Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Review

It is fitting that it begins with a lonely choral chant with the end in sight for many.

People always say audiences remember the beginning and they remember the end. And perhaps that is for the best with the Harry Potter series (of movies), save numbers 3 and 6, which proved to be quite good themselves. Number 1 and number 8 (or 7, part 2 if you wish) both revel in what makes them best. And perhaps that is why I'd call Deathly Hallows Part 2 at least the second, if not the best movie of the franchise.

We are really into uncharted territory as far as movies go. Never before has there been such a successful franchise that has been a series of this many movies. A continuous series, at that. For Part 2, Harry is trying to track down the last Horcruxes and ultimately realizes his own destiny and must find the courage to face it. Clearly, you all are familiar with Potter lore, and you don't need me to explain backstory.

Part 2, along with Part 1 and The Half-Blood Prince, all encompass truly emotional experiences. I'd give the edge to Part 2 due to the epic nature of the story and its finale. There are deaths abound in this movie, including fairly major characters, though they are somewhat glossed over. Still, they are treated with care and bring a gravitas to a franchise that started as a magical children's tale.

There are several parts that really shine in this movie, not the least of which is Mollie Weasley (THANK GOD) screaming at Bellatrix as per the book required. Another key high point is when the battle for Hogwarts begins. There are some really spectacular visual effects on display, and McGonagall truly blossoms here with leadership and poise. There's a sense of pride when the various professors are taking up arms, as it were, to defend their school and their students. The battles are intense in their own right, though Voldemort's army was quite a bit bigger than I had originally supposed it to be.

More moments come out as well. Harry entering the Pensieve and watching the key memory of Severus Snape was handled with a deft touch, something not always present throughout the series. And when we are returned to the present time, Harry's realization of what he is and what he must do is one of the absolute high points in the last 10 years of Potter. The music completely cuts out, and Harry is alone, standing, staring into nothing, but becoming aware of what his next step is. Further on down the line, when the Resurrection Stone makes its appearance, the family members that come to Harry's side truly break your heart. It is one of the most powerful scenes in the book, and here the film takes it almost verbatim and it remains virtually perfect: a moment of innocence, and of slight doubt in Harry, but also determination and honor.

Speaking of these moments, the Biblical allegories have been beefed up, it seems. Voldemort has truly become Satan, as his Parseltongue is nasty and chilling when speaking with Nagini. Harry is a Jesus figure of sorts, as once he realizes his destiny, he marches toward certain destruction. And when he is confronted with his family, he becomes human for that small moment, even asking, "Will it hurt?" and "Will you stay with me?" He does not want to be abandoned in his final hour. And Dumbledore, the God character, appearing in what is obviously Heaven (King's Cross, Harry seems to think), though much more pure and innocent in the movie than portrayed in the book. Still, that scene was one of my most anticipated, and it looked almost exactly as I had imagined (oh and the Voldemort baby is incredibly creepy).

But alas, this is not a perfect movie, and it seems to fall into some similar traps that the others did. When the movie deviates from the novel, it does not always keep the spirit of the novel. Sure there is a lot of information left out, which is to be expected in such a backstory-heavy series of books. But, when the filmmakers take certain scenes and modify them, they do not always work, in my mind, or make sense. For example, Voldemort is becoming weaker throughout the movie when each Horcrux is destroyed. Though this is hinted at in the novel, whenever Voldemort faces the Hogwarts army, he still is virtually all-powerful and incredibly frightening. He does not appear in the least bit weak, and that is his true fatal flaw. But in the movie, it's almost as if we were made to believe if he was not physically weaker in the final battle, he could not be killed. I could be over-analyzing, but I think it is a valid argument.

The other rather large issue I have involved Harry's true final battle with Voldemort. Sure the whole flying around Hogwarts thing was weird, but that's not even my chief complaint. I really had a problem with the moments after Harry wakes up from Hagrid's arms. First of all, Neville does not kill the snake (at least immediately). But more importantly, Harry dashes off, almost trying to hide and sort of "stealthily" kill Voldemort. This does not fit with Harry's character nor his self-realization that was just portrayed minutes before. At this moment, he is supposed to face Voldemort, and explain why he will beat him, then beat him. He is supposed to know that Voldemort cannot win and act almost fearlessly when facing him for the last time. Instead we get sort of an odd chase scene throughout the castle which inevitably ends back up with Harry facing a very weak Voldemort and winning with a (SILENT) Expelliarmus spell (why did they not yell their respective signature spells?!). Again, perhaps over-analyzing, but a valid point nonetheless.

And yes the movie deviates more from the plot, from Harry revealing to Aberforth that he is hunting Horcruxes to him telling Ron and Hermione good-bye, basically, near the end (something he refused to do in the book), to Harry not trying to keep Ginny away from battle. These don't have as much of an effect on the movie. However, I really did not like the complete skip of Harry repairing his old wand with the Elder Wand. Again, not a huge deal, but sort of symbolic in the book and I missed it.

What we are left with is an incredibly tense, highly emotional, ultimately epic finale that, for all intents and purposes, delivers. Many scenes will have you exclaiming, "That's EXACTLY what I thought it would look like!" while others will leave you slightly disappointed. That's the risk you take when making a novel into a film. What started as a magical twinkling of bells and a boy with a scar ends with three friends linked together by an incredible quest. You won't want it any other way.

Oh yeah, and there's a trailer for The Dark Knight Rises at the beginning...

4/5