Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011): Grade: B+: starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman, & Jason Isaacs: directed by David Yates

I’m sure Warner Bros executives are silently weeping for the end of what’s probably become the studio’s biggest ever cash cow: HARRY POTTER. I’m also sure they’re sitting in their offices right now and concocting various ways of milking the franchise bone dry with an endless parade of DVD/Blu-ray special editions, theatrical re-releases, and the hope that J.K. Rowling will write another Harry Potter book sooner rather than later. I had absolutely no doubt that I would enjoy the final installment of the HARRY POTTER series, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2. With the exception of the first two Chris Columbus-directed HARRY POTTER films, Warner Bros. has done an admirable job hiring great directors to bring the books to the screen. The last four films have been directed by David Yates and he has brought a gritty and dark realism to the series that perfectly matches the more adult tone that developed in the later books. It takes quite a bit of courage to bring HARRY POTTER to the screen and its an especially difficult task adapting the final book and ending the entire series without pissing off the diehard, rabid fans that show up to book releases dressed in costumes. Although its not without flaws, Yates has ultimately succeeded in finally ending HARRY POTTER and giving us a satisfactory ending to the series.

I won’t bother going into the plotline of HARRY POTTER 7.5 because anyone reading this review will probably have read the books and if they have, they will know how convoluted those stories can be to summarize in a paragraph. Suffice it to say that this film adapts the 2^nd half of the last book. We begin shortly after Harry has buried Dobby, the elf and he prepares to enter the bank vaults to find the next Horcrux to destroy (which, if you watch closely, you’ll see a great homage to the beginning of the RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK). This last film basically counts down to Harry’s fated showdown with Voldemort. The students and teachers of Hogwarts finally take their stand against the Death Eaters and Voldemort and an epic battle between good and evil takes place with Harry and Voldemort right in the middle of it.

If you have not read the books, this film will come off as a jumbled, confusing mess that will require a second viewing to fully understand the story. I say this because its been awhile since I read the last book so I went into this film having almost all but forgotten the story. Furthermore, I took my mother, a self-professed Harry Potter fanatic who has never read the books but has seen all the movies and absolutely loves them. She was able to glean bits and pieces of the story to HARRY POTTER 7.5, but she was thoroughly confused by what was going on. The films have been criticized in the past for the liberties the filmmakers have taken in what to include and what not to include from the books. Because the movies began to be filmed before the final book was completed, seemingly unimportant elements from the first books that became important in later books were not in the early films. As a result, developments occur in the later films, especially in the last two films, that cannot be appreciated nor understood by those who never read any of the books. In HARRY POTTER 7 and 7.5, Yates was forced to include elements from the final books in the last film that were either never present in earlier films or completely underdeveloped. Consequently, important scenes occur that go way over the audience’s head.

I think Warner Bros. recognized this problem, which is partly why it decided to split the last book into two films (the main reason being to make more $$$). It figured that with THE DEATHLY HALLOWS being the last book, it should for once not leave out anything from the book and present the audience with a faithful and complete adaptation of the book. I commend Warner Bros. for doing this, but I wish the studio had made this decision from the very beginning with Book 1.

Once of the most marvelous things about the HARRY POTTER film series is the physical transformation of our three main characters, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint). Over the course of 10 years, these actors have so fully embodied their characters that you no longer see them as acting. The chemistry between the actors is natural and fluid, which is a far cry from their early days in the HARRY POTTER films when their performances essentially amounted to the quality of work you would see in a local school play. Rupert Grint has especially improved throughout the series and has developed a fine sense of comic timing that provides much needed comic relief during the film’s dark moments.

Its probably a testament to the popularity of the HARRY POTTER books and films that so many famous actors are present in the final installment. Some of them, like Emma Thompson, are only onscreen for a few moments and they don’t even say a word. Aside from the wonderfully imaginative storyline J.K. Rowling has woven, the HARRY POTTER films provide the added pleasure of casting many of Britain’s finest actors. Each film has been a who’s who of Britain’s greatest thespians and in this final installment, you see almost all of them. I was especially pleased to watch Maggie Smith adopt a take charge attitude as Professor McGonagall when she takes on Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) and takes back control of Hogwarts Castle.

