Weasley Is My King

After seeing Deathly Hallows Part 1 for a second time, I have decided to post my thoughts on it. The first time, I was too emotional after seeing it. I immediately loved it of course, but I figured I should see it at least one more time before I solidified my opinion on it.

Beware! This post will be riddled (not to be confused with Tom Riddle...Haha, a little Harry Potter humor there, courtesy of my niece, Emily) with spoilers from the movie and storyline from the 7th book of the series. I really, REALLY don't want to be responsible for ruining this fantastic story for someone who has yet to experience it, so please, think about it before you read on.

*********Seriously..... Spoilers. Storyline ruined. Beware.************

Brief summary of the story: The Ministry of Magic has been taken over by Voldemort and his Death Eaters (trying to rid the magic world of muggles). Harry, Ron and Hermione set off on a journey to track down the rest of Voldemort's horcruxes, in hopes to destroy him forever. (That is a VERY brief summary. Very brief.)

I often refer to this particular book in the series as "Harry Potter and The Very Long Camping Trip" or "Harry Potter and The Book Where Everyone Dies". The camping trip in the book (they are on the run from snatchers, death eaters and Voldemort, hence: the camping) is seemingly neverending the first time you read it (the second time is much more enjoyable) but in the movie, they did a brilliant job of keeping the pace going and adding in a lot of important information along the way. You get a sense of how long and tedious the camping trip is for them but it doesn't seem as long winded as it did in the book. As far as the "everyone dies" aspect of the movie, they stuck to the book just right and dealt with the deaths perfectly. I cried a lot. I'm overly emotional about these characters. 

It's no secret that Ron is my favorite character in the books/movies. Of course, I love Harry and Hermione but Ron always breaks the tension and keeps things light and he's super cute. Having Rupert Grint play Ron just adds to my fascination with the character. I love, love, love Rupert Grint. He has always been good in the movies but in Deathly Hallows he was brilliant. He has to play a moody, angsty, frustrated version of Ron and he does it SO well. There is a scene where he gets to play a bit of a hero and it's one of my favorites; When he saves Harry from the pond in The Forest of Dean and recovers the sword of Gryffindor. It was exactly as I saw it in my head while I was reading the book. So fantastic. 

I loved the music and the intensity of the scenes when they are in the ministry and running away from Yaxley.

I loved the part where Hermione is reading the story of the three brothers, that basically explains what the Deathly Hallows are. It was such a creative/simple way to explain the story. Also, I could listen to Emma Watson talk all the live long day, so that made it even better. 

I loved the scene with Harry and Hermione dancing. Ron has left and Hermione is sad, so Harry tries to cheer her up. It's just sweet and simple.

The parts with Bellatrix (Helena Bonham Carter) and Hermione were fantastic and frightening. Speaking of frightening, I don't like snakes. A great deal of the Harry Potter journey has to do with snakes, so it's sort of surprising that I love the series as much as I do. The snake scenes in the movie are crazy scary (to me, at least). I covered my eyes the second time I watched because they are FREAKING SCARY. Blech. That's all there is to say about that.

My only disappointment with the film is that Harry had no closure with the Dursley's. They were a huge part of his life and they were all so awful to him, that it was fulfilling when he had a bit of a happy ending with them in the book. Harry makes them leave their home, in order to keep them safe. Dudley more or less tells him that he thinks he's an okay guy. I am hoping there will be a deleted scene like this on the DVD.

I know it's a rambling, disjointed review of the story but honestly, it's really hard for me to sum up my feelings on this. I love the books and the movies so much that I just start to gush about everything when I talk about it. All in all, Part 1 was extremely well done. They stuck faithfully to the book (for the most part) and added in some stuff that made it better. It ended at just the right spot too. It was an emotional roller coaster and I couldn't stop thinking about it after I saw it. I know it's just a story/movie but it's so fantastic and it makes me happy. While I can't wait for Part 2, I am going to be so so sad when it's all over. For the past 10 years there has always been something to look forward to, whether it be the next book or the next movie. I love the world that J.K. Rowling created. It will be sad when there are no more to look forward to.

On a completely unrelated note: The TV show, The Sing-Off comes back tonight at 8pm on NBC. It's an all a capella singing contest that takes place over five nights. Ten groups compete, while being judged by Ben Folds (YAY!), Nicole Scherzinger and Shawn Stockman. It's a fun competition with absolutely no musical instruments whatsoever. Nick Lachey hosts but I promise, he's the only lame thing about the show. Last year's runners up (and mine and Jeff's favorite group), The Beelzebub's have been in the last two episodes of Glee. These are some seriously talented people. Check it out, it's fun!