Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 is finale film in the epic Harry Potter journey. The film starts at the end of the last film with Voldemort obtaining the Elder Wand. Harry and the gang must hunt down the finale Horcruxes in preparation for the finale showdown with "You Know Who". On the way, Harry must team up with his professors and classmates at Hogwarts and learn more about his destiny. Friends will die and it will all end here. Beware Spoilers ahead...
This is a hard review for me to write. I have grown up with Harry Potter for a long time. I remember being 11 and hoping that I would receive a letter in my mailbox telling me that I am going to Hogwarts. So it is sad to watch these characters leave and to reach the end of an era. I said that this was the Star Wars of our generation and I still stand behind that. People will talk about this series for a long time and it will be watched over and over again. It is a great movie series and an even better book. It is a story that will inspire you and teach you about growing up more than some stories attempt to do. That being said, this was not the ending I was hoping for.
There are a lot of problems with this last film. It hurts to realize this because I wanted this movie to be awesome and I wanted it to be the best in the series. Still, as much as I tried to love this film I couldn't do it. One of my biggest complaints is that there is a lot of emotional disconnection that I did not expect. I was furious when Fred and Lupin died because we did not get a heroic death that they deserved. We should've seen them fight it to the end because we care about these characters and yet they were taken away from us. Then not only that, we are given maybe 30 seconds to absorb it. This series has been built on emotional connections with these characters and when their deaths are just a few frames in this film then you have a problem. Plus there was some stuff left out of the book that would've made it a lot better. Even though they focused on him, they should've supplied more about Neville's bigger role in the finale. Plus where is Buckbeak or the house elves for the Battle of Hogwarts?
Though the biggest problem with this film is the way-too-fast pace. This movie flies through everything and it ruins the experience. We do not get enough of an explanation to understand how Harry is able to escape death. The movie should've been longer and taken its time to really capture the emotions of the audience. The resurrection stone scene is just awkward and I wonder why Harry's Dad has to stand a mile away from his wife and why Harry basically ignore him. Also the battle scenes are too fast and don't give this movie the action that would make it truly epic. The big battle between Harry and Voldemort is the biggest disappointment of the whole thing. It lasts what felt like only 3 minutes and they don't use that much magic. Plus it ends so fast that it feels anti-climatic. One second they are having a semi-epic battle but the next it is over and leaves with an unsatisfying taste. It is short and missing the action necessary. Plus this movie makes Voldemort look weak and you never feel a real sense of danger from him going into the last act. He is losing power and the wand is messed up so by the time Harry and Voldemort fight you don't have any fear that Harry will lose at all. In fact it seemed that even Ron could've beat Voldemort by the end.
That said there is still a lot of good stuff about this movie. The supporting characters have the best parts of the movie. Professor McGonagall steps it up and looks like a bad ass in this film and has a specific scene that makes you laugh and remember why you love Harry Potter. She was probably my favorite part of the whole film. Neville Longbottom has a nice speech near the end and kills Nagini in spectacular fashion. Then the scene I couldn't wait to see was pulled off in fantastic fashion. Mrs. Weasley killing Bellatrix and she actually said "You Bitch!". It was awesome and I loved it! The surprising part of the film that worked well was the back story of Snape. While there are a few differences from it and the book, it was a great montage and Alan Rickman did a great job.
Overall this is an enjoyable film but the problem is that it could have been an amazing end to a wonderful series. Potter fans do not worry you are going to love this because it is the visual presentation of what Rowling wrote. Still, there are a lot of problems with the film that wasted a great potential of possibly being the best movie in the series. It is not a great movie but still good for Harry Potter. I wish it could've been better. Also there are some great scenes that make up for a lot of the problems but not enough to make this a great movie. Enjoyable, but disappointing and anti-climatic.
1.75/5
I happened to stumble upon you post and I agree completely. A good film, but extremely anti-climatic. It lacked an emotional punch, and it lacked dialogue.
ReplyDeleteThe movie would have been great if they showed the characters interacting/talking with each other, and if they showed individual dueling scenes between our favorite characters. After all those years at Hogwarts, the characters should have appeared much "closer" than they did.
Also, the battle between Harry and Voldy was awful. Where was the dialog? And why did Voldemort die so "unexcitingly"? And why was there no excitement and cheer after Voldemort was defeated---was he not the great, dark wizard of all time? Was he not the entire focus of the story?
Thank you for allowing me to vent my frustrations.
I am happy to help! And I agree completely, this film was very rushed when it should've taken time. There was no reasons to cut this film short, I was willing to sit through 3 hours to get the right ending. I am glad to hear you agree with my review because it seems everyone is loving it but I don't hear the reasons why it is great. Everything people say is stuff that is from the book, not the movie.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most everything said above. The movie was only 2 hours and 5 minutes long, they had plenty of room to slow the pace down and pay homage to all the characters that needed it. I think my biggest qualm was the battle. It was too rushed, choppy, and chaotic. Now yes battles need to have chaos, but i don't think even the director new what was happening in the battle at any given time. I also disliked how they jumped right into the battle, without having any sort of anticipation or dread. I like to think back to the Helms Deep battle in the Two Towers, where Peter Jackson spent 45 minutes building up the battle and anticipation, starting it only after a single shot was fired. One of Voldemort's deatheaters even asked him if he wanted to wait, and Voldemort shot him down and started the battle then and there. I also disliked that there wasn't an ebb and flow to the battle, you couldn't really tell what was happening or who was winning (going back to too much chaos). Yes the battle was flashy, exciting, and fun, but it could have been made amazing with a few tweaks. As for the ending, it was terrible. I loved the john Williams music making an appearance, but other than that, the epilogue felt awkward and forced. On another note, I completely agree that the best roles were the supporting roles. Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Jason Isaacs, all were amazing and really carried the film. For me, Jason Isaacs in particular. Whenever he was on screen, he owned the entire picture and could not have been casted better for Lucius. Anyway, yes it was a fun movie, but not great. Part one was much better.
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