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Your HBP, DH1 and DH2 Complaints
NumberEight
Posts: 1,574 ✭✭✭✭✭
Mention them here and I'll address them. I rarely, if ever, argue about those two films, as most of the time people I speak with love them.
Pottermore username: DustBlade76
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
Comments
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
HP7: Real Reg at the Ministry - Dobby in Malfoy Manor
My major complaint with DH2 is inconsistency, for example... Once the snatchers disappear on the wooden bridge, you don't see hardly anymore again in the oncoming battle... Where do they go, just wander off home.. Likewise with the Dementors.. Once they are blasted.. they just stay away... I'd have thought by procession they'd return but oh no... the Acromantula... seem to just appear... there's no entrance whatsoever
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
Some Exclusions.
HBP: Exclusion of certain memories.
DH1: Exclusion of the Dumbledore plot-line.
DH2: Exclusion of Great Hall Confrontation.
Mysterious thing time.
Dumbledore's plot line would have felt out of place when putting the entire film series in context. In the novels, Dumbledore's faults show up considerably in OotP: we see Harry go off on him and I expect the readers are supposed to as well. We had none of that in the film. He was always looked upon as some great Wizard God in the films, so dredging up his past would have felt out of place. Granted, in DH2 Aberforth begins to question Potter's insistence on trusting the fool, but it was poorly done and also felt out of place because the audience, the ones who haven't read the books, don't know much about his faults.
The Great Hall confrontation is poor in the books and it would have been even poorer on screen. The mass exposition is difficult for me to slog through on page, and I would have hated it on screen. It would feel too much like a western, a genre I hope eventually dies, and it would have been too funny to watch. Enemies circling and harry belaying the "flaw in the plan" would have been excruciatingly painful because there's so much time wasted and it's massively cliched, even more so than the cliched battle that we got on screen.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
The first being that wormtail doesn't get a death or that he facepalms to his demise. I should have really known better seeing as how Bathilda's beheading by the snake was toned down a bit from what I imagined. They had it only visible in the mirror which I kind of liked but wouldnt have minded seeing that and Wormtail's death as it was in the book. It could make for a great dramatic scene to influx with an already dramatic end to part 1.
The only other complaint comes with HBP and its not even that much of a complaint because I think the alteration was quite beautiful and inspiring...showing a great scene of wizard unity below the Astronomy tower raising the wands to vanquish the Dark Mark. I am of course talking about the funeral of Albus Dumbledore. I thought the production art pieces looked great and thinking back it might have been nice to end the film with the scene below the astronomy tower, have some nice music, do two shots of the funeral and ease out shot of the island in the lake with Dumbledore laying on his tomb. A few reaction shots of everyone and then start a long sad Harry speech from the tower without the scene changing but him saying he has to do this alone and ron and hermione interjecting. Have when Hermione says "were in this together" a shot of the three of them holding hands at the funeral. The speech continues between the trio (its 10 times more epic that what was said) then cut to a wide shot of the lake showing more guests paying tribute to Dumbledore then cut to the tower and then they discuss the locket, something more epic for the final line and then watch fawkes go off into the sunset.
Well I went a little overboard lmao but its what I think would have turned HBP even more emotional.
- The Villains attempt to bite, but they have no teeth. Case in point, rather than attack the Burrow, they surround it with a ring of fire to lure Harry out of it. Fair enough, but at least follow up and kidnap him rather than hiss at him. They then hesitate, leaves and puts the Burrow on fire, which wasn't followed up later in the film or in DH 1. All in all, a pointless addition the way it was executed because it did not increase the tension, develop the plot or the main character nor did it make any sense. If it's that easy to get to Harry, why couldn't Voldemort have come in person?
- Harry's sudden crush on Ginny seemed forced, especially since he had just checked up a random waitress an hour earlier. Their relationship was dreadfully handled. The pie feeding scene was not believable at all and terribly awkward to sit through. Their kiss was too fairytale-like. And don't get me started on Bonnie Wright...
- Draco's mission was too predictable. The cursed necklace was said to be addressed to Dumbledore, yet nobody reacted to this.
- The following scene, Harry and Ron talking about skin, dragged on and on.
