Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 | Review
It’s taken 10 years and 8 films to come to this, the concluding installment to the epic ‘Harry Potter’ saga, and it’s a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying ending at that. ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ isn’t perfect, but it’s a fitting ending that does a lot right by staying faithful to its source material.
Right from the start the film picks up from where ‘Deathly Hallows: Part 1‘ left off, with Voldemort finally getting his hands on the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in the wizarding world and also one of the three Deathly Hallows. Harry, Ron, and Hermione must locate and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, objects containing pieces of Voldemort’s soul. Without destroying all of the Horcruxes, Voldemort cannot truly be killed. But honestly, if you didn’t know any of these facts beforehand, you shouldn’t be watching ‘Deathly Hallows: Part 2’. It’s impossible for someone to go into the ‘Harry Potter’ films starting with the eighth and final film and expect to like it.
‘Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ adapts the final 1/3 of the actual book, which is why the film is the shortest of all the ‘Harry Potter’ films at 130 minutes. Though this short running time unfortunately leaves no room for all of the large and important backstories regarding Professor Dumbledore’s (Michael Gambon) past or Lord Voldemort’s past and his reasons for choosing these specific objects to be Horcruxes, it makes for a breezy and fast-paced film. The limbo scene in particular could have used a lot more exposition and dialogue. In the novel, this scene was thoroughly explained and made sense, but in the film it was too ambiguous and confusing. Viewers who haven’t read the novel will be confused. Even I was confused by the scene, and I’ve read the novel.
If you thought the majority of ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon‘ was taken up by its final battle, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ takes that up a notch, with literally the entire film devoted to the Battle at Hogwarts, save for the first 20-or-so minutes. This climactic battle at Hogwarts is action-packed and exhilarating, with only a few disappointing blunders along the way. The duel between Molly Weasley (Julie Walters) and Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter), something meant to be rewarding, feels rushed and ultimately a little anticlimactic. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) final duel feels the same way, with great visuals but an uneventful death; the concluding fight between Harry and Voldemort doesn’t have that epic feel that ten years and eight films have led up to. The decision to depict some of the major deaths in the film by having them turn into shreds of paper-like substances is uninspired and just plain dumb.
Nevertheless, the Battle at Hogwarts as a whole is epic in scope, and exciting and emotional overall. Some of the depicted duels in the battle are, for a lack of a better word, badass. However, seeing this magical school that’s been with the series for all eight films getting destroyed by Voldemort’s Death Eaters and allied mythical creatures is a little devastating and sad to witness; the Quidditch stadium in flames, the school’s great towers in ruins. Certain major characters get killed in this battle, though all off-screen. These characters’ deaths are recognized in the film, but are not given enough screen time or emphasis to be as emotional as they should. However, readers of the actual novel will most likely feel extremely saddened and emotional at these major deaths, as I did.
One of the best moments of ‘Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ has Harry, Ron, and Hermione running through Hogwarts as the battle is taking place. The scene includes a heart-pounding and highly emotional track (scored by Alexandre Desplat) that follows the trio as they encounter various antagonists, witnessing their friends and family fighting a slowly-losing battle, and seeing some of their friends being killed. A certain minor character introduced in ‘Half-Blood Prince’ is shown getting killed in this particular scene, and even then it’s still depressing.
The mystery over Severus Snape’s true allegiance is settled in this film, and his backstory is explained through a montage of memories. Alan Rickman is fantastic in the string of emotional memories depicted, and he finally gets to showcase more of his acting talents because he has more to do now than to just scoff at Harry Potter’s troublemaking or to speak slowly with emphasis.
There’s no denying the ‘Harry Potter’ series has benefited from having its young actors encompassing their same individual roles through all these years. Being able to witness Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson grow up in each film and becoming fine actors is nice. They’ve all grown into their roles and defined it. However, as is the case in practically all the ‘Harry Potter’ films, the young actors are out-shined by their veteran cast. Each of the elder cast members, even when shown for just a few minutes, steal their scenes; the series has a pretty great supporting cast consisting of great British actors and actresses, including: Ralph Fiennes/Lord Voldemort, Helena Bonham Carter/Bellatrix Lestrange, Robbie Coltrane/Rubeus Hagrid, Michael Gambon/Albus Dumbledore, Jason Isaacs/Lucius Malfoy, Gary Oldman/Sirius Black, David Thewlis/Remus Lupin, George Harris/Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alan Rickman/Severus Snape, and my personal favorite, Maggie Smith/Minerva McGonagall.
When several members of the Order of the Phoenix, which includes many favorite characters and veteran actors from all of the previous films, show up in the Great Hall at Hogwarts ready to defend Harry and the school, there’s an awesome feeling that can be felt all around. It’s exciting to see so many of these past characters finally getting to do battle.
‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2′ is director David Yates’ best film in the series (he’s previously directed ‘Order of the Phoenix’, ‘Half-Blood Prince’, and ‘Deathly Hallows: Part 1’). Yates does an admiral job at bringing the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise to a close, though having a longer film would have improved it so much more. In this final installment old characters return, visually-spectacular battles are fought, and great casualties and emotions are run high. The ‘Harry Potter’ franchise closes with a short epilogue set 19 years in the future that may prevent fans from having any imagination regarding the futures of the main ‘Harry Potter’ characters, but it gives satisfying closure to them.
Sadly, ‘Harry Potter’ has finally ended, and it’s time to move onto future multi-billion dollar film franchises. Mischief Managed.
Three and a half out of four Kents.
PS: Don’t see the film in 3D. It adds nothing to the film, except maybe a darker palette to an already dark film.
