Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 -- Reviewed.

And so, the Harry Potter franchise comes to a rather majestic ending with Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 and I for one, found it a very satisfying end, yet I usually find some form of beauty in the way things end, whilst others tend not to share my views (I’m looking at you LOST).

The journey was always about Harry, Ron and Hermione and even though many of the more established cast members, such as Alan Rickman, were given juicier roles in this segment of J.K. Rowling’s saga, their screen-time was kept to a minimum, allowing us to follow the three heroes as they do battle with the forces of darkness. I don’t think anyone can have any complaints here, as the other cast members did what was required of them, and did it well. It was good to see Maggie Smith again as Minerva McGonagall take a more action-themed role, and I’m glad they were able to convince some of the older faces to return for the smallest of cameos, such as Gary Oldman as Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black.

Daniel Radcliffe has come a long way since ‘Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone’ in terms of acting. I have usually been very vocal with my criticism of his performances, but I throw my hands in the air this time around, ‘coz the boy nailed it. Resilient, is how I’d label his performance; after 10 years, he knows his character inside out, and though he’s suffered more than most, Harry’s ability to stand up to these seemingly undefeatable foes and hit back has never been depicted so brutally, so vividly, by Radcliffe, than in his final appearance, just when he needed it the most. Backed up by the ever-reliable figures of Ron and Hermione, this movie never drags, it never bores, it never hesitates, not for one second and it is high-octane action from start to finish.

The decision to split the film into two parts was masterful; though I enjoyed Part 1, it ran a little too long and focused on sentimentality for too much of the film when we all wanted to see wizards attacking each other with colourful spells. This brings the special effects into the equation; they were very good. Very, very good. My advice is to watch the film in 2D though, as there is always going to be that slight discrepancy with 3D films and in particular, the awful art of post-conversion **shudders** -- my viewing wasn’t exactly ruined as one can appreciate the dazzling effects in either format, but it’ll save you a couple of quid and in my opinion, makes the film much more fluid.

In terms of relation to the book, I honestly haven’t read The Deathly Hallows for a long while, so it wouldn’t exactly be prudent to start comparing. You’re always going to have the people who claim ‘the book is always better than the movie’ and in a way, they are right, because books have so much more room for meaningless exposition. The film adaptation is a challenge because the film-makers need to choose carefully what is depicted and whether or not it’ll make sense to those who have only viewed the films. At the end of the day, I was taken in by the pretty shiny lights, and didn’t really care, but it was a satisfying movie and that’s why you’ll get value for money.

It’s not a perfect movie, and there are segments which made little sense to me, in particular, Voldemort’s (SPOILER) death (too late...). I don’t remember how he was killed in the book, but I do know that it wasn’t conveyed clearly in the movie. If I had to describe it, I would say his wand flew away from him mid-duel and he disintegrated for no discernable reason. I probably missed something (darn 3D...) but for a movie franchise which has been full to the rim of dramatic exaggeration (do you remember the end of the first film?!), I was very surprised how low-key the end was. Voldemort dies and Harry strolls back through Hogwarts – do people know what has just happened? Wouldn’t they ask Harry where exactly Voldemort is? As always, there are parts I would do differently and as a (ex) film student, perhaps I’m just being too critical. I did love the movie and don’t want to take anything away from it.

Overall, the franchise has been a successful imagining of J.K. Rowling’s world for me. The characters, the set pieces, the locations, were all captured perfectly and each director has brought something differently magical to their films. My personal favourite is still The Chamber of Secrets, but the way the films have got darker with each addition is something to really be admired and Deathly Hallows Part 2 is naturally the most grown-up film of the lot. No longer is it a coming-of-age story; Harry is in the real world, facing real grown-up threats. Danger, destruction and death face him from every direction in this film and it’s really quite amazing when you look back at the little boy who lived under the stairs all those years ago