as they only had two hours to fill.

The movie is mostly action, as it's based nearly exclusively on the final battle from the last book. It never feels too actiony though, and knows just when to give the audience a chance to breathe, without giving them enough time to quite fully catch their breath. I'm reminded of The Dark Knight, another film which is paced similarly, being almost entirely action, but still having a great plot. The action is great! The effects are great! Virtually every scene is a sheer joy to watch!

All of the actors brought their A-Game. The actor who plays Neville Longbottom, Matthew Lewis, has proven to me that Rowling could easily write a whole book that was book seven as written from Neville's perspective. He was a lot of fun to watch, and reminds the audience that really, Neville is just as much one of the heroes of those books as anyone else, and a true Gryffindor at heart. Luna, Hermione, McGonagol, they were all great. Daniel Radcliffe was good as ever as Harry Potter, and Ralph Fiennes was really rather frightening as Voldemort. Another real gem, perhaps even the best performance in the film (certainly the one that got the closest to bringing me to tears) was Alan Rickman as Snape. Those who have read the books will know that Snape has a very interesting moment in this film, and Rickman portrayed it perfectly.

It's probably the darkest of the films, which is fitting considering it's based on the darkest book in the series.

It was the best kind of adaptation, the kind that makes it feel like the movie is coming to life in front of your eyes. Mind you, the books are still, and will always be, better than the movies, but this is probably the best film in the entire series.

Bottom line, if you're a Potter fan you've probably already seen this movie. If you aren't a Potter fan, you can probably still get a lot of enjoyment from seeing the nonstop action this film brings.

Play me out Starkid.

And No, I'm Not Gay!

So. I like movies. In case you couldn't have guessed that, I really really love movies. There is one kind of movie I really love however, that is often called "girly". Guys are frequently accused of being gay for liking this particular type of movie.

Musicals. Ok? I love musicals.

Hold on now! I didn't say ALL musicals! There are a few particular musicals I really like however. Let me mention a few of them.

1776
1776 is an awesome movie. It's a musical about the signing of the declaration of independence. The main character is John Adams, played by William Daniels. KITT from Knight Rider. Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World. Yeah. Awesome.



With the help of Benjamin Franklin, this movie is one of the best musicals ever made. It's pretty historically accurate, and it really gave me a love of that period of history more than any book ever could.

West Side Story

West Side Story is the story of Romeo and Juliet (Stay with me male audience!), but instead of two feuding families, it's the story of a gang war. The film features singing and dancing, that's true, but it's also pretty dang awesome. Also it feature a fairly high body counts for something frequently labeled a "chick movie".



Spoiler alert: It doesn't end well.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog!

This is a musical, about a low-rent supervillain. Need I say more? I do? Ok, how about Neil Patrick Harris playing Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame playing his nemesis Captain Hammer, and Felicia Day, creator of The Guild (And my favorite actress.) playing Penny, the girl Dr. Horrible falls for.

Oh, and the whole thing is written by the writer of Buffy and Firefly, Joss Whedon.



Oh. And if you buy the DVD, you get the commentary. WHICH IS ALSO A MUSICAL. Yeah.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

This is in a tie for my favorite movie, alongside The Dark Knight. I don't even know what song to put since they're all so iconic and awesome. The definitive Tim Burton movie, and also his best, this is a film about Halloween deciding to take over Christmas. Danny Elfman wrote all the music. You may not know who that is, but you've probably heard his scores in such films as:

Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Scrooged

Batman

Edward Scissorhands

Men in Black

Spider-Man

Meet The Robinsons

And many, MANY more.

He's the singing voice of Jack Skellington, the main character.



I love this movie so much, not only do I own the OST (Original Sountrack) I own it twice. I own the original release soundtrack, and the 3D-rerelease soundtrack, with cover versions and demo versions of the songs.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar is the story of the last few days of the life of Jesus Christ. *Spoiler alert* Jesus dies in the end. Seriously though, this is a fantastic movie with a fantastic cast, who sing... Um... Fantasticly. It's done as a group of people putting on a play. Kinda. The costumes are... VERY 70'

Make sure you see the 1973 version though, not the 2000 remake. That was meh.



Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Ok, lemme just say this movie is INCREDIBLY CHEESY. Like, you could not possibly make this movie any cheesier. It's the story of Joseph, from the Bible. It's done as a school play being put on (with better effects, of course.) so it's intentionally cheesy.



