I’m not sure how many times I can use “epic” in one article before it looses its value and I have to change the name of my website, but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 definitely was. I wasn’t a huge fan of Harry Potter initially but with each successive book J.K. Rowling’s universe became darker, more mature, and epi- awesome. (I’m resisting the urge). The movies likewise followed suit. Appropriately the last installment is the best of the lot. The decision to break the last book into two movies, allowed the film makers to include greater detail than previous instalments. With such a build up fans would have been disappointed with any less.
The struggle for dominance of the wizarding world has broken out into a total war. The Order of the Phoenix is all but gone. The Death Eater are in charge of the Ministry of Magic, and are rounding up the mudbloods, while preparing to conquer the rest of us muggles. The Dark Lord Voldemort has obtained the Elder Wand, the most powerful magical weapon in the world. Our only hope lies in the hands of Harry Potter, Hermione, and Ron as they quest to collect and destroy the horcruxes, magical items that render the Dark Lord Voldemort immortal. Their quest brings them, appropriately enough, back to Hogwarts where the heroes prepare to make their last stand. Though Deathly Hallows: Part 2 doesn’t stand on its own as a film, it doesn’t matter. Everyone who would see it, has seen the previous film(s). All the set up has been taken care of previously. As such it’s stuffed to the brim with cameos and action. The action is the payoff for years of devotion as we see Harry Potter finally become an adult to save the world.
My highest expectation for this movie was that the battle of Hogwarts would be that the Battle for Hogwarts would be astounding, and it didn’t disappoint. It was one of the craziest scifi/fantasy battles I’ve ever seen. There were giants, spiders, wizards fighting on broom sticks, the castle blown apart, and stone statues brought to life. Some of the book’s participants were missing, such as the house elves, and centaurs, but if anything it heightened the making the heroes more desperate. The visuals and effects were seamless and phenominal. Aside from the white knuckeled action and effects, the character development was brought full circle. Daniel Radcliff, Emma Thompson, and Rupert Grint brought a level of maturity to their roles we hadn’t seen in the series before. The emotional weight of the films darkness is palpable. When Harry agrees to sacrifice himself to save his friends I felt the hopelessness (even though I knew how it would end). Alan Rickman’s Snape was probably the strongest acting of the film. We finally see the other side of his personality. To see a character who was always a snarling bully, with legitimate sensitivity was wonderful. Though some purists would complain at the changes, the film improved on the source material. Harry and Voldemort actually have a magic duel at the climax rather than a simple spell thrown at each other. Neville Longbottom gives an epic and rousing speech which never occurred in the books after Harry’s “death”.
Not every element of the movie was great. Ginny’s character was completely underwritten. She only seems to appear to stare longingly at Harry, and momentarily kiss him. There was no gravitas to their relationship. In the books there was the melodrama of them realizing they like/loved each other, and the taboo of going out with your best friends sister, Harry leaving Ginny because the horcrux hunt would be too dangerous for her. None of that was in the movie. Ginny never said or did one thing memorable other than being a pretty red-head. Sure there are dozens of characters mitigated to the background, but this is the main character’s love interest. They could have given her a few more sentences of substantive dialog. Additionally I missed seeing the psychological reasons behind Voldemort’s choice of Horcruxes, and the history of Dumbledor’s troubled childhood. But how much can a guy hope for?
On a scale of 1 to Epic (Epic= 10) I’d give Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 a 8.9.