Buzzman
Senior Member
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
In the second installment of the two-part conclusion to the überpopular Harry Potter series, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his best friends, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), continue their quest to vanquish the evil Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) once and for all. Just as things begin to look hopeless for the young wizards, Harry discovers a trio of magical objects that endow him with powers to rival Voldemort's formidable skills.
In the second part of the epic conclusion of the Harry Potter series, no fan should walk away feeling cheated. It pulls at your heart when it wants to, it keeps you holding your breathe when it wants to, and it throws a slew of epic battles at you when it wants to. They key there is when it wants to. All of that material comes easy when your seven films deep into a series and the audience already has established many bonds with all of these characters. Often times the film seems content with showing just enough to evoke a reaction out of you rather than going above and beyond. It would have been more work, but would have ended up paying off at the end of it all. And for a film that was broken into two parts and accumulated nearly five hours of footage, they still seemed to rush crucial scenes that shed new light on characters. It’s a major disappointment for me because it they happened to be my favorite parts of the series.
After getting my little rant out of the way, the film started off a bit slow and clumpy, but as the film progressed and moved into Hogwarts things kicked into high gear. A giant battle between wizards begins to take shape and people die. For the first time, viewers understand that anything can happen now; nobody is truly safe (unless you’ve read the book obviously). The battle scenes consist of plenty of explosions and a wide range of colorful spells flying around all over the place. It’s the magical version of a war epic. Amidst all this chaos, you have the trio scrambling to find parts of Voldemort’s souls stored away in objects waiting to be destroyed. It really slows the pacing down but is a requirement the film simply cannot skip over. When the film comes to its epic showdown, thankfully the corny dialogue is cut and it’s simply the two doing a battle to death. The only complaint is for an hour long battle it sure seemed to end awfully quickly; I’m sure they could have squeezed a few more minutes out of it. It’s a triumph ten years in the making and his end comes with a smile. The first part will be the best in the series for me, but I know for many this nonstop roller coaster of a finale will leave the lasting impact many have come for.
It’s truly shocking looking back and seeing the cast of it all grow up from little children into young adults. Seeing how they started and what they have become is fascinating and all three of the gang hopefully can move onward from this and become their own person with the impressive talents they have put on display these last four films.
With the Harry Potter series coming to an end as the most successful series ever on screen, I feel a part of me feels numb. I have grown up with these characters, with these books, and how they have translated on screen. As I matured so did the material and the films. They were in a rare breed of getting better with each film and we will probably never see something of this scale again. It’s a true treat to have grown up during this time period because watching them over real time rather than all at once is something that simply cannot be duplicated for future generations. This is a series that will stay forever with its fans. Now that the journey is finally over, we can only look back and admire what Warner Brothers, JK Rowling, and the cast involved in the series were able to accomplish. I for one will miss them, but thankful for what we have received.
Overall Score: 8/10
In the second installment of the two-part conclusion to the überpopular Harry Potter series, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his best friends, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), continue their quest to vanquish the evil Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) once and for all. Just as things begin to look hopeless for the young wizards, Harry discovers a trio of magical objects that endow him with powers to rival Voldemort's formidable skills.
In the second part of the epic conclusion of the Harry Potter series, no fan should walk away feeling cheated. It pulls at your heart when it wants to, it keeps you holding your breathe when it wants to, and it throws a slew of epic battles at you when it wants to. They key there is when it wants to. All of that material comes easy when your seven films deep into a series and the audience already has established many bonds with all of these characters. Often times the film seems content with showing just enough to evoke a reaction out of you rather than going above and beyond. It would have been more work, but would have ended up paying off at the end of it all. And for a film that was broken into two parts and accumulated nearly five hours of footage, they still seemed to rush crucial scenes that shed new light on characters. It’s a major disappointment for me because it they happened to be my favorite parts of the series.
After getting my little rant out of the way, the film started off a bit slow and clumpy, but as the film progressed and moved into Hogwarts things kicked into high gear. A giant battle between wizards begins to take shape and people die. For the first time, viewers understand that anything can happen now; nobody is truly safe (unless you’ve read the book obviously). The battle scenes consist of plenty of explosions and a wide range of colorful spells flying around all over the place. It’s the magical version of a war epic. Amidst all this chaos, you have the trio scrambling to find parts of Voldemort’s souls stored away in objects waiting to be destroyed. It really slows the pacing down but is a requirement the film simply cannot skip over. When the film comes to its epic showdown, thankfully the corny dialogue is cut and it’s simply the two doing a battle to death. The only complaint is for an hour long battle it sure seemed to end awfully quickly; I’m sure they could have squeezed a few more minutes out of it. It’s a triumph ten years in the making and his end comes with a smile. The first part will be the best in the series for me, but I know for many this nonstop roller coaster of a finale will leave the lasting impact many have come for.
It’s truly shocking looking back and seeing the cast of it all grow up from little children into young adults. Seeing how they started and what they have become is fascinating and all three of the gang hopefully can move onward from this and become their own person with the impressive talents they have put on display these last four films.
With the Harry Potter series coming to an end as the most successful series ever on screen, I feel a part of me feels numb. I have grown up with these characters, with these books, and how they have translated on screen. As I matured so did the material and the films. They were in a rare breed of getting better with each film and we will probably never see something of this scale again. It’s a true treat to have grown up during this time period because watching them over real time rather than all at once is something that simply cannot be duplicated for future generations. This is a series that will stay forever with its fans. Now that the journey is finally over, we can only look back and admire what Warner Brothers, JK Rowling, and the cast involved in the series were able to accomplish. I for one will miss them, but thankful for what we have received.
Overall Score: 8/10
