Wow! There, that's my review. No, just kidding, but it does a pretty good job of describing how I felt about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The movie, like everything, has its flaws, but it was a great ride and a fitting end to a beloved franchise.
Let's start with the nitpicking flaws, just to get them out of the way, and then I'll tell you what I loved about the film. The first act of the movie where Harry and the gang brake into Gringotts to find a Horcrux is a little underwhelming. It was a cool and exciting scene, and Helena Bonham Carter is brilliant playing Hermione who's pretending to be Bellatrix. However not much actually happens to drive the story forward, except that they find another horcrux and lose their only way of destroying them at the same time. This is fine, but the thing that made this plot thread so interesting in the book is lost in translation here. Apart from that there were a few instances throughout where more information about what was going on would have been appreciated. Compared to the book, the movie does feel a little empty.
Even so, such flaws are mostly just nitpicking, and the movie managed to convey all the necessary information. The only place where I felt the movie failed was in the delivery of Snape's backstory. It was such an important moment that the missing information felt too lacking. It got the main point about Snape across, and Alan Rickman's performance is probably one of his best yet (Which is seriously saying a lot) but that scene, I feel, should have told more of the story.
Now, with that out of the way, let me tell you why I simply loved this movie.
Once Harry gets to Hogwarts things pick up speed. The crew is desperate to find the last Horcruxes as Death Eaters attack the school. The battle of Hogwarts is absolutely spectacular! I won't try to describe it to you. Just see it. Here Harry's struggle is summed up in Voldemort's own words. He says that Harry has let others die for him rather face Voldemort himself. Through it all, people die around our hero, and he has to have the courage to do the right thing no matter the cost. Amid the epic backdrop of the battle, that's what really drives this movie.
Article comments