Mr. Coat reviews the final chapter in the eight-part Harry Potter saga that brought J.K. Rowling's magical and enchanting books to the screen.

Comments Section:

Name: pokeanimal
Date And Time: 2012-01-20 14:53:06
Comment: I love this movie! and Emma Watson is hot

Name: swanpride
Date And Time: 2011-08-26 15:34:35
Comment: I was very disappointed by this movie. There were unnecessary continuity mistakes (the mirror couldn't be helped, but why is Luna suddenly in Hogwarts when Harry arrives, and how does Harry know that Remus has a son? Since Teddy didn't turn up later on (and I feel that Harry's transition to being the godfather was kind of important), why mention him at all? They also did too much foreshadowing. I was just waiting for the bridge to explode, and for Neville finally killing the damn snake. But my main beef is that they showed a duell, but I expected a battle. We didn't even see Fred's dead (and I had hoped for a scene for Remus and Tonks), instead they totally bailed out and changed the battle into a big joke. They also missed the mark by letting Neville make the big speech, but letting Harry be the reason for the figthing to begin again, instead of showing, not telling, that the fight wouldn't have ended without Harry. Personally I was also unhappy with Ginny getting sidelined again - The scene in the book in which Harry wavers a moment when he sees her (a symbol for everything he was giving up) was very powerful. To replace it with Hermione and Ron allowing Harry to go to his death seemed to me very OOC for all character involved. There are some things which they did very well - giving Luna and Helena Ravenclaw additional knowledge (that was even better handled than in the book), Harry being able to feel the horocruxes, how they dealt with Ariana's story, and especially the Malfoys just walking away from the fight. Nevertheless I feel that they put too much stock in the effects and not enough on the emotions involved. Part 1 was very impressive in this regard, easily one of my favourite movies, but part 2 was just somewhat okay. It should have been the most mature of the series, but it wasn't.

Name: Mike Dutton
Date And Time: 2011-08-13 07:13:36
Comment: I'm sorry about this, but it has to be said, because I've had enough. I don't like it when people beat down these films for unfair reasons. A lot of criticism from the fans is that the films have differences from the books, and a lot of material is removed... Does anyone realise that there is no way on this Earth that they could have included absolutely everything? The problem began with Goblet of Fire, where everyone complained that it missed a lot of story out, and then everyone (Including you, Stefan) went nuts because Order of the Phoenix was only 132 minutes. Do you really think that David Yates could have made the whole book into a movie on a realistic Hollywood budget? When a book is turned into a film, the film cannot incorporate everything from the book into the film, and considering the length of the book, they had to remove everything that didn't drive the story or didn't have any meaning in later stories. I've read Order of the Phoenix, and despite all the stuff that was shown in the film, everything else within the book is filler. Just 400 pages of filler, while the remaining 300 told the story. Besides, the original film cut was 3 hours, but Warner Brothers forced Yates to cut it down. Now I understand why everyone was unhappy with Half-Blood Prince, but I still like the film, a lot of people do, but the only real reason is because of the little mention of the Half-Blood Prince. But that was a stupid title for even the book, because even the book, that name has just as little relevance as the film. What annoys me the most, is that all these complaints are simply because the films didn't follow the books word for word. Even JK Rowling accepted that they couldn't do every storyline, simply because when a novel is made, the novel has no length or budget restrictions that films have. Fans of the books should not criticise the films for this and should be instead realistic, praising the films for what they could do, given the limitations. But no, even Deathly Hallows, which was cut into two films to get the story across, people complain even for the differences made there. The films tell the story of the book. Just less conversations, because a lot of dialogue can be told in a simple sentence, or if a character has not appeared in the films, that scene can be removed. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being pissed off with the films sometimes. I was pissed off when Rik Mayall was cut out of the first film. But really? To hate on these films for reasons that could be helped by no one? That's a little harsh. And why have complaints over wanting explanations for things? Ten years ago, when things happened unexpectedly in films, we used our imaginations to explain how they happened. We don't need an hour or so to explain things. All those films have 79-97% on Rotten Tomatoes... People obviously like them. Or are these percentages wrong? Is it a fluke that they're so popular? Of course not! There are people like Doug Walker, who aren't fans of the Harry Potter novels, but have enjoyed the movies, because they were entertained. He said he can get bored by them because of the ridiculous lengths. The point of the films is to get the point across while being entertaining at the same time. They were made for movie goers, not just for fans of the books, who expect the film to follow the book 100%. Bottom line. JK Rowling herself has stated that it would be simply impossible to adapt her novels 100% word for word. So why do people complain like Harry Potter purists? You think your opinion is better than the woman who made them? Is she wrong to accept the realistic outcome of making films out of huge novels? I'm sorry, Stefan, but there are a lot of people, yourself included, who take these film adaptations too seriously. When a novel is turned into a film, it becomes a film, not a book with actors. I'm very thankful you at least took my advice and saw the film, but I think you need to see the other films again with a more open-minded attitude, and not compare them to the novels. Mr. Coat: I guess you missed that I completely and utterly praised Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in this very review. And interesting enough, Prisoner of Azkaban might be the film adaptation that took the most liberties with the source material with Cuaron giving his own flair to the proceedings. Yet that is actually one of my very favourite of the Harry Potter films. One of my major problems with Half-Blood Prince wasn't really what they took out, but I felt they wasted too much on the teenage relationship subplot, when you know, there are more important dangers that Harry should have been focusing on, like Voldermort attacking the Muggle world. Not to mention what should have been the most emotional part of the film left me cold. I actually quite liked Deathly Hallows: Part 1 for the very reason that it understand the dangers that were going in the world. And while my biggest problem with Phoenix was that it seemed to try to put too much into too little time, I will give it credit for the strong action and it had probably the most frightening villain in the series (and I'm not talking about Voldie. ;-) ) Overall, I've found the Harry Potter film series to be very good as a whole and I could not have been more pleased with the finale. Like I said, that final battle at Hogwarts was brilliantly executed and it took quite a number of liberties, too.

Name:
Date And Time: 2011-08-12 14:45:00
Comment: I thought that the first half of part 2 was just as bad as films 6 and 7, but the second half was brilliant.

Name: Henson Guy
Date And Time: 2011-08-04 04:54:48
Comment: I felt that the experience given from this one was fairly shallow, sure there were some action packed moments, but some of the characters were, in my opinion, either changed from the book or not fleshed out enough. Also to me the whole film seemed to go too quickly-I wanted to see a bit more of the daily routine at Hogwarts with Snape as the headmaster, for instance.

Name: Jaimetud
Date And Time: 2011-08-04 02:27:58
Comment: Epic finale! You did this one justice.

Name: Andrew
Date And Time: 2011-08-04 00:06:59
Comment: How does one feel when stuff happens on-screen, but none of that is explained? Well, I felt that way while watching this trainwreck of a movie. To say it was a disappointment would be an understatement.

Name: Msky
Date And Time: 2011-08-03 22:22:41
Comment: Good review. Any thoughts to do it for Iphone?

Name: Altaika
Date And Time: 2011-08-03 21:49:21
Comment: Loved the movie. A great finale to the magical series. Gotta disagree about Snape's sceen though. Can't stand the character myself

Name: Justinw1134
Date And Time: 2011-08-03 17:26:52
Comment: Haha! I knew you would see it eventually. And I am glad you liked it, this was my favorite one. It's good you gave it a chance.