Monday, July 25, 2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Pt. 2: Selected Complete Speaking Parts

Mum's the word, 'arry.


***Spoilers & Nothing But Spoilers Below.***




Like a handful of other people scattered across the globe, I was excited about the last Harry Potter movie. I am a fan of the books and the films, though unevenly in both cases (the books peaked for me with Goblet of Fire; among the films, Alfonso Cuaron’s Prisoner of Azkaban towers over the rest). But I’ll freely admit it: I’m a sucker for any epic with both brains and heart, and Rowling's epic has both. I feel a sense of loss knowing that our time with these characters, and the actors who portrayed them so vividly, is over.

Deathly Hallows Part II was respectable. Its shortcomings, like its strengths, are largely present in the book as well. The greatest weakness for me in both was the calamitous rush, that left extraordinarily little room for the quirky and sometimes fascinating characters that are the lifeblood of the story. A few of the side characters, like Maggie Smith’s wonderful Prof. McGonagall, were featured somewhat prominently. The vast majority were not, and the participation of some was literally reduced to a wordless syllable or two.

What a way to say goodbye.

Note that the quotes below are drawn from memory, after a single viewing of the film. I await your corrections.

------------------------------


Robby Coltraine (Rubeus Hagrid):
1. “Harry, nooo! What the frak are ye dooin’ here?”
2. “Haaaarry.” [big fuzzy smile]

Gary Oldman (BAFTA Winner, Emmy Nominee) (Sirius Black):
1. “Quicker than falling asleep.”
2. “Until the end.”

Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy):
1. “I’ve missed fruitlessly snapping & sneering at you, POTTER!”
2. (moments later) “I think that’s my magic thingy you’re holding, POTTER!”

Jason Isaacs (Golden Globe Nominee) (Lucious Malfoy): 1. “My lord, is this attack not the most, most ridiculous…” (2) “I don’t know…”

Helena Bonham Carter: (Emmy Winner, BAFTA winner, Oscar Nominee) (Bellatrix Lestrange):
1. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
2. “Is he dead?”
3. “HA HA HA HA HA….URCH!”

Jim Broadbent (Academy Award winner) (Prof. Slughorn). *mumble mumble* “My robes!”

Emma Thompson (Double Academy Award winner) (Prof. Trelawney): “Gaaa!”

Devon Murray (Seamus Finnegan): “That’s nothin’ to go on.”

Katie Leung (Cho Chang) “Harry—”

Natalia Tena (Nymphadora Tonks): [Tell me, somebody! Surely she spoke before her death?]

Miriam Margolyes (BAFTA & L.A. Critics Circle Award Winner, Olivier Award Nominee) (Prof. Sprout): “Aaaaaah!”

Dave Legeno (Fenrir Greyback) “My Lord.”

Oliver Phelps (George Weasley): “You all right, Fred?”

James Phelps (Fred Weasley): “Yeah.”

Julie Walters: (BAFTA & Emmy Winner, 2X Academy Award Nominee) (Molly Weasley): “Not my daughter you BITCH!”

Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley):*sniff*

Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley): “Hello.”

2 comments:

Mark Lavallee said...

Funniest thing I have read all day. *ALL DAY*!!

I thought the epilogue scene was humorous. They gave Ron a belly and Malfoy a goatee - they didn't even try! =)

They completely cut out all the deaths and most of the battle which was disappointing.

But the soundtrack was fantastic. I'm looking forward to the "3 hours of deleted scenes" on the blue ray. I totally just made that up, but you know they'll do it!

And no, Tonks said no words the entire movie.

Robert V.S. Redick said...

Guess she just said it with her eyes [sigh].

Ah, you mean we didn't actually see folks die...that's true.

I liked some of the silences, and applaud Yates for using that as a tactic in certain moments (i.e. the last shot of the three friends at Hogwarts). I think Part II will feel much more balanced when watched back-to-back with Part I. No shortage of talking there.