The finale of an epic wizarding tale

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Certified: PG
Duration: 130 minutes
Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Broadbent, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, David Thewlis, Julie Walters
KRS release

After 10 years, eight films, approximately 20 hours of film, $1.5 billion in production budgets and $6.5 billion in box office takes the Harry Potter saga finally comes to an end. The seventh novel split into two films ends proceedings gracefully and is the franchise’s most epic and grand-looking film.

The Harry Potter franchise has revolutionised the way film producers look at children’s books. As a result, the relationship between the printing world and Hollywood has forever been changed. As a franchise the Harry Potter series has been the most consistent in its production values, its financial returns and its fan following. A sign of the franchise’s consistency has been in the three unknowns cast in the principal parts who have stuck to their characters like glue to really become the faces and hearts of the Harry Potter series.

It is safe to assume that anyone venturing to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has not only seen Part 1 but also the six films in the series. David Yates does his audience no disservice and does not waste his and the audience’s time with endless retelling of what came before. Adopting a Lord of the Rings style, the film simply pits us into the magical and wizardly proceedings as we whizz away at break-neck speed faster than you can say “Quidditch is cool!”

It is thanks to Mr Yates’s economical direction and the beautiful cinematography of Eduardo Serra that the audience will find this conclusion to be such a rich experience.

The film ties up all subplots neatly and successfully closes up the saga. My only quibble is that when the ending finally arrived I was still yearning for more. As much as this film is epic-like in its scope, I seemed to simply want the production to top matters over and over again.

The Part 1 of Deathly Hallows had been a measured affair, building up events slowly to this conclusion. Here Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes in incredibly scary mode) has gathered his forces and is laying siege to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hogwarts in this film has more in common with a World War II battleground rather than the cute Enid Blyton look from the first film. Harry, Hermione and Ron, now adults, are determined to destroy the Horcruxes – tangible objects containing parts of Voldemort’s soul. Obviously enough this is not going to be easy as Harry and Co. will have to find these items. Finding them is already a problem; destroying them is another matter altogether.

So what does one get: the secrets and motives of Severius Snape (Alan Rickman) are finally revealed; the reason Harry Potter can talk parseltongue; the rise of nerdy Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis); and Dumbledore’s behind the-scene-plans. Daniel Radcliffe provides all the angst that a Brit hero should provide; Rupert Grint and Emma Watson make a perfect cute couple with great on-screen chemistry while Ralph Fiennes is simply to die for. He provides the evil against which Harry Potter needs to be measured.

Maggie Smith is finally given the chance to flex her wand casting powers as Professor McGonagall while Alan Rickman is cryptic as we are given the chance to see a different side of Severius Snape. The production design and visual effects are simply top notch. The clash between Mrs Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange is also quite a kick. It is to the film’s merit that it ends up making you care about all the minor characters and not just the titular hero. Having a dragon inserted in the film also helps provide it an additional layer of fantasy.

The final coda, which sees the characters aged into adults, is a sequence that did not do much for me and seems to hark back to the spirit of the first film. Despite any shortcomings, long live Harry Potter! These last 10 years have been great!