Harry Potter and the End of an Era

I have a long history with Harry Potter. It began when my cousin, now 22, brought over the first book and insisted I at least read the first few pages. He said that his teacher had been reading it to them in class and he liked it so much he had started reading it on his own. I kind of didn't feel like it at first, but I figured I'd indulge him and give it a whirl. As it turned out, within the hour I was shooing him away from me so I could continue reading, and asking him if I might borrow the book to finish overnight.

From there, he got our Gran involved in reading it, and then my Mom. My Gran fell totally in love with the series. She had to have each book the day it came out, and all the extras too. Books about Harry Potter, a Harry Xmas tree ornament, and Hermione bookends. Harry Potter stuff was always a safe bet with her when it came to giving gifts. The only problem she had was with the last book, which she insisted that I read first, because if Hagrid or any of the three kids died, she didn't want to read those parts. She liked Hagrid because he was kind to animals.

We used to go and see all of the movies in the theater together until it came to a point where Gran wasn't well enough to go to the cinema anymore.

Then, my best friend the Glassworker watched the first movie. She could never get into the books, but she found the films entertaining. We started watching all of them. When 4 came out, we saw that in the theater, and then every one since then. With Deathly Hallows pt. 2, we had to complete the cycle. I'm happy that I've seen all of the movies at the actual theater.

What we did yesterday was, Glassworker came over for breakfast and we cooked some pancakes, her Mom's recipe. They do pancakes differently in Germany, apparently, and they were really delish. Then we re-watched Deahtly Hallows pt. 1 over breakfast. We did a little recap and I explained (as I always have,) the stuff from the books that the movie left out. Like Dumbledore's relationship with Grindelwald, his past, etc.

Later, we met up at the big huge cinema (not the tiny one we usually go to) to watch the end. I had semi-humorously warned her that I was going to cry through the whole thing, from the opening logo with the music, until the credits. When she came in holding out a packet of Kleenex I was like, "Haha, smartass. Like I'm really going to be sobbing my eyes out." But I took them anyway.

We got our ice cream ($6 for three scoops, people, WHAT THE HELL, this is why I usually sneak a pint into the theater,) and cookies and our tickets and went into the crowded theater. Some damn lady was wearing enough perfume to choke out the entire crowd. The guy behind us got into a small argument with his girlfriend over whether or not there would be another Harry Potter movie. He insisted there would be. "But there aren't any more books," she told him. This seemed to surprise him.

The music didn't play over the logo in the beginning. In fact if I remember correctly, the logo was just the WB one and not the usual Harry Potter one, with the lightning shape. And it actually picked up directly where the last one left off. I guess that makes sense; it's not a new movie, it's just the halfway point of a whole.

One flaw I can see in every single Harry Potter film is that they all assume readership. You're supposed to just know who these characters all are, what their history is, etc. I can see where they would confuse someone who hasn't read the books. My Dad had never read them either, and I remember Mom, Gran, the kids and I sitting around the table and filling in the blanks after watching the movies with Dad.

Okay like, for example, Tonks' and Remus's kid (and I'm sorry man, but I am still not on board with David Thewliss as Lupin, it has never worked for me.) If you read the book, there was time for them to have gotten married and her to have been pregnant and have a kid and get back into action etc. and this was addressed. In the movie, it went from the first scene of them moving Harry out of the Dursely's and Tonks going, "Oh Harry, wait till we tell you..." and getting cut off by Mad-Eye before she could finish what she was saying. And by the end of part 2 all of a sudden it's like, Oh, Tonks's and Remus's kid, OMG! When did this even have time to happen? Why, if they're going to bring it up later, would they have her be cut off by Mad-Eye? It's possible that I missed some further mention of it in the movie, but I saw the thing twice and I never once heard reference to it. That bugged me a bit.

The only other flaw that I saw—that Glassworker and I both saw—was that you could tell that some scenes were so obviously meant to be rendered in 3D. And I'm sorry, but 3D sucks. It looks like crap, it gives me a headache, it's too dark to see any goddamn thing, and it's pointless. I know that stuff is not coming out at my face, for petesake. Why do we need to pretend that it is? 3D is ugly. (After the movie this led to a conversation in the parking lot that I initiated with, "But what if porn was in 3D?" which I followed up with a series of head movements and expressions that had us both doubled up laughing for a good while.) ANYway. I've seen good 3D once in a while, like when it's a novelty and the idea of the movie is to be in 3D. Disney used to have some really awesome ones. But this trend of putting every movie in 3D is just plain stupid. And it's a total waste if you're watching it normally.

I have to say, I think those were the only flaws I can think of. This was by far my favorite film out of all of them. I still have a soft spot for Prisoner of Azkaban, but this one just blew everything out of the water. It wasn't just because it was filmed so gorgeously—though it was—but it mostly had to do with the way the level of acting was scaled up. Everyone was so effing good, so fantastic.

I stopped scoffing at the proffered Kleenex when they got to Snape's backstory. And of course, what leads up to his backstory. I mean, I knew what was coming, and I was sitting there with my knees up to my chest and my hands over my mouth. In the book, I remember it was very intense and jaw-dropping. But the way it was filmed was subtler than in the book and much, much sadder. Still, I was pretty good with that whole scene. Then they got into the backstory and I was, like, fighting tears because I didn't want to be the only fool in the theater crying. Then I thought, "What the hell? Isn't that why we go to the movies?" and all of a sudden I was reaching for the tissues.

This is really because of how Alan Rickman handled it. I've seen him in tons of films and he's always been one of the best actors. When I was in college, he was my all-time favorite. To me, there was no one better than him and I saw all of his movies. I always found him really satisfying as Snape – dark, gloomy, but with enough snark and swag and camp that he was actually sort of funny sometimes. Or entertaining. You could tell how much fun he was having, but it didn't take anything away from his portrayal.

But then in this one, he just let loose; he played Snape with such abandon, vulnerability, and depth that I think that's what finally got to me. It wasn't even the situation itself, because we've dealt with that already: Lily Potter has been dead since before the books began and we've actually witnessed her death from different perspectives. But Snape's perspective, and Alan Rickman's portrayal of it gave it a weight it never had before, and maybe didn't even have in the book. I mean, it was sad in the book; it was tragic and you could get on board with that. But seeing it the way he did it was just something else. I don't know of any other way to put it.

The final battle was so epic, the way it was filmed. It was epic in the book so they couldn't have gotten away with anything less, but the film brought out how devastating and dark and tragic it was. What really stood out was that even with the whole big "Magic! Fighting! Death! Destruction! ARMIES!" aspect, you still felt each individual loss on a personal level. I think that must be very hard to pull off. Well this entire movie, the entire franchise is a feat to pull off; I can't even imagine what must go into something this huge. But that's the thing, and that's always been the thing with Rowling and the Harry Potter world: the creation of this immense reality, and the focus on small, personal details. Yes, huge epic battle and the clashing of magic and crumbling of towers and such, but OMG, that one kid! And so it has gone with the entire world that Rowling created. You know?

So there you go, that is my final ever Harry Potter film reviewal entry. I think I might feel more emotional about closing out this tradition than I did about the ending of the movie, if we're being honest. ^_^