- No discussion after the first memory scene, rendering it pointless.
- Having two slug club scenes is unnecessary. They could easily have been merged.
- Too little focus on Dumbledore's hand.
- Too little focus on the Half-Blood Prince, a.k.a. the title of the film. The revelation at the end seemed random and unnecessary. Why did Snape want to reveal this? What does it mean? What does it tell us about Snape? Nah, just read the book, is the filmmakers' answer. That scene was also way too calm and anticlimactic.
- Lack of development in Harry's character. I would have focused on Harry getting more confident throughout the film to a point where he actually realized that he didn't have to rely on the old potion book anymore, let alone drink a luck potion in order to convince Slughorn to hand over his real memory. Harry seemed more drunk than lucky to me anyway.
- Instances of dreadful editing: Cutting between too different backdrops at the Burrow and too many jump cuts in the inferi scene, which could have been prolonged a bit.
- Dumbledore's death was strangely shot from Harry's POV when close-up shots would be far more impactful. Rushed aftermath instead of a beautiful wide shot of him falling down is wasted potential. Harry's reaction didn't seem convinving either.
- Hagrid's hut burning down without any reaction from Harry or any sign of Hagrid. Luckily, he turns up in the courtyard with Harry moments later.
- Everybody has gathered around Dumbledore's body within minutes, albeit nobody has dared to approach him. Daniel Radcliffe's crying was not convincing.
- The locket should have been a real horcrux because that would save the filmmakers the trouble of introducing the R.A.B. subplot, Mundungus and reintroducing Kreacher and Umbridge. All those scenes could have been cut in DH 1, including the Ministry break-in.
- "These girls...they are gonna kill me, Harry." Enough said!
- I did not enjoy all the comedy.
I still like the film, it's just if I have anything to complain about, that's it.
-Some unuseful romance scenes (didn't say there was too much but some are no good in the movie).
-Attack at the Burrow : DELETE !!!
-No final battle while they had the budget.
-Want to see Harry catch the snitch once again !
-A bit more focus on HBP (the title...)
-Include In Noctem.
-Less humour scenes.
DH 1:
-A few more dynamic scenes.
-Less stupid humour.
-More scary darkness while they're camping (they almost felt safe).
-When Ron, Hermione and Harry are in the ministry, a kind of creepy music starts while they're looking at the statue. I wished soo much that they had kept this kind of scary music til the end instead of that funny one.
-Include Petunia deleted scene.
-Less moving camera while running in the forest.
-No Harry/Hermione dance.
-Having like 5 minutes where we see what's happening at Hogwarts to, at least see the school once and know what's going on over there.
DH 2 :
-Lupin/Tonks deleted scene.
-Lupin and Tonks death.
-At least 5 minutes more fighting scenes.
-Fred death scene (would have been perfect just before CA while going down the stairs).
-Longer Bellatrix/Molly scene.
-A little bit older in the 19 years later.
-Graup.
PLEASE DON'T FORGET THAT ALL THOSE PROBLEMS ARE JUST MINOR ISSUES WHICH DON'T BORDER ME THAT MUCH.
"It all ends here... "
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
I can address the Harry and Hermione dance, though, because it's one of my favorite moments. It was all character development and nothing more. Well, perhaps there was some attraction, which was realistic, but the overall motive was to cheer Hermione up. Ron left because of the horcrux, and Hermione was more down than a $10 whore, a result from the horcrux. It is perhaps the best character interaction between the two in the entire series.
More focus on the HBP would have been nice, sure, but was it really important to the overall story? It feels like a red herring in the book (it probably is) and it did not really move the story along regarding the retrieval of the most important memory needed to find the vulnerability of Voldy. Why waste a lot of screen time devoted to it in the film itself when it too would feel like a red herring, one that is most definitely unnecessary on screen?
As I stated elsewhere regarding Fred's death, the same will apply with Lupin and Tonks. Not seeing seeing them being whacked is far more brutal than witnessing it for people who actually like them and haven't read the books, not to mention Harry. The entire scene with Harry walking through the Great Hall and witnessing the destruction and coming across the two is very sad, and I would not have liked to see it on screen. It's about shock in war, it's about coming across the unexpected, it's about being hit with the brutal truth that war is hell, whether you are in the muggle world or not.
