Alohomora

I just saw Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 film in theaters (2D, thank you very much), and I loved it! The cinemetography was stellar, giving the film gravity and artistry one would not expect from a book often placed in the children's section at the library. When you stop to think that these actors have been at it for 10 years -- most of them pre-pubescent at the start -- the character development seems to defy probability in its perfection. Because a couple of the films were flops and the sixth one was strangely perverted from its original literary tone, this film (not to exclude its preceding partner) stood out to me as the one they got right. The first book's adaptation was also well done; however, cinematic style has evolved and cannot be fairly compared to a movie from 2001 with actors 10 years junior in life and job experience. I liked the movie. I laughed; I cried; I laughed while crying.

But...


There was this one part that made me want to scream, "WHAT THE FUCK OMG WHAT WERE YOU THINKING DID NO ONE ELSE SEE THIS?!" There is a scene where Ron, Hermione and Harry arrive -- magically of course -- in Hogsmeade, and an alarm is sounded. They're on the run from dark wizards, hiding behind dimly lit boxes and urgently slithering through the fog. At one point, they duck down an alley, only to be barred by a locked gate! Hermione shakes the gate in frustration before an ally whisks them into a doorway.

Hermione shakes the locked gate! HERMIONE! SHAKES THE LOCKED GATE!

No? I'm sounding crazy? Well I should because my reasoning is dangerously close to classifying me as an obsessive fan, which I am not. I'm angry about the gate, because Hermione is shaking the gate. If it were Ron or Harry I would still be miffed but not as severely. It all goes back to 1991. In the first book, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, on page 160:

Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door -- and it was locked. "This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!"... "Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock and whispered, "Alohomora!" The lock clicked and the door swung open...

While arguably a minute part of Hermione's development as a character, this still is an important scene -- it was included almost word for word in the movie. Hermione is demonstrating her advanced knowledge of magical practices at a young age as well as positioning herself as the cool headed thinker who is better than the two boys in a high pressure situation. Hermione is badass in this scene, snarling at Ron to get out of the way and grabbing the boy-wonder's personal property so she can get to the (in her mind) minuscule obstacle in their path. This is a scene that sets up Hermione for the crucial role she plays in the rest of the series in both the literary and cinematic worlds.

We see this behavior again in The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 when Hermione saves the crew from fatally crashing onto a cliff after a nasty fall. Someone compliments her on the quick save, letting the audience know that Hermione is once again the most capable of the group in desperate situations. So I am at a loss when later in the movie the infamous trio is in a tight spot with a locked gate, and Hermione is conveniently frustrated by an obstacle she brazenly overcame her first year at Hogwarts. As I said, it would have been fine if Harry or Ron had rattled the gate and given up: they do that sort of thing all of the time -- and then Hermione swoops in and does something awesome.

As I've indicated in other posts, I'm very quick to rationalize something weird in a movie for the sake of science fictional and fantastical integrity. But I can't rationalize this situation, because not only has Hermione's brilliance in the face of defeat been consistently proven in the books, it has also been ported to the screenplays.

Great movie. Loved it. But damned if that part didn't piss me off.