It's rarely that I go to the Odeon in Leicester Square - too expensive and commercial for my liking - but it comes into its own on an occasion like this: the release day of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
Why? Because it's chocker full of really excited fans, like me, who just had to see it the day of the release and the atmosphere is electric.
It was the same when I saw LOTR: Return of the King the first afternoon it came out.
As soon as the lights go down after the trailers a cheer goes up, then again when the certificate appears followed by whistles and 'ooo's' when the first few frames appear.
You get laughter in the cinema and a very, very occasional 'Ooo' or 'Ahhh' but when a film has such a dedicated fan base as Harry Potter it is audience participation all the way through: spontaneous applause and cheers when good things happen and 'hero' moments, 'ahh's' and whistles at the kisses'. There was even a ripple of groans when a mobile went off and ripples of 'shh's to settle whispers at the beginning.
OK there is inevitably going to be some whispering, inappropriate giggling and noisy eating when the cinema is packed but it is one of those rare occasions when it doesn't really matter.
So what of the film itself?
It certainly packs a lot of punch but then so does the book. Naturally I was worried about how they were going to tinker with it and the trailer filled me with nerves. And yes they have tinkered. There is a lot of filmic license taken with the final battle for instance, particularly between Harry and Voldemort but it kind of works in a dramatic sense.
I am slightly disappointed that their final battle is conducted alone rather than in the Great Hall with everyone looking on. There is no dialogue between the two either and so the explanation as to why Harry survives the killing curse a second time is brushed over. (So is the story behind Dumbledore and Grindewald.)
The pace has been so frenetic up to that point that the lack of glorifying in the victory, while fitting when so many lives have been lost in battle it nonetheless feels a little anticlimatic.
Things naturally happen a lot faster in the film than they do in the book and corners are cut which can diminish the tension somewhat - the Carrows don't really feature like they do in the book when Harry, Ron and Hermione return to Hogwarts.
But there is a hell of a lot to enjoy. Where the film really does come into its own is with scenes like the break in and break out of Gringotts - the journey on the banks own subterranean rail system is like a white knuckle ride for instance. And then there is the search for Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem in the room of requirement and flight from the fire.
The big battle scenes are epic of course and Snape's death seems far more brutal than the book.
I'll definitely be going back to see it again and I'm sure my views will shift slightly now I can relax and enjoy it properly without fear of what they may or may not be doing next.
The one omission from the book that I did miss terribly in the film though is the bit where Harry sneaks off under the invisibility cloak to meet his death and he sees Ginny on the way which serves as a stark reminder of what he is about to sacrifice.
But overall I loved it. I laughed, I cried (a lot), I cheered and I clapped.
The atmosphere and experience will never be like that again. It wasn't when I went back to see Return of the King a second time a few days later, the audience just wasn't as excited. And the joy of seeing was bittersweet knowing that, that is it, there is nothing new to come now.
I'm going to give it 87% with the option to review that next time I see it.
Oh and I must just confess, it's the first time I've sat through a 3D film without fidgeting with my glasses, feeling dizzy or getting a headache. But no, I'm not a convert and I will be trying to see it in 2D next time.
Rotten Tomatoes reviews aggregate at 97% with visitors giving it 93% and on IMDb it gets 87%.
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