I usually dislike movies based upon books, but the first six Harry Potter movies were a very pleasant change and stuck as closely to the books as could be squeezed into a few hours of screen time. Unfortunately, HP7 is the exception to that. When I read the book, I mentioned to my husband I had no idea how they would cover everything in one movie and was pleased to hear they split it in two, but this movie was a huge disappointment. Everything that made the book a real conclusion to the story was skipped in favor of shaky-cam dramatics that jumped from scene to scene, leaving the important and symbolic portions on the cutting room floor.
The actors did a great job and have proved themselves as professionals, and the special effects are brilliant. From the heroes to the villains, every one of them played their parts to perfection. I can't say enough good things about the casting and acting throughout the series, and that continues in HP7. The special effects made me see the fantastic world in visual form. Each of those things have been top-notch in the former stories and continued in this one.
What's the problem, then? Everything important in the book was abandoned. The book started with a scene between Harry and the Dursleys much like all the previous ones. It really highlighted the end of innocence for the two cousins in a farewell with Dudley that was shamefully left out of the film. I think that one scene could have framed the transition in far less screen time than the released nonsense, and the movie went downhill from there. Fans of brainless action flicks will probably adore this film since that's the style adopted, but the symbolism and dark wonder characterized in the real story was entirely absent in the film.
The filming style was nauseating in many places, and in one particular scene towards the end, a girl in the row behind us muttered that she couldn't watch the shaky camera shots any longer or she would be sick. My husband commented it was like someone took a snippet from Blair Witch Project and flung it in the middle of this movie. Truly disappointing.
I don't know why so much creative license was taken in this version when the previous movies stuck pretty closely to the books. This could have been so much better, particularly since there are two films to cover what was admittedly a lot of important information in the books. Unfortunately, the editing and cinematography fell flat on its face.
