What better way to review something than to review its ending. As I’m not going to review any of the other Harry Potter films this is exactly what I’m going to do. This film being about the final half of the last book is the very definition of a story’s ending but how well of an ending is it? Let’s review Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
The Negative
My first complaint comes from the digital effects. Out of all the films in the series, this one seemed to have the weakest digital effects. Certain scenes like when Harry was looking through the pensieve or the final magic battle between Harry and Voldemort or the effects on the Grey Lady, all of it really seemed to stand out as poor graphics. I personally think that this was caused by the effects teams trying to compensate for the 3D effects and/or because they were rushing to get the film released on time. Whatever the reason behind, the digital effects in this one weren’t really up to snuff like some of the previous installments. For the best comparison for what I’m trying to get at, watch the Priori Incantatem (the great big magic energy beam stalemate between Harry and Voldemort) in Goblet of Fire and compare it to its appearance in this film, it really is a poorer quality.
Another problem is how fast the villains die. Both Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort die extremely quickly. Bellatrix has been built up as a very frightening very powerful villain, and she only started appearing in the 5th film. Her character has been established as a force to be reckoned with so to have her final fight and death be resolved in under a minute is kind of unworthy of her character. As a matter of fact her death by dehydration curse comes off as incredibly silly and ruins the emotional satisfaction of having her death occur. Voldemort’s death happens fairly quickly but that’s how it happened in the book. My actually problem with his death is the fact that there really isn’t a final word between Harry and Voldemort before the fatal blow is cast. This brings me to my final complaint.
WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE FINAL BOOK OR SEEN THE FINAL MOVIE, YOU SHOULD NOT READ THE FOLLOW PARAGRAPH AS IT CONTAIN MAJOR SPOILERS TO THE ENDING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Exposition is one of the main devices for storytelling. The purpose of exposition is to inform the readers about the background information about plot, characters, setting, or themes. This has been used in storytelling for centuries. This is something also present in the Harry Potter novels. This is something that is not included in the final scene of the final film. In the novel after Harry confronts Voldemort and ‘dies’, he has a very ethereal conversation with Dumbledore. This conversation is used to explain how brave Harry was to accept his fate for the greater good, but what had really occurred was Voldemort killing the horcrux that was attached to Harry himself. This is the point where Dumbledore encourages Harry to get back up and finish the fight with Voldemort for he is truly the only one who can finally defeat him. This is the last time we see Dumbledore in the movie. After the final battle with Voldemort, the novel continues with Harry having a conversation with Dumbledore’s ‘spirit’ which now resides in a portrait in his former office. This conversation explains the entire plot of not only the final book but most of the secret plot threads running throughout the entire series. This scene explains the importance of the deathly hallows (the namesake of the title), why Dumbledore’s brother hates him, why Dumbledore’s hand was cursed in #6, what Harry plans to do with the power of the Elder Wand, and many more secrets revealed. They don’t have this all important scene in the film. WHY?!?!?!?! THIS IS THE MAIN POINT OF THE SERIES GETTING EXPLAINED, WHY WOULD YOU NOT INCLUDE IT? Instead we get a brief scene of Harry and pals talking a little on a bridge before Harry breaks the Elder Wand like a twig and chucks it. The scene barely explains any of the plot threads and is hardly the ending we deserve. The major problem is not explaining the main point of the horcruxes. These mystic items were the title of the darn thing but they barely get a focus on in the story’s plot. This was the same problem with film 6 when they spent no time at all with the Half-Blood Prince’s book or with Harry learning all the new skills from it, but still cared enough to have Snape randomly point out that he was the Half-Blood Prince (for anyone who hasn’t read the novels, this comes off as ‘yeah I’m that guy who wrote in that book you had the first 3rd of the film before getting rid of it to focus on more teen drama scenes’) By not focusing on the Deathly Hallows and their importance to the entire plot of the series, we miss out on a great conclusion to an amazing series. It also just seems funny to name something after something that barely means anything to the plot after removing the exposition for it. The film should have been called Harry Potter and the Sinister Search for the Seven Soul Slices just to match the plot it presented better.
The Positive
This film was a wonderfully well done conclusion to a well accomplished film series. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and have only a few complaints with very little that I would change. I believe that splitting the final book into two parts gave it a lot more breathing room and both parts benefitted from it. That being said there are a few areas of the film I want to praise.
The make-up designer did an amazing job with the goblins. I have never seen make-up on mythical creatures look so realistic before. It looked as if it were made from actual skin and that an actual goblin was sitting in front of them. I was absolutely astounded by the vastly impressive work I saw here.
Another thing I want to praise is the pacing of the film. Its 130 minutes long yet still feels like it gets over too soon. Not once did I look at my watch while viewing this film. When the credits rolled I was confused because I felt like I hadn’t been there that long. It truly is amazing pacing when you sit through 130 minutes and feel like you’ve only been watching a half hour.
In Conclusion
The Harry Potter film series will be forever known as a cinematic success in fully adapting a lengthy book series. The conclusion is as wonderfully constructed as all the other pieces in this series. The Harry Potter films will truly be a missed feature to look forward to every year. 4 out of 5
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