To my biggest surprise, I was a little underwhelmed by Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of Voldemort. Perhaps this is because Fiennes is one of my favorite all-time actors and my expectations of his performance were much higher than anyone else who appears in the film. It looked like Fiennes got into his role a little too much and overplayed his role. He didn’t Arguably, it may not be Fiennes’ fault considering that Voldemort is supposed to basically be evil personified. At the same time, I wish that Fiennes had brought a bit more subtlety and guile to the character, which I think would have made him more sinister. Instead, many of the scenes with him are just him screaming and being pissed. The character doesn’t exhibit a lot of range and as a result, Voldemort fails to attain Darth Vader status as being a timeless villain.

My other issue with HARRY POTTER 7.5 was its lack of epic suspense that I felt in reading the last book. This film is supposed to be a balls-out fight to the finish between Voldemort and his Death Eaters and the teachers and students of Hogwarts. J.K. Rowling creates a huge canvas upon which mayhem and destruction occurs on a Lord of the Rings level. The film has one moment that hinted toward an epic showdown and that scene is where Professor McGonagall reclaims control of the castle and creates a magical protective dome over Hogwarts while the castle’s statute soldiers are called forth to protect the castle from Voldemort and his army. After that, we see a few very short battle scenes and briefly witness the death of a few key characters. However, aside from that, there isn’t much else except for background battle sounds as Harry and his friends seek out the remaining Horcruxes before confronting Voldemort.

Even for a book that’s split into two films, I felt that Yates still required more time to properly unfold the entire story. HARRY POTTER 7.5 actually felt rushed at times because Yates was trying to cram so much into the final hours. Because of this, the film lacks any sense of emotion. I can’t remember the last book that I read that made me feel as emotional as the final Harry Potter book did and this is what I felt was sorely missing from the last film. There’s no sense of finality and closure at the end of this film like you see in LOTR: RETURN OF THE KING. Rather, the film just ends in an almost clinical fashion that lacks any heart.

I know I may come off as sounding like I didn’t like HARRY POTTER 7.5, but that’s not true. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this film and its 2+ hours running time fly by. My criticism of the film stems from the (perhaps too high) expectation that I had of the final movie, especially in light of the previous installments of the series. I was expecting RETURN OF THE KING and that’s unfortunately not what I got.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I (2010): 4.5 out of 5 stars; starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, & Ralph Fiennes; directed by David Yates

I have a tendency to rip into TWILIGHT fans for their irrational obsessive behavior toward Teams Edward and Jacob. I’ll admit that I have never read any of the TWILIGHT books, but I saw the first film and I have heard and read plenty about the series of books to know that Stephenie Meyer does not possess an ounce of imagination. But all of this is beside the point and admittedly, it’s a little hypocritical considering my own obsession with J.K. Rowling’s HARRY POTTER. My devotion to the 7-book series and the Warner Bros. films is undoubtedly on the same level of craziness as any TWILIGHT fan out there. Then again, I don’t own a broomstick, a magical cloak, belong to a local Quidditch team, or hang up banners belonging to one of the  “houses” in Hogwarts. However, the release of a new HARRY POTTER film is always something to look forward to and rather than simply being an anticipated movie, these films are more like an anticipated big event. Of these films, the latest, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1, marks the beginning of the end and if you’ve read the book, you know that it will end in a manner fit for an epic on the scale of THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

I’m going to forego providing a synopsis of DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 because to give you a proper description of the story would require me to delve into the previous books/movies, which would require a monumental feat that’s not worth attempting. I also assume that the vast majority of you who are reading this review have either read all the books, seen the movies, or both. Suffice it to say that the last movie finally culminates in the prophesized showdown between Harry Potter and his nemesis, Voldemort. The world has been overtaken and terrorized by the Death Eaters (Voldemort’s followers; think magical Nazis) and it is up to Harry Potter to save the world.

Each book in the HARRY POTTER series has progressively gotten larger in page count, which in turn has posed an increasingly annoying problem for the various filmmakers behind the film adaptations. I was not a big fan of Chris Columbus’ overly saccharine adaptations of the films, but I give him credit for remaining painstakingly faithful to and sacrificing very little from the books. The subsequent films got technically better in look and style, but they suffered from too much condensation of the source material even though each film is over 2 hours. Understandably, the books contained too much material to all fit into a single film. What’s more, the studio couldn’t divide each book into two films because by the time we reached the final book, the actors would be into their 30s and well past the age of the characters. For all these reasons, DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 has finally combined all the best elements necessary to make a great HARRY POTTER film. It finally has a talented director in David Yates AND the studio has wisely decided to film practically every scene from the final book. So far, the end result is how I wish every previous HARRY POTTER had been made. It’s also the first time where I felt the franchise finally transcended the source material and stood apart as a film that could be admired without referencing the book.

