It was magical. It was epic, and at times reminded me of Lord of the Rings, but that's a good thing. It's by the most entertaining, alluring, strangely eerie and original of the bunch. They could have done it the easy way out and cut out 3/4 of the time spent in the woods in a desperate attempt to retain our attention, the movie kept my friends and I aware and tuned into the frustration and ennui felt by Harry, Ron, and Hermione during their time in foresty exile. (Btw, did shout-outs to the splendiferous scenery all around. The scene with the stunning cracked-rock cliffs? The camera-work and cinematography? Amazing.) The action scenes were taut, intense, and scared the crap out of the audiences. I definitely jumped a few times. The final scene left us emotional and anticipatory. You could practically hear one long, collective exhale in the theater when it ended.
And yet the one of this movie was SO different. It was just made in an entirely different vein than the other movies. Every Harry Potter movie has its unique stamp from the series' 30943285 different directors, but this version is in a different league, entirely. After watching the last movie, I predicted that the mischievous tone of The Half-Blood Prince's rabble-rousing antics was only to set up for the long, dark journey ahead for the seventh book, and I was right, but this just....rocked me. It was just so personal and strange and quietly sad, in some ways.
In this age where all movies either move at an ADHD "Transformers"-style speed or at an arthouse-style, glacial pace, enchanted with its own languidness, I simply cannot recall the last time the audience sat so absorbed for every little frame, every breath, movement, and tilt of expression. The filmmakers let the movie progress at a pace that felt organic, occasionally slow or jolting, depending on what was happening, but never boring. It took time in carving out its identity, and I seriously applaud David Yates for that kind of ballsiness. My friends and I were pleasantly surprised by the occasional injections of originality and artistic innovation (SPOILERS: the animation sequence used for the Tale of the Three Brothers, the art design for the Ministry, etc.)
There were indeed a couple of weird moments (what's a fantasy movie without one?), but at least they were a bit daring and imaginative, unlike the past weird moments when it was just plain embarrassing. I remember watching the first movie as an excited kid and cringing at the campy cliches, even as a 9-year-old. The first few were just awkward and factory assembled, like these shitty McDonald's Happy Meal plastic trinkets that you liked to toss around for five minutes but acknowledged was complete crap and in time became utterly indifferent to. It took them five movies to get the pacing right, to grow a soul (and a pair of nads) and get the tone of the books correct, but god was it worth it.
They outdid themselves. They made a crowd-pleasing movie that managed to retain its own soul and unique signature at the same time. All of the other movies should have been made this way. In my alternate universe all seven of the movies insofar are as funny, touching, and exciting in its faithfulness to the books, and lovely, strange, and artistically breathtaking in a cinematic form as this adaptation has been. Thank you David Yates and Co. Thankkkkk you for making this Potterphile very happy on Thanksgiving Day.
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