HP7 part 2: The end is nigh

Finally, after a year of waiting, I was able to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Waiting for the hours to pass on a work day tested my emotional quotient to the limit. I was able to reserve a seat online, but I didn't take my chances and bolted out the door when my shift ended.

I arrived at the cinema two hours before the screen time. Surprisingly, the lines weren't that long. I had to check if I was at the right place. I was expecting mayhem similar to last year's screening, but I was incredulously grinning like an idiot when I finally bought my ticket in less than two minutes.


 

Butterbeer cupcakes!

I killed the time going to bookstores and met with a friend who saved me some of the butterbeer cupcakes he baked. It was perfect timing that he too watched the first show in the same mall so I was able to goad him into saving a few pieces of the stuff he made. It was pretty good; it definitely saved me the effort of buying snacks to eat at the movies (I'm such a cheapskate haha!).

The money I spent on the 3D version of the movie was well spent. At first, I felt my eyes adjust wearily to the images, but I got the hang of it. The images didn't leap out of the screen, unlike the first time I tried watching a 3D short flick in Universal Studios in Singapore, but there were some instances when certain projections seemed life-like. I was particularly thankful that the audience was civilized and there was less noise and ruckus.

Anyway, I've taken the liberty to enumerate my thoughts about the movie (because I can't organize my thoughts coherently), so if you haven't watched it and are averse to spoilers, then I suggest you skip this part. 

It's all her fault.

• The movie was instantaneously set in grim and in foreboding manner. I hardly noticed the one year break when the first few scenes flashed before my eyes. It's as if I hadn't waited that long for this part---it was like the scenes were interwoven seamlessly. Everyone in the audience watched the scenes unfold with bated breaths and there was nary a sound. David Yates set the mood strong---no background music, just sharp and succinct dialogues. How much more suspenseful can you get?

• Some of the scenes in the book I was expecting to kick ass didn't turn out the way I thought it would. The Battle of Hogwarts scene when Mrs. Weasley retaliated at Bellatrix with the epic lines, "Not my daughter, you bitch!" was uneventful. George, Tonks and Lupin's deaths were just the same.
   
• WTF happened to the Harry x Ginny chemistry? Oh, I forgot. THERE WAS NONE. Remember that kiss in the trailer? That only lasted for just three seconds compared to the Ron-Hermione kiss at the Chamber of Secrets.
   
• Neville was as totally awesome in the movie as he was in the book.
   
• Snape's back story = WIN. Alan Rickman is my Jesus. The scene when Snape cradled Lily's lifeless body will haunt me until the day I die.
   
• Screw James Potter, the most lackluster character in the entire series. I hate the man with a vengeance. The funny thing is he's fictional. And he's dead.
   
• I totally felt the hair on my arms stand to an end when McGonagall brought to life the suits of armors. The scene with Flitwick and the other professors casting protective enchantments on Hogwarts chilled my blood. Freaking epic scene.
   
• Ginny and Hermione didn't look like they've aged after 19 years. Ginny looked like she was in her mother's clothes dressing up in front of the mirror. Hermione still had the sharp face of a teenager. Daddy Harry looked like he had prostate cancer. Ron was the most believable, potbelly and all.

I may have mixed feelings in this last installment of the movie, but one thing's for sure: I will have to watch it again...preferably two more times. I can never have enough of those scenes of Snape. The man is a god.