Lies, Damn Lies

Harry Potter 6 (will contain spoilers

I saw this on wednesday evening, and was mostly pleased. It made a lot of changes from the book, but most of them worked well, although some raised questions that would probably only bother book fans (the Weasley's is meant to be magically protected. Otherwise Harry would have been picked off by Voldemort ages ago...), and also as to how they would proceed in the next films (some plot important information is never imparted). Generally though, the adaption worked, and the relationship stuff was lovely, very amusing, and the plot was well told.

Then the end came. In the book a full, frightening fight erupts in hogwarts, for the first time breached by death eaters, with people falling in the background, which then climaxes with Dumbledore's death, then Harry's furious pursuit of the death eaters. Yet thanks to changes, which included no fight, and Harry NOT being paralyzed (literally) during the death scene, took away most of the emotional impact. Yes, I saw the death coming, but the shock of the moment in the book is extremely powerful, all the more because Harry is unable to help. The pursuit afterwards just seemed lame, although the mourning over Dumbeldore did work fairly well.

It seems a shame, because otherwise this film is great, and captures the feeling of the book very well. I'm not entirely sure why the film makers made the choices they did- the changes seem to rob the ending of the impact it could have had, and why they chose that I do not know.

Labels: film, review

posted by Mr K @ 10:55 am