Cavalcade of Awesome

I’m going to keep this review quick and simple. I finally got to see this on Saturday night. And it was everything I wanted it to be. The special effects were unbelievable, the story was riveting. I LOVED IT. It’s been several years since I actually read this book, so the vast amounts of subplots and scenes that were cut didn’t affect me as much as I expected. It was every bit as exciting as I wanted it to be. The final showdown with Dumbledore and Voldemort was epic and all of your favorites return. Just awesome.

I avoided news on this movie like the plague. I didn’t want to know anything. As a matter of fact, here is how much I didn’t know about this movie: I didn’t realize Helena Bonham Carter was cast as Bellatrix LeStrange. That blew me away. It was truly inspired casting as she looked exactly how I see her in my head when I read. That character figures heavily into the next book and possibly the final book also. I also loved the scene where Dumbledore escapes being sent to Azkaban by Fudge. That was a cornerstone scene I remember from reading the book and I was very happy with how that turned out.

After all of that schoolgirl gushing, was there anything I didn’t like? Well, yes. As my friend, Jen, points out at her review, things seem a bit rushed. There is so much information flying about that the filmmakers have to get across to you that you can’t get a full appreciation for all the wonderful characters in this story. There are maybe two scenes with Aurors Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphora Tonks. They are 2 very cool characters that are much more fleshed out in the book, but, sadly, there’s no room for them here. Same with the house elf, Kreacher. He’s a darkly funny character you see in the Black home that gets maybe two scenes in this movie but you get to learn more about him in the books. Once again, this a problem not really with the movie, but with the format of film. In order to faithfully make the book, the movie would need to be 4 hours long.

I think the filmmakers stayed true to the gist of the story and gave you all the pertinent information to move you successfully into the next movie. And in the process, gave us a ton of eye candy to enjoy the ride. That’s pretty much all you can ask. For anything else, you should just READ THE BOOK.

This installment is almost tied with Prisoner of Azkaban as my favorite. Look to the right, you’ll see I gave it 4 stars. It easily earns this and my highest recommendation.

Stay tuned as Potter-palooza parties on with reviews of Harry Potter books 1-6 as I endure the agonizing wait for Book 7.

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This entry was posted on July 16, 2007 at 5:12 pm and is filed under books, Harry Potter, movies, pop culture, reviews with tags Harry Potter, movie review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.