Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 Review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 Review
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 is a concluding chapter in a massive story. It is not, I repeat, not a stand alone story. This is a film that is not easily explainable without previous details from earlier films, while I will sincerely try to avoid spoilers for this movie, it is impossible not to for the other films. So here is your official warning: if you have never read the books or seen any of the movies I recommend you stop reading now unless you are unafraid of spoilers.

Its a bit odd thinking that there will never be another Harry Potter film. For the last ten years the adventures of Harry Potter, and his fellow students have fascinated millions myself included. Lets just contemplate that massive amount of time for a moment. For anyone my age, this series has lasted for nearly one third of our lives. For those in their early 20's they spend their youth growing up with Harry and his friends. Then there are some who don't remember a time before, or have never known a world without Harry Potter.

I have always thought that the movies and the books were un-comparable. The books are fantastic, and tell a brilliant story flush with well developed characters, and beautiful details. The movies tell their own story.  They are superficial synopses at best, but they do a good job of translating J.K Rowling's vision, and in many cases by streamline her tale improving parts.

The final entry into the saga spectacularly delivers a pure action film. David Yates has done a great job of concluding a series that began with a boy and ends with a man. This film is vastly different than the first Harry Potter film, and without question this series has become more and more adult with each passing entry.

The movie begins where we left off in part 1. Voldemort has obtained the elder wand from the crypt of Dumbledore, and intends to rule the world as a master of death. Severus Snape has now become the headmaster of Hogwarts, which appears much more like a military school than a wizarding school. There is an ominous nature to the opening moment, not because of their malevolence, but because of their fear. They know a battle is imminent, and you can sense that they are as on edge about it as our heroes are. Speaking of our heroic trio, Harry, Hermoine, and Ron, have taken refuge at the beach house. They have buried their savior from the last film, and are now preparing their first real offensive attack. Disguised as Bellatrix Lestrange, they plan to infiltrate Gringott's Bank in order to obtain one of the horcruxes. Horcruxes are magical objects that contain portions of the Dark Lord's soul. Their search leads our heroes back to Hogwarts where an epic battle is waged to determine the fate of the magical world.

There is true spectacle and scale to the Battle of Hogwarts. They desired to go out with a bang and not a wimper. Much of the movie is reminiscent of the massive battle scenes from Lord of the Rings. There is much damage, destruction, and yes many fallen heroes. The Lord of the Rings strength was it's ability to follow several story lines, and multiple characters. Deathly Hallows doesn't even try, instead the movie focuses on Harry and his hunt for the remaining horcruxes. If you haven't read the books you will not be missing anything but for fans of the book you will be left perplexed as to why they gloss over so many vital and soulful aspects of the story. By all accounts this complaint is a nit pick, but in my opinion, by rushing through or just mentioning these aspects in passing, we are robbed of so many wonderful aspects of the story. We have spent so many years, and so much time learning and connecting with all the characters, that because the movie rushes to tell Harry's story we are cheated out of some very powerful tear jerking moments that could have been.

I cannot say enough about Alan Rickman. Already a brilliant actor before this role his career will be defined by this role (ok and maybe Hans Gruber). Throughout this series he has played a character that was seemingly so one dimensional, and yet as we find out in this movie was actually deeper with more layers than possibly any other character.  I for one will be going back through the other films just to watch his performance and pick up on all the subtle details, to see if there are any telling moments, if there were any clues to see if he knew all along what his character's fate was.

On the whole the movie is a brilliant end to a saga. There is much to love about the movie, and it brings the entire story full circle in a beautiful and powerful way. You will leave the theater genuinely happy, with a true sense of closure. While we will all miss the anticipation of waiting for the next Harry Potter, we can all be happy knowing that the films tell the story from once upon a time, to the end.