HARRY POTTER AND THE
DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART 2
(2011) |
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson,
Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael
Gambon, Robbie Coltrane, Bonnie Wright, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch,
Julie Walters, Tom Felton, Jason Isaacs, Helen McCrory, Maggie Smith,
Ciarán Hinds, John Hurt, Warwick Davis, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps,
Mark Williams, Clémence Poésy, Domhnall Gleeson, David Thewlis, Natalia
Tena, Jim Broadbent, Katie Leung, Jessie Cave, Afshan Azard, Isabella
Laughland, Anna Shaffer, Georgina Leonidas, Freddie Stroma, Alfie Enoch,
Dave Legeno, Chris Rankin, David Bradley, Emma Thompson, Miriam
Margolyes, George Harris, Kelly Macdonald, Geraldine Somerville, Adrian
Rawlins, Gary Oldman, Hebe Beardsall, Ellie Darcey-Alden, Benedict
Clarke and Arthur Bowen.
Screenplay by Steve Kloves.
Directed by
David Yates.
Distributed by Warner Bros. 130 minutes. Rated PG-13. |
 
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Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
And
so it ends.
Arguably the most popular film series (and certainly the most complex one)
in recent history clocks out at eight movies and almost 20 hours of
fantastic magic made in just over ten years. (Taking into account the time
it took to make the original film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,
which originally came out in July 2001.)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
closes things out pretty definitively and satisfyingly. This finally really
is the end (as it is quite unlikely that JK Rowling will ever revisit the
world of Hogwarts again), and the film does not hide from that finality.
Yet,
while I have mostly enjoyed the movies I’ve seen (and in interest of full
disclosure, I’ve only seen six of the eight movies), I have to admit to
being a tiny bit underwhelmed by this chapter – as I have been with most.
Not that I didn’t enjoy the film, I did, but I never quite understand all
the hype.
The
Potter series has seemed to me to be imaginative, mostly entertaining, but
often difficult to embrace and periodically kind of dull.
Particularly the epic battle scenes between good and evil over Hogwarts
Academy in this final installment made me squirm in my seat. If you’ve seen
one massive army of supernatural sorts laying siege on another, you’ve
pretty much seen them all. This stuff reminded me way too much of the
horribly dull final Lord of the Rings movie and dozens of other
fantasies.
I
have always been much more interested in the relationships in the Potter
world. With the children (well, they are young adults now), this was still
mostly intriguing stuff. With the adults, less so – Deathly Hallows Part
2 suffers from the typical finale need to squash in as many iconic
characters from the series as it can, and not giving any of them enough to
do.
And
oddly, for the event that all of this has been leading up to, the final
showdown between Harry Potter and his nemesis Valdemort was a bit
anticlimactic and muted.
However, the film was well-made, beautifully acted and full of the unbridled
imagination that has been the hallmark of the series.
My
final feeling about Harry Potter is about the same it always has been. It
is very good, but not great. I mostly enjoyed the movie, but sometimes got
bored. It is a triumph of imagination and yet eventually gets a little
repetitive. I can see why it has become a global phenomenon, but I can’t
personally embrace the series with the same awed dedication.
Then
again, I’m certainly in the minority there, so I am not so foolish to deny
the fact that maybe I’m the one who is wrong.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2011 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: July 15, 2011. 
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Copyright ©2011 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted:
July 15, 2011.
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