The camera work during the Forest of Dean chase is magnificent and certainly challenges the cinematography that is present in Michael Mann's and Paul Greengrass' work, and perhaps the opening to Saving Private Ryan. It puts you in the action and is demonstrable of the frantic nature of what is happening. Steadicam shots don't work well in such scenes, in my opinion. I don't want to see smooth, fluid movements while spells are being thrown about in random fashion while people are fighting for their lives. In fact, the shaky cam is used with artistic effect in the MoM scene when Harry is going through Umbridge's desk drawers. It's quite shaky during the search for the locket, reflecting Harry's current state of mind.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
-The opening scene of HBP is chilling, but I think we ought to have seen a little bit more gore, perhaps people falling off the bridge rather than escaping safely.
-Harry's flirting with the waitress. Nothing wrong especially: it's well-acted, well-shot, not one of the worse scenes, but is just very awkward in a sense. I don't think it fits in well with the film, and I think they could've easily cut that scene out and had Harry wandering around in the subway tunnels (which I actually thought was a bit of a clever addition rather than the Dursleys.)
-Dumbledore's hand is never really explained until DH2, where it is mentioned slightly in The Prince's Tale. Blink and you'll miss it. Not to mention they put millions of $$s into these effects only to have it look not that unusual.
-While there is not really a huge amount of romance in the film (around 20 minutes of actual scenes), some of the comedy is a little bit cringeworthy, both romantic-based (These girls....they're gonna kill me) and non-romantic (150...give or take a few years?) Nonetheless, I did enjoy the scenes regarding relationships and thought that it was very well-balanced and very atmospheric.
-The Burrow Attack was splendid, and provided much-needed excitement for the middle half of the film. A welcome addition, but the logistics of it don't make very much sense. (Death eaters randomly deciding to leave when they could've easily taken down the Burrow; Lupin and Tonks battling the fire when they easily could've Apparated around it; Ginny running through the flames just to have the shot look cool, etc.)
-Any scene with Bonnie Wright (shoelace, for instance) was not very well-acted and I didn't think that Harry and Ginny got the establishment they deserved or had the chemistry that they had in the books.
-The memories we got were fantastic, but I do wish we had seen more, particularly concerning the Horcruxes and I think it is a bit of a shame that they sacrificed a proper Horcrux explanation for a more atmospheric montage of shots (which was very cool nonetheless.) Still, as long as they could explain it properly in Hallows, I didn't think it would matter that much (but Kloves didn't; that's one of the major exposition buggers in Hallows.)
-I'm not too picky, but I just wish we could've seen Dumbledore's death. I even think it wouldn'tve fit into the film too well, but man it would've been nice.
DH1
-The Seven Potters scene was....all over the place. It definitely should've been funny, but it was trying so hard to be funny that it was unfunny. The screenplay was disgusting in this scene, with bad jokes chasing each other around from every character. They also chose to introduce Bill and Fleur, which was probably a mistake, and Mundungus, all in the same scene. Too comedic, the doppleganger-Harry part is supposed to be quirky funny, but not characters cracking jokes this way and that (with the exception of Fred and George, perhaps). The stakes are high and they are all about to fly into war.
-This is a complaint for both DH1 and DH2: they seem to jump around the fact of whether they want to introduce Tonks and Lupin as a couple or not. First, they brush aside the marriage, then reintroduce their relationship, and finally a son pops up out of nowhere.
-The Sky Battle scene's VFX were...a little off. Still a fantastic action setpiece to start the film, I just feel that it could've been a bit stronger. The cinematography as well.
-Like I mentioned before, I think that it would've suited the film very well to show more scenes outside of the trio's exodus. Not necessarily Hogwarts, but scenes like dementors, Death Eaters, snatchers, the Ministry--something to keep the danger reinforced. I loved the Snatcher and Hermione scene, which did a great job of doing that, but I still felt it needed more. Still, the film was brilliant, atmospheric, and just plain great at this part.
-They needed to show more of Voldemort's journey. All we saw were bits and flashes, and non-readers couldn't even piece the story together. They needed to, all in all, make things a bit more coherent, which I think would've benefited by making Voldemort's scenes actual scenes rather than visions or flashes.
