Harry Potter 7 Part 1. Emma Watson Has Grown Up Well

By Claudia Park '13

I arrived at the Hamilton AMC theater with a couple friends at 11:20 p.m. While impatiently waiting for midnight, we bummed around in the main lobby to admire the eclectic mélange of Harry Potter fans loitering around the room. Truly, the creativity die-hard HP fans employed for the making of their costumes was impressive (they certainly put my measly Gryffindor shirt to shame). We decided to bestow the award of best dressed to a group of high school students proudly lugging around their necks large intricately decorated cardboard boxes in the guise of a Floo Powder Network. Genius.Around 11:45 p.m., we made our way to our seats. Big mistake in waiting until then to stake our spots, as every single theater showing HP (at the very least 10) was packed. Disgruntled, we ended splitting up, but all was well since we were in the same theater, and most importantly, going to see the much, much anticipated HP7. Movie finally began, and the theater erupted into applause, screams, and “OH MY GOD!”

To be quite frank, and I do not know whether this is a result of my belief that the movies will never surpass the books, I wasn’t too swept away by the film. I found myself laughing at parts of the movie that I wasn’t sure were intended to be humorous – most ostensibly, the romantic development scenes. Was it me, or were the scenes with Harry and Ginny, and more conspicuously, with Ron and Hermione, forced and just awkward? Note: Ginny, the zipper trick was clever, and I will keep it in mind as future reference for pick-ups.

After the 2 hours and 30 minutes, I emerged from the theater confused and ambivalent about my feelings about the film. On the car-ride home at 3 in the morning, we held a very serious discussion on the merits of the film. I now present some conclusions:

-HP7 part 2 has much to live up to seeing that so much has yet to happen (I’m not even sure part 1 hit the halfway mark in the book).
-My belief that Rupert Grint was the best casted among the trio of Ron, Hermione, and Harry still holds.
-Dobby, as my friend put it, is a “boss.”
-Emma Watson has certainly grown up well, resulting in my sneaking suspicions that this film may oftentimes appeal more to the male audience.
-Certain moments of suspense in the film were well-filmed – I missed one part of the film as I had to cover my eyes.
-I am sad that Snape did not figure more prominently within this film and eagerly anticipate and expect his character development in part 2.
-Despite my lukewarm response to the film, I do not at all regret attending the HP7 midnight premiere, and plan to do so again for part 2 to be released July 15.


For my safety from possible devoted and exuberant HP7 fans on campus, I would like to say that I am not in any way adamantly forcing my opinions on anyone. I am open to hearing different opinions and look forward to heartfelt HP discussions (in the appropriate setting of Rocky/Mathey?).