MindsBase

Book 7 Part 2, the series that brought us life, come to life on screen

So, you’ve all picked up your fancy copies of the final Harry Potter movie by now, right? I won’t be spoiling anything by getting into the nitty and the gritty of it, because you saw it at least twice in the theater (once with kids/friends and once with a bewildered significant other) and once or more on your lovely home theater system. Unfortunately for me, the movie shows nearly black on my mediocre screen, and I was too lazy to adjust, so it wasn’t the visual spectacle at home that it was at the movies. Still, the story is why we’re all here, right?

The Story

Let’s be honest. There were criticisms about the meandering length of book 7. I hear that, but for those of us who were really invested, we didn’t mind wading through some dead ends and emotional flip-flops along with our beloved characters. We knew it meant we could spend a little more time with them before saying goodbye. But that would have been disaster in a film. They had to cut, cut, cut and focus the story into two satisfying arcs, and what they chose to do was to make the first arc character-driven, and the second, epic (world-driven). This was a smart choice, in my view.

To back up to part one briefly, to explore the character arcs: I enjoyed the friction and frustration between Harry, Ron and Hermione, and the gelling of their relationships, especially Harry/Hermione as friends and Ron/Hermione as a couple. I loved the moment, after Ron has stormed away and Harry and Hermione are finally forced to leave camp without him, that they apparate to a new area and Hermione begins to cry, while Harry must carry on and cast the protective spells that Hermione usually does.

I wrote in just one extra line in the first movie, as I’m prone to do, and it was this: when Hermione is sad about Ron, Harry takes her hand and dances with her. They laugh a bit and the mood lightens, but then it settles again into sadness. No dialogue is there, and so you could get the impression that Harry is sad romantically for Hermione, that he was making a play for her and it was rebuffed. Well, maybe they wanted that ambiguity, but I think it cheapens the beautiful friendship between them. I would have added a clarifying line from Harry. Simple, clear, eloquent: “I miss him, too.”

As for other emotional arcs, I thought it was important that they kept a bit about Harry’s struggle to keep faith in Dumbledore even as information about him changed. This was one of the strongest themes in book 7. Faith is what you do when doubts come into question. It’s easy to have faith when things are going well, so the fact that Harry decides to have faith in Dumbledore when things get hard… that is what counts. That is what transforms him from a boy to a man.

Oh, and I have to applaud whoever invented the wonderful interlude animation of the Deathly Hallows tale. LOVED IT.

On to part deux. In my opinion, Harry has matured. He’s grown up. He acts as an adult. In part one, he makes that transformation, so when part two opens and we see him interview the goblin and hold his own, then be unafraid to gently accuse Olivander for his weakness, we know we are dealing with a strong hero in this movie. Not the scared boy from book one, not the lucky bumbler from book two. Harry is a man.

So I knew this story would be the best one yet. I like men.

Since this movie was epic (not just action), I was glad they made a point to check in on all of our favorite characters for a bit of closure, and even threw in tons of details and nods from the other books (portraits on the walls, pixies in the room of requirement) for a full-circle feel. Even doing so, it was so lightly sprinkled, the details didn’t slow down the action at all, and I felt increasingly invested in every minute of this film. My kids, too, who were a bit young the the books first came out (read: unborn) found a fresh interest in the series as a result of this movie.

Changes (from the book) that worked well:

• Harry (and Voldemort) can feel the horcruxes. There is a little snakey sound as Harry approaches, even. They are both affected when one is destroyed. This worked well for the film.
• The gold in Bellatrix’s vault did not blister our heroes. Thank goodness… would have been gross. Also they don’t Crucio Harry’s body at the end, which was also a good idea.
• Snape assembles the students into the great hall and Harry appears — this worked great! I loved the dialogue about “somebody grab him!” and then the friends step in. But I most loved the McGonagall / Snape duel. I actually loved every millisecond of McGonagall in this movie. I love her character anyway and Maggie Smith plays her exactly as I imagine.
• Voldemort’s voice: in the book it is loud and booming, but in the movie it is an intimate whisper, which I think is really terrifying. I love the look of disgust on Harry’s face when they first experience the voice.
• They show the Elder wand begin to crack under Voldemort’s hand. This was interesting, and justified his heightened fury. Like.
• And can I just say that I loved the degeneration of Voldemort. His physical movements, wow! By the end, he’s hobbling around like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• A few things are simplified with regards to the snake, all of which I thought were useful changes. Fortunately, they still had Neville kill the snake (though he didn’t know it was a horcrux) which I felt was important, since Neville was the Harry-alternate, had Voldemort decided to “mark” him instead.
• The epilogue was fantastic, and somehow it made the idea more clear even than in the book that Harry achieved immortality, not by horcruxes or even hallows, but through progeny. That was beautiful.