A Very Potter Musical

Ok, stay with me here people. I know none of you have ever seen this. I'm aware of that. This is actually a play, you can watch on youtube. Of all the musicals on this list, this is definitely the most... Erm... Crude...

It's a parody of the Harry Potter books (not any one in particular), originally written and produced by a group of college kids for their school. They filmed it and put it on youtube. It was actually so raunchy when they first put it up, they took it back down and edited certain jokes out of it to make it PG-13 rated.

Since it's a recording of a live showing, it's occasionally hard to understand what the characters are saying, and of course the production values are low. On the plus side it's available for free.

Between the harsh language, the sexual innuendos, and the multiple gay characters, it's not for those easily offended. It is however hysterically funny.

Darren Criss plays Harry Potter, who can only be described as "That guitar guy". He goes to Hogwarts, but trouble is afoot! The Dark Lord Voldemort is returning, and attempting to get his body back (And do a swell tap dance routine.)! The musical is a mix between books two, four, six, and seven, creating a unique plot that, while it has some plot holes, is pretty good all things considered.




The humor is really fun, and the songs, all original pieces, are pretty good. There's a few bizzare things, such as Draco Malfoy being played by a girl, but overall, it's hilarious. The girl playing Draco actually does a really good job as him. Like I said though, don't watch it if you're easily offended.


So there you have it, just a few of the many musicals I love. Almost every Disney movie could be added to this list too, of course, and this is far from every good musical out there, but the point is, GUYS DON'T HAVE TO BE GAY TO WATCH MUSICALS.

What Is This I Don't Even

What.

What.

Ok, before I start tearing this person apart, let me closely analyze her opinion to see if she has any valid points at all.

I truly believe that video games were created by Satan to turn otherwise normal children into his drooling, glassy-eyed stooges. After my son plays them at his friends’ houses, he comes home irritable and testy for the rest of the day.

Hmmm, that's um... Interesting. Um. Moving on.

Even though his skin is normally mocha-colored, after a day spent in a darkened room with a controller in his hand, he comes home with a sickly pallor.

That sounds more like a skin condition than the fault of video games to me, I mean, true, I'm not the most tan guy around, but nobody has ever said I look sickly. Moving on further...

And it seems, where we live at least, that middle school boys can’t do anything in packs except play video games. So, without them, they inhabit our house for only nanoseconds before they want to leave.

Must... Not... Nerd rage...

My anti-video game attitude was only reinforced recently, when I read a story in the Boston Herald about a mom who was so frustrated by her son’s obsessive video gaming that she finally called 911.

Apparently, her 14-year-old had become so fixated on “Grand Theft Auto” that he refused to stop playing it. The trouble in her house started after she woke up at 2 a.m. and found her son playing the game on his bedroom computer.

In case you’re not familiar with “Grand Theft Auto,” this is a socially conscious educational game, in which players portray criminals and earn points by stealing cars, killing people and destroying property.

Alright screw being open minded, this is stupid.

The boy was so into a game of GTA he stayed up until 2AM playing and the mother couldn't get him to go to bed? And then she called 911 EMERGENCY? That is not an emergency. It is not, at all, in any way, an emergency.

And clearly this is the games fault and not the fault of oh, the mother?

Let me just say anyone who digs for 5 minutes into the RATING SYSTEM for video games knows how it works, since it works exactly the same as movies.

E is for EVERYONE
T is for TEEN
M is for MATURE

This is not a difficult concept, but since parents don't take an interest in what their children do or play, they blame everything on video games. GTA is a MATURE game. And if her 14 year old boy wasn't MATURE enough to handle it, guess what? That's not the games fault. And calling the cops on your son for staying up late? That's absurd. The woman who did that is an example of the idiocy in America today, and anyone defending her should be cast out from our society like a leper.

You are not helping. You think you are helping, but you are wrong. The kid should not have been playing an M rated game, if he wasn't MATURE enough to play it. Which he clearly was not, not that his mother was very mature, calling the cops on her son staying up past bedtime. You know what? Kotaku covered that story, let's see what they say about it:

Of Grand Theft Auto, Mejia insists she "would never buy that kind of video." Noooooo. "I called (police) because if you don't respect your mother, what are you going to do in your life?" I dunno, lady. Have you talked to your doctor about safe, effective, fast-acting kick his a*s? Mrs. Good used that. When I was exactly that age, too.

