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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, a review by Dragonfire

I went to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 this morning.  I was briefly tempted by the midnight showings, but I decided that would be too crazy.  After seeing people lined up 6 hours ahead of time Thursday evening and finding out that some of them had been there all day, I'm glad I didn't go then.  That would have been just a bit too crazy even for me.  It was bad enough today.  The theater was pretty full, though not completely sold out.  There were a lot of kids in the theater, but they were well behaved who actually sat and watched the movie without running up and down the aisles or playing with cell phones.  People weren't talking either.  Seeing this one and the last Potter movie has been a bit of a different experience from seeing other recent movies with large crowds. 

There are a few small things - changes or omissions - that I'm not happy about, but overall, I loved the movie.  It is one of the best of the series and one of the best of the year.  It is a great ending to a great series - though I still have issues with certain things in the previous movies.  While I will still have the books and movies to read and watch again as often as I want, it is still a little depressing that there aren't any more Potter movies to look forward to.  Even when I've been worried something wouldn't be done right, I still looked forward to the movies.

This movie picks up right where the last one ended.  It, along with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 are based on the final book in the Harry Potter series.  These two movies are a bit more connected than some of the previous ones have been.  This is not the movie to jump into the Potter world with.  Start at the beginning.  The plot is entertaining and things are resolved by the end, though a few things get worked out slightly differently because of changes that have been made somewhere along the way.  I like that the movie uses the epilogue from the book, though I've already seen some people complaining about that.  I liked that ending to the book and I liked it here.  Honestly, I would have liked even more details in that part.

Things are changed here and there throughout the movie, which I expected before seeing the movie.  The changes really didn't bother me too much this time.  They weren't as extreme as some of the ones done in previous movies, though once again, some of the explanations suffer.  The movie, like the last one, is depending on the audience having read the books and being able to fill in the missing pieces.  Certain things were left out of earlier movies and pop up with no introduction in this one, which could cause a little confusion for some viewers.  The special effects were done well and things look good overall.  There is more action in this one, though it is broken up by a few things, much like it was in the book.  There is violence, though not too extreme.  I still don't like the snake and it still freaks me out a bit.  Unfortunately for me, the snake is in more scenes in this movie.  I knew that was going to happen, but I still didn't like it.

Since the horcruxes were not properly set up in the sixth movies - that was one of the things that really bugged me about that movie - Harry lacked some important information he needed to try to find them.  I did wonder how Harry would manage without that knowledge.  This movie comes up with an explanation that works, though I don't really like it.  It is sort of a copout to cover up the crappy set up, but it works.  It would have been much better if the horcrux explanation had done properly to begin with in the sixth movie.

The characters are wonderful.  Some that haven't had much to do in the last few movies get some really nice moments.  McGonagall goes into badass mode, but she still takes the time to be giddy over doing a certain spell.  She is just awesome in this movie.  Neville is pretty badass too and he finally gets to shine.  I was worried he would get messed up.  Some things are a little different, but it is good.  Snape is around a bit more, and Alan Rickman is absolutely wonderful in the part.  Bellatrix is still twisted and crazy.  A lot of characters are only briefly seen unfortunately, but that has been an issue in all the movies since there are just so many characters.  The Weasleys are mostly missing, but Molly does get her moment that got applause in the theater I was in.  Voldemort is still one of the most evil villain characters. 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione get the most to do and they have changed the most over the series.  The actors are great in the parts.

The movie does end the series on a high note.  It is definitely one to see, but see the previous movies first.  And read the books.



I did get a review posted on Epinions.  It is a bit longer, but I didn't include spoilers.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

(From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 on July 16th, 2011)

The Duke is Tops, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Duke is Tops
Year of Release: 1938
Directed By: William L. Nolte
Starring: Ralph Cooper, Lena Horne, Laurence Criner, Monte Hawley
Genre: Romance, Musical

Overview:
Lena Horne stars as Ethel Andrews, a young featured singer who is given the chance to work a Broadway show but things take a turn for the worse without her fiancee's behind-the-scenes support.