Things that could have been better:

• Ron and Hermione’s kiss. Need I say more? I know, it’s true to the book, but ewwww.
• The pensieve trip into Snape’s memories: this was flowing and beautiful but totally incomprehensible if you’re not a many-time-reader of the books.
• When Harry realizes he has to die, the book speaks beautifully of his awareness of his own healthy heart. In the movie, all he does is clutch his chest, which is a little lackluster. I actually think a little CG could have been artfully done to illustrate his feelings better. Just a little.
• Harry, after his death, asks Dumbledore, “What should I do?” and calls after him as he disappears. Naw. I didn’t buy that. Harry knows what to do. He’s a man now, remember? He doesn’t ask that boyish question. Least favorite line in the movie.
• Voldemort hugs Draco. Whaaaa? Nuff sed.
• The wrap-up: Harry doesn’t get applauded by the portraits!! This is my favorite scene in the book, and I missed seeing it come to life. Harry also doesn’t repair his own wand, which I thought had such wonderful symbolism. In the end scene (before the epilogue), they look off into the distance, which was a little cliche.

Music:

WOW! Even as the DVD menu started, with that tinny music-box reprise of the theme, I knew this score was special. It was lovely throughout. I’m going to own this one. The full-blown original theme plays when Harry first steps back into Hogwarts’ room of requirement, which was fitting. The score is awesome when the stone soldiers awaken, when the attack begins (percussion sounds), and in the pensieve — so sad there.

Cinematography:

Some beautiful work here as well. Our view shifts from under to outside the invisibility cloak in the Gringotts Bank scene — awesome. The dragon was realistic enough not to detract. The shield around Hogwarts and all the attack graphics were very cool. The Death Eater flying-in-smoke thing was again well done. I liked the fiend fire, how it turned into V’s face at the last second. Sweet. But the best part was the pure white of Harry’s death. After such a dark movie, this contrast is brilliant. Literally.

A few great lines:

Harry, to parents and “uncles” Sirius and Remus: “Why are you here?” Answer: “We never left.”

Dumbledore, in the white King’s Cross: “You wonderful boy. You brave, brave man.”

Also from Dumbledore: “Words are our most invaluable source of magic.”

Let’s also note that JK Rowling had producer credit on both parts of HP7, so extra credit to her for an awesome wrap-up of an unequaled series. This one, of course, gets five nods from me. * * * * *

 Enjoy!

It’s been a while since I reviewed a film, and although I intend to SAY MUCH about the final Harry Potter movie, I think I’ll tread in shallower waters today.

I saw Cars 2 in the theater. Yes, I did.

What, I’m not ashamed.

However, the fact that it was the only movie choice and that it was was $3.00 a ticket might have had something to do with my sitting in a seat for two hours when I could have been happy to leave after the (superb) Toy Story short at the beginning of the film (“Hawaiian Vacation”, about Barbie and Ken, very cute).

But, see, cars are not my thing, and the first Cars movie didn’t do it for me, but I know that many a young boy have gone googly over the wide-eyed, friendly vehicles from the film. I can appreciate that it pleased its target audience. Perhaps my disappointment in Cars radiated from the fact that the previous Pixar film was The Incredibles, which I so completely adored. So. adored.

