Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two brings the long awaited end to the Harry Potter series and it has truly been a movie series where the audience has been able to see Harry Potter and his friends grow up right before all of our eyes. Harry, Ron and Hermione are continuing in their quest to destroy the remaining Horcruxes and as all sides continue on their paths it all leads to an epic and final confrontation between not only Voldemort and Harry, but the classic good vs. evil battle. This final movie is truly a summer blockbuster as it seems to go from moment to moment and the action is intense.
The British cast is once again stupendous and is exactly as strong and powerful as the audience has grown accustomed to as the movie franchise has progressed over the years. Ray Fiennes as Voldemort was in my opinion one of the smartest moves the studio made. He brings such a presence that for me he was exactly how I pictured Voldemort as I read the books. Not only does he bring a great presence but he truly exudes the polar opposite characteristics that Harry has. The supporting cast gives great performances from Alan Rickman to Jason Isaacs. Yet I think even though his role is very small Michael Gambon as Dumbledore has been one of the great supporting cast positions since he simply had to replace Richard Harris after he past away. While Gambon did not always portray Dumbledore in the way that I pictured him in the books he did command the screen and really gave some great moments especially in the interactions with Harry. The main three of Radcliffe, Watson and Grint are once again superb and it is truly amazing to see the changes and progression they have made since the first film.
Where the first movie showed the emotion and even desperation everyone was feeling part two takes the development in the story and characters that were laid down in part one made for the great action in this final installment. Having now seen part two I think that it would have been great had they taken the two movie approach with the movies starting with book four. With the two movies I think it allowed the movie to be the movie that followed the book the closest. Of course had they gone the two movie approach it would have taken the number of movies into the Land Before Time realm of how many different movies there are. The final installment had some of the best action sequences, especially when it came to the final set of battle sequences. With such an epic ending it can be really easy for all the secondary story lines to fall to the wayside as the focus goes onto the confrontation between the main antagonist and protagonist. Yet, the final installment allows all the secondary story lines to be tied up.
Yates reserves the most emotional moment in not only the film but the entire series for Severus Snape's (Alan Rickman) vindication, long thought to be the Judas Iscariot-equivalent in the Order and the one who pushed Dumbledore to his death. Yates delivers a truly poignant and deeply heartfelt revelation of Snape's true colours, and it is a farewell that even those who have read the book and can expect what is to come will be overwhelmed by its sheer emotional muscle. While Part Two was always meant to be an action-packed spectacle, it is to Yates' credit that there is still as much heart as before in the storytelling. Though brief, this revelation also works brilliantly as a catalyst that propels Harry to come to terms with the sacrifice he has to make. Harry's realization of this leads up perfectly to the ultimate duel between him and Voldemort, one that is fierce, ferocious and- thanks to Yates' imagination- more exhilarating than reading it off the page.
With this movie it is the only movie they did that was in 3D. We saw it in 3D and it only added to everything as it immersed you fully in this magical world that was in turmoil. I love the fact that most of the 3D movies now are a lot less about eye popping the 3D at you and instead more about immersion with the 3D abilities.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two does an amazing job at bringing the epic Harry Potter series to a close. The cast is amazing and does not disappoint even giving us some new emotions from secondary characters. Now there are those of you that may look at my review of part one and wonder how it is that Part Two received a lower rating than Part One. My reasoning for this is two reasons, first is that of the future scene. The future scene ended up being very corny, hokey and did not have the same feel that one felt while reading the closing to book seven. Second, is while the action was non-stop this ended up being the shortest of the films and I think there were a few moments where Yates rushes through moments when he did not need to. Even with that I am giving Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two three and three-fourth buckets of popcorn out of five. This is definitely a movie that is going to be well worth having not only as part of the Harry Potter series but a stand alone movie in and of itself.
-The Movie Man
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