why I don’t like DH2 [some spoilers]
so i was trying to work out what why i left DH having enjoyed the film but it didn’t feel like the end of my harry potter experience because i honestly thought it was and now a few days later i’ve worked it out.
the number of points in DH2 where the movie was unfaithful to the book, and there are many, are, on their own, not important. and i really don’t want to hear “it’s an adaptation”. what made harry potter so special for all of us who read every book the same day it came out (yes, OoTP was a struggle, but I managed it the opening saturday) and who followed all of it: it was a journey. coming of age stories are everywhere, but one that tracks 3 people over 7 years as they grow and change - there’s not that many out there. JKR says more or less that in her DH dedication: “and for you, if you have stuck with harry till the end”.
DH2 turned the book into a story, and retold the series of events that were written, and in doing so, missed what made it so special. we all know that by the end of DH, Neville turns into a fucking badass. he runs DA, he kills Nagini. (then he marries hannah abbott instead of luna, but w/e). but what made that special was that we went through that with him when we read the books. we went through the bits with his grandmother who was disappointed in him, with his personal struggles, with him getting cruciatus’ed by the carrows (that one is a big deal!) and when you just go from neville being nothing to neville being badass you miss the essence of the whole series.
in the book, voldey and harry’s final battle in front of everyone was so important (not just because, well, the death eaters see him die, imagine the conspiracies otherwise), but because it showed not only harry’s courage, but his willingness to die for his friends and how he wasn’t seeking power at all. i really liked how in the book, at the end, they still cast their signature spells, and it was voldemort’s own lust for power that killed himself.
tl;dr the movie turned it into a retelling instead of a journey, and taking a journey with the characters is what harry potter is all about.
