Yeah...
Look, I know the reviews are generally positive but come on: this is a Michael Bay film if MB got a hard-on for landscapes instead of explosions. Worse, it's a Michael Bay film where he's completely forgotten how to shoot action sequences. Klove's script predictably moves along zestily, but leaves essentially no time for characterization and barely enough for plot development. Meanwhile, there are more than a few scenes where you get the feeling all Yates did was point at the actor and say "sit in chair, read script" while thinking "God, that hillside in the background is beautiful..."
When we finally do get to the actual Battle For Hogwarts, stopping off to meet Aberforth just long enough to skip the point of pretty much all of the original dialog for that scene, the whole thing is just a dizzying mess of fight cuts, Smokey from Lost flying around, and little to differentiate friend from foe unless they're 50' tall.
After seeing it, I realized something: my issue with these last few films hasn't been that they've deviated from the "source" (hell, I've openly advocated against trying the FHE 20 hours of show into 1:50 edit treatment in the past if necessary), but that they deviated in ways that are so obviously Executive Script Notes ("He betrayed Harry, we've gotta show him getting killed as proper punishment!" for an example), to fit it into "mold" that it's pretty much strangled the story for me as each and every one jumps off the screen.
Speaking of that, one reviewer said the 3D was inobtrusive. With all due respect, when I'm watching the 2D version and am like: "Oh... and here's where the pensieve gets to fly now just so we can throw it at the audience..." I'm gonna have to question what version of the movie they got to watch. One of these days I really have to do the Avatar 3D rant that's percolating in the back of my head.
My last word on this is that Harry Potter will probably make a really nice TV series someday. But for the love of god, lets stop letting people who just can't direct try and make movies from it.
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