I’m not very familiar with director David Yates’ work, but based on what he did with HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, and DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1, he is a filmmaker worth looking out for in the future. Yates strikes a beautiful balance between the magical world and the real (or Muggle) world without making it too fairy tale looking on the one hand or too edgy and rough on the other. Yates blends the two worlds together and still manages to maintain a distinct feel and look for each realm. With the Death Eaters having overtaken the magical world, that world is intended to be significantly darker than how the series began. Yates’ version of that darker magical world has a gothic renaissance quality to it that is absolutely perfect. The creatures, magic, and other fantastical elements no longer look too CG (computer generated). They are blended seamlessly into the world to appear natural and thus, lends the film more plausibility. Furthermore, Yates finally gives the audience an impression that the Death Eaters have taken over the world. In his previous films, I did not get that sense despite the fact that the director provided scenes showing Voldemort and his Death Eaters wreaking havoc. Here, there is a constant and foreboding sense of impending doom that gives greater weight to Harry Potter’s mission as well as the stakes that he and his friends face.

If you compare the acting in HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE with what the actor’s pull off in DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1, the improvement is striking. The story contains a lot of dramatic and emotional moments that require an expanded performance range from the actors. Characters die and deal with all sorts of internal conflicts. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) have come very far since their debuts back in 2001. We have watched them develop their craft throughout the HARRY POTTER series and the films have in a way become an acting school for them (it also doesn’t hurt that the young actors have been spoiled by England’s cream of the crop of actors who have appeared in the series). DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 is the culmination of years of training. They have lived with these characters for a decade and are by now as familiar with their characters’ personalities as they know themselves. Of the three, Rupert Grint has always been the weaker actor, but even he steps up his game in DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 and puts out a wonderful performance.

I sort of allude to this earlier, but the VFX work and the cinematography in DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 are a big part of why this film stands apart from previous HARRY POTTER films. The CG doesn’t have that shiny, bright plasticy sheen that you see with poorly done effects films (for a good example of that check out the new GREEN LANTERN teaser trailer) nor does it bring attention to itself for the sake of impressing the audience with eye candy. As for the cinematography, the DP, Eduardo Serra (THE WINGS OF THE DOVE, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, UNBREAKABLE, GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, BLOOD DIAMOND), does a fantastic job portraying the dark world our characters inhabit. In particular, the scenes in Act II where Hermione, Harry, and Ron hide out in the countryside look otherworldly and although they look like real locations, they possess a magical quality in the uniqueness of the landscapes. DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 is the most beautiful looking HARRY POTTER yet and I hope the Academy of Arts and Sciences will recognize Serra’s work. Finally, I just want to remark how fucking amazing the animation sequence is where Luna Lovegood’s father tells about the Deathly Hallows.

If you’re wondering what the film’s shortcomings are, there isn’t much in my opinion, but there are a few things that I wish had been done differently. Although I was overall satisfied with where the first film ends, I was hoping the filmmakers would have amped up the climax. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Act III contains a sequence that takes place inside Luna Lovegood’s father’s home. The house is a tower that, in the book, gets visited by the Death Eaters, who are looking for Potter. As the sequence is written in the book, the battle that takes place inside the tower is pretty chaotic and it seems to last longer than it does in the film. From what I remember, the characters are all stuck inside the tower as it falls apart around them. In contrast, this scene is a pretty short one in the movie and altogether unremarkable. The film also omitted a part in the book where Potter reconciles and settles his differences with his cousin, Dudley Dursley. It would have been nice to have seen some sort of closure between at least one of the Dursleys and Potter, but we don’t get to see it in the movie. Finally, the film completely omits any coverage of Dumbledore’s family history, which I think is an important part of the book. However, I can understand these omissions because in the end, omissions from the film were still necessary despite the film being split in two. Regardless of what part of the book is omitted, there will be some dissension from the Harry Potter Fan Club.

DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 is a beautifully crafted adaptation of the final book in the series. It contains both exciting and emotional moments and it succeeds in building up a momentum toward the epic finale that we will see next summer. I am glad that the Warner Bros. brass and David Yates recognized the importance of getting the final book completely right and end the series with a huge bang. The efforts put into this film show and the final product goes beyond what we have seen in previous installments of the series. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, then I don’t need to tell you to go see this movie because I’m sure you already have. If you’re not a fan, then I urge you to read the books and check out the movies.