My Thoughts:
Notable for a leading performance from a young Lena Horne; otherwise forgettable.

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 2/5

(From July Movie Marathon: Musicals (Yes... You read right!) on July 22nd, 2016)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Knight Rider: Season One
Year: 2008
Director:
Rating: 15
Length: 769 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles:

Stars:


Plot:
An iconic TV classic is back and better than ever in the reinvented, updated and super-charged Knight Rider Season One. From executive producers Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity franchise), David Bartis (The O.C.) and Glen Larson (Battlestar Galactica) comes this action-packed series about the coolest car ever created K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Three Thousand), that's equipped with artificial intelligence capable of hacking into any computer, the weapons system of a jet fighter, and incredible custom body technology that allows it to transform into other vehicles. Relive every Season One episode as an elite team of crime-fighters work with K.I.T.T. (voiced by acting legend Val Kilmer) to track down elusive, hight-tech villains. Presented in uninterrupted Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, you won't want to miss this fast-paced ride to the wild side!

Awards:
Extras:
Commentary
Featurettes
Outtakes

I have seen the pilot when it first aired. Even though I had some problems with it, I was excited overall for a new series. But when the reviews of the actual series came in, I didn't bother picking up the DVD set when it was released.
But when it was on sale now and it's only a single season, I decided to give it a chance.
I have to admit, that I enjoyed the pilot more than I remembered it being. I thought it did a good job setting up the series and also acknowledging the 80s series.
But when I saw the episodes from the actual series, I was heavily disappointed. Bad acting overall. Especially bad was the guy who played Sarah's father. He always had to do the exposition and he always looked like he didn't know what he is talking about. Hard to believe that this guy is supposed to be the inventor of both KITTs.
Horrible scripts which sole aim seem to have been to get the lead actresses into a bikini or down to their underwear. Also I think it is a terrible idea to make KITT a transformer, being able to transform in any kind of Ford car (pick-up truck and even a big van etc.). They should have left it with the "attack mode" (which essentially is the updated version of the "super pursuit mode" of the original KITT). Although the attack mode could have looked better. I looks cheap and ugly. It almost seems like they wanted to top the series Viper, which also had a super car which transformed into the Defender mode. So they couldn't leave it with one alternate forms, but had to have multiple. Or they wanted to get in as much product placement for Ford as possible.
They even had KITT's evil twin KARR be an outright transformer! A robot in disguise of a car. It even has Optimus Prime's voice! Though to be fair this is a nod to the original series, where Peter Cullen also did the voice for KARR.
I liked that they used the windshield as a head up display. But I think it is very stupid to take up the whole windshield for incoming calls. They hardly couldn't see the street anymore when talking on the phone.

After the first 13 episode they retooled the show. Kicked out all the bad supporting cast and kept the ones which were the only fun back in the headquarters scene. And moved the direction of the series more to be like the original series. They even did a bit with petty criminals trying to steal KITT, which was a running joke in the old series.
I have to say, that I enjoyed the last five episodes. And if they would have done it like this from the get-go, maybe the series would still be on today.
I loved how KITT seems to constantly put down Michael at the end. Like when Michael told him to track something, and KITT was like "No shit, dickhead. I am already on it. You don't need to tell me every little thing."

One other thing: I liked the new intro. I starts out as an updated version of the original theme and sounds like the theme of "IT Crowd" towards the end.

#	Episode	Rating
01	Prometheus (Pilot Episode)
02	A Knight in Shining Armor
03	Journey to the End of the Knight
04	Knight of the Iguana
05	A Hard Day's Knight
06	Knight of the Hunter
07	Knight of the Living Dead
08	I Wanna Rock & Roll All Knight
09	Knight of the Zodiac
10	Knight Fever
11	Don't Stop the Knight
12	Day Turns Into Knight
13	Knight to King's Pawn
14	Exit Light, Enter Knight
15	Fight Knight
16	Fly By Knight
17	Knight and the City
18	I Love the Knight Life

(From Tom's Random Reviews on July 11th, 2010)