That was written by Owen Good of Kotaku.com. I like this person. This person is not an idiot. In fact, this person is an intelligent, reasonable human being. Unlike the mother of the child who was playing GTA.

By the way, someone bought him the game, because you have to be over 17 to buy a MATURE game.

Let's move on back to the crazy lady:

On one horrible afternoon that scarred me for life, I even saw a kid walking out of the public library playing a Nintendo DS.

Hahahahaha- Oh wait you were serious?
So that scarred you for life did it? One, isolated incident, that you have no frame of reference for? I mean seriously, was he with his mom? Maybe his mom had him run in and return some books, and told him not to check anything out? I don't know what happened, and neither do you, so shut up.

This is where it gets really good.

Here’s my question: When do kids ever think these days? When do they ever have brains free from electronics long enough to ponder the universe? To think of things that might someday lead them to a cure for cancer?

Braid.
World of Goo.
Portal.

If you can beat any of those game, and tell me you weren't THINKING... You're lying. It's just not possible. I mean, for crying out loud, World of Goo is a physics simulator!

Portal causes you to have to develop entirely new ways of thinking to solve the puzzles! That's why the tag-line was "Now you're thinking with portals."! You had to FIND NEW WAYS OF THINKING!

Braid has some of the most brutally difficult puzzles I've seen in a game, and like Portal, you have to form new ways of thinking, just to get a single puzzle piece!

Not only that, but the stories for these games can (and are) be broken down! Here's an example of something from Portal, about GLaDOS, one of the best characters in a video game EVER!

Braid is either about saving a princess, or someone who worked on the nuclear bomb depending on how you interpret it!

Games don't keep kids from thinking, they MAKE THEM THINK!

If Sir Isaac Newton had been playing a DS, I’m sure he never would have noticed the apple falling from the tree, so he never would have formulated the theory of gravity.

First of all, the apple and the tree thing? Common belief is that it never happened.

But like one of the commenters on that Kotaku post said, Issac Newton was pretty much a rebel without a cause back then, breaking all the rules, to prove new theories! His mom wanted him to be a farmer!

So you know what? Keep it up. Keep your son off the games, see how that goes for you.

Oh but this isn't over is it? Nooooo. You couldn't be beat. So let's see what you did? You posted this.

Anyway, after much soul searching and meditation, I’ve had a divine revelation that I am wrong.

Satan did not invent video games.

Lord Voldemort did.

What better way to turn children away from good magic and into the dark side, than to put them in a darkened room for hours every day with a joystick and a big screen, where they practice killing things for fun?

He loves the deathly pallor of the video game addict, who has forgotten what daylight looks like. He loves the isolation you feel, because you need nothing but a video screen and a controller to feel content.

Soon, he plans to take advantage of this and become the controller, and then good luck trying to find Harry Potter to save you.

I thought gamers were supposed to be the ones who couldn't separate reality from fiction?

I think I know where I went wrong, looking at this post now. I was under the impression that I was reading something by someone without any form of mental disease. I see now I was wrong. With that, I honestly can't see myself even trying to explain why this individual is wrong anymore, because I feel sorry for her. Seriously, there must be something wrong with this persons mind.

I thought at first she was using that as a metaphor for something else, but I have poured over it, and it's just nonsense.

By the way, in all of the former games I mentioned, you don't kill a single human being. No humanoids in fact. There's no killing at all in Portal and World of Goo, but I'll admit, you can jump on strange monsters in Braid.

She goes on to mention a guy who left his Girlfriend in labor to play video games, and yeah, that guy is a complete moron for sure, but video games or no video games, YOU CANNOT FIX STUPID.

Then she makes fun of how no video games are educational because one is not educational. Based off that though, no movies are educational (I'd hardly call ALL movie educational, so therefor, none of them are.) no books are educational, (I can't say I learned all that much from Harry Potter, so clearly none of them are educational.) and of course, nothing is educational. (I'd hardly call that joke I made last week educational, therefore no speech is educational.)

In fact, she contradicts herself, saying that the internet can be educational if used as a resource tool. After all, I wouldn't call, oh, let's say Vgcats.com educational. So apparently, according to her own words, Wikipedia is not a valid form of learning either.

So just remember, according to "Marla Jo Fisher" we are currently living in a backwards society with no form of learning. She sounds like a good mother to me.