-Malfoy Manor...yikes. No Wormtail's death (I will embrace that though, it wasn't needed), but the thing that bugged me was his cartoon-style fall and defeat. Dobby was the hero, and the cuteness of him sure made his death feel heartbreaking, but Malfoy Manor was just not dark enough to make the comedy not matter. It felt a little cheesy, the way that Lucius and Bellatrix stood there like cartoon villains, watching as he conveniently had just enough time to unscrew the chandelier. The wand fight probably should've been a bit longer and more intense. The torture was great though, they nailed it. It just needed something more. A real sense of danger.
DH2
-I really think the main flaws of DH2 are in the adaptation process, in the fact that much of the Elder Wand subplot was omitted and did not make very much sense. While I enjoyed the spectacular showdown between Harry and Voldemort, which was both stylish and substantial, I felt Harry needed to address Voldemort's flaws more like he did in the book, and, if he didn't explain the wand allegiance, they needed to work it in somehow.
-Dumbledore subplot didn't really bother me all that much. I didn't think it was needed to begin with, but since they made the split they seemed to try to include things from the story which couldn't actually fit in, even in a 4 hr. 30 min. film. The thing I disliked regarding the Dumbledore subplot was the lack of Hallows importance. As soon as we got to Part 2, they didn't even matter anymore. In fact, the only mention of them was at the beginning with Ollivander. I might've liked a scene where Harry reinforces his confidence to go after the Horcruxes rather than the Hallows, but I still think they should've made the Hallows important somehow. Not even a Dumbledore mention in King's Cross.
-The most prominent complaint: I think a bit more fighting needed to be shown to reinforce the scale and scope of the Battle of Hogwarts, particularly during the daytime. It would've helped with the bad jump cut before Bellatrix's death.
-I think the script was a little weak. Weaker than Part 1 or HBP is for sure. Unnecessary comedy, a lot of it from Neville, which even caused the battle sections to be bogged down a little.
-Finally, though I loved the step up on Nagini's role, I think they should've explained somehow that it wasn't Nagini's death which caused Voldemort's downfall. It was the fact that the wand would not kill its Master, which I felt they needed to reinforce at the end.
I know it looks like a lot, but it really isn't. I'm just voicing minor complaints. In DH, it had a lot to do with the unnecessary humor, the tone, and the script, whereas in HBP, it was more to do with the atmosphere and logistics. I really don't mind these films. They are my favorite of the 8. They're just minor complaints, and suggestions or solutions I have to fixing them.
I hate to do this, but to complain about a kiss when it's not very important seems to be...fanboyish. It's unimportant to the story, so some poorly shot kiss, that people love for some reason, doesn't matter.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
I love all three films as films and don't want to bring up anything from the books that should have been on screen but here's where I find problems:
In HBP, as I've said a few times, there is a major plot-hole with the burrow attack. Smart moviegoers have to be wondering if Bellatrix and Greyback can sneak off and somehow find Harry so easily, why couldn't Voldemort just show up and kill them all?
In DH2 death eaters and snatchers just disappear into the pits of hell without explanation lol
Basically my complaint is that the bad guys weren't portrayed as very threatening, and therefore their defeat seemed inevitable.
Lack of focus on the actual potions textbook and "half-blood prince" story.
Lacking in Lupin and Tonks
Not enough focus on Voldemort's past
DH1:
Cutting Lupin and Tonks asking Harry to be Teddy's godfather at the wedding
Lack of Dumbledore backstory
Is he/isn't he? regarding Wormtail's "death"
DH2:
Lack of lengthy battle scenes
Lupin and Tonks?
Too short, a lot cut for no apparent reason
other than that, most of my complaints are extremely minor lol...
Complete step backward
All that development wasted by making him give out drinks...
What was the purpose of that?!
But I do understand the Lupin/Tonks complaints because their story would have been easy to implement and they are minor characters that serve a roll in dying and bringing the story full circle with their leaving behind of Teddy.
"It all ends here... "
Lord Stafford.
According what Bonnie says in the Maximum Movie Mode, the scene with Harry and Ginny looking at each other it was done like that on purpose for comedy.