This morning, I saw the finale. Grim, grim, grim, and faithful to the book without being a tedious recounting. They got in all the eye candy I appreciated from the books, including one really creepy bit::
In the train-station-like anteroom to the afterlife, we see an manifestation of a portion of Voldemort's tortured soul curled up under a bench. That was a terrific bit in the book, and the movie shows it and then moves on, just like in the book.
If there was a flaw, it was in giving secondary characters little more than walk-ons, so that the deaths of some of them had less impact that they could. On the other hand . . .
The revelation of Snape as tragic hero was wonderfully well done. The little episodes of his life, revealed in the memory pool, were compact and well strung together.
Overall . . . we're not talking about a masterpiece. It competently and faithfully presents a complex story. Beautifully produced. Great to good acting. But if you read the books, not surprising. Kind of dutiful.
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Oh yeah: I saw it in 3-D, and as with most 3-D presentations, it really didn't make a difference after a while. I think I would have enjoyed it just as much in 2-D. The 3-D was good mind you, not blurry or cheap, but it wasn't at all essential.]]>