As for the second movie: they went with a spy storyline, which was moderately interesting to me… I am a sucker for spy stuff. But the bummer was that every under-7-year-old in the theater with me was squirming in the seat from boredom. It was clear that it didn’t keep its core audience happy. And frankly, I’d take a real person or even a computer animated one over a vehicle doing spy stuff.

Come on, Pixar, you must have more up your deep, magician’s sleeve! Tread new ground in storytelling as well as in slick computer animation. Chat more with Miyazaki, just hire him as a consultant, how about that?

Anyway, I did notice that Pixar’s John Lasseter had a hand in another movie I saw recently: Tangled. I didn’t know it until the end credits, but then it was obvious. Tangled could have been another tired retelling of an old tale, or a weird, warped misadventure in differentness, but it was neither! It was cute, yes, and technically beautiful as modern CG movies, but it was more than that. But it was creative and exciting, and the Alan Menken music wasn’t half bad. It made the old Grimm’s tale make more sense, actually, more believable in the context of a world where hair can be magic. I particularly loved that Rapunzel was all Indiana Jones with her hair, which could have been a major liability.

So, instead of waiting eagerly to rent Cars 2, just go for Tangled now — even if you have boys!

Enjoy!

* you may have noticed that I’ve stopped awarding nods in my reviews. It’s silly, really, but I hate grabbing and placing the graphic, which for some reason doesn’t play nice in a set like that. So, I may modify my rating system, but for now, I shall just opine.

Marley & Me, I submit, is not — I repeat, NOT — a dog movie.

That’s what I’ve determined after seeing it for the second time last night. My daughter wanted to rent it because she thinks it is one. But I wanted to rent it because I knew better.

Because it is better than a boring old dog movie.

I won’t say I cried (on second viewing, no less) because I don’t cry at movies. But there may have been a little hard blinking.

See, Marley & Me uses a dog to take us through the seasons of life — specifically the seasons as they change from spring to summer. As a man and woman’s lives change from being about themselves to being about their family. It just happens to be told within the framework of a puppy growing into an old man-dog.

Marley provides a fair amount of the funny of this movie, but he also helps us get a window into the hearts of the main characters, Jenny (played by Jennifer Aniston) and John Grogan (Owen Wilson). Nothing really horrible happens. There’s a mild couple’s quarrel here and there, just the friction that comes from rubbing up so closely against another person’s life. That friction which rubs off the rough corners of our selves.

In a way, I  identify with this movie because it has a wonderfully talented (and beautiful, of course) woman choosing marriage and family over career, and depicts the normal ups and downs to a tee. It also shows a guy making career choices that are not only in line with his personal ambitions, but that suit the needs of his family. He’s striving for balance, and you admire him for it. I like seeing people sacrifice their own desires for a greater good. What greater good is there, really, then a happy family?

I haven’t read the memoir (of the same name) that the movie is based on, but I like the idea that a memoir can make a good story… even if it is just about people like you and me. What we do every day — choosing dependability, choosing responsibility, choosing to love others more than you love yourself — does make the world turn. We are the builders of humanity. For real, dude.

Too heavy? Well, if all you want is to commiserate about your aging dog, the movie provides ample grounds for that emotion, too. See the picture there? This is my old girl, Pesto. No, not the sauce. Though she is saucy, yeah. My husband and I, when we first got the runty little pointer mix from doggy jail, named her after the secretary character from the TV show Moonlighting. I know. We thought it was funny: Ms. Agnes dePesto.

Pesto.

She’s now fourteen years old, and I could write a book about the crazy little stories of her life, too. When she gorged herself on dog food and could hardly walk, when she jumped off the boat trying to reach the dogfish we’d snagged (we had to snag her, then), when she met each of our children and wholeheartedly opened her heart (and tongue) to them. But her last chapter is coming to a close now. Her time is near. She’s had a good run. Been a great dog. None better, I think. You forgive me the hard blinking, right?

Did you avoid seeing Marley & Me because it looked like another Benji or Beethoven? Well, go rent it. Though, perhaps it is. I didn’t see Benji or Beethoven. Maybe boring old dog movies aren’t bad at all!

I’m not going to rate this one — you may not like it at all. It’s a personal story, you’ll have to see how it hits you, eh?