Here be spoilers.
The last Harry Potter film has arrived, and like the film's namesake as he faced off against Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), I approached the end with both dread and anticipation. Few movie franchises have been as consistently well scripted, beautifully produced and finely acted as the Harry Potter films. Fewer still give you the pleasure of watching the stars grow up before your eyes, with the pivotal boy wizard transforming from a neglected outcast into a reluctant savior, just as the actor (Daniel Radcliffe) who played him transformed from a squeaky-voiced cherub into a compelling leading man.
So I dreaded seeing an end to the films as I anxiously anticipated that the final installment would do justice to J.K. Rowling's story, especially after Part 1 proved rather anemic. I was not disappointed, as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, is probably one of the best of the films. This allows all us sentimental fans to at least bid adieu to Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) on a high note.
The last Harry Potter film has arrived, and like the film's namesake as he faced off against Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), I approached the end with both dread and anticipation. Few movie franchises have been as consistently well scripted, beautifully produced and finely acted as the Harry Potter films. Fewer still give you the pleasure of watching the stars grow up before your eyes, with the pivotal boy wizard transforming from a neglected outcast into a reluctant savior, just as the actor (Daniel Radcliffe) who played him transformed from a squeaky-voiced cherub into a compelling leading man.
So I dreaded seeing an end to the films as I anxiously anticipated that the final installment would do justice to J.K. Rowling's story, especially after Part 1 proved rather anemic. I was not disappointed, as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, is probably one of the best of the films. This allows all us sentimental fans to at least bid adieu to Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) on a high note.
I'm not going to even bother to provide a spoiler alert here. I figure if you're reading this review you either don't care if I spoil the film for you, or you already know how it ends and are just interested if the film does justice to the book. For those of you who don't know how the tale ends, however, allow me to recap.
As you may recall from Part 1, things look grim for Harry and his friends. They are on the run from the Death Eaters and on simultaneous quests. The first quest is for several magical objects called horcruxes which contain fragments of Voldemort's soul. The second is for the Deathly Hallows, three items which allow the barer defeat death: the cloak of invisibility, the resurrection stone and the Elder Wand. The first set of items need to be destroyed, the second need to be possessed... or at least kept from Voldemort. But it definitely appears that Voldemort has the upper hand. Even Harry's beloved Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is now under the oppressive thumb of Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), who ascended to the post after killing the former headmaster, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
As Harry and his friends diligently locate and destroy Voldemort's horcruxes, rendering the evil wizard both more vulnerable and more desperate, Harry discovers that he too is a horcrux. Dumbledore's ghost explains that when Voldemort failed to kill Harry as a baby, he unknowingly infused the child with a part of his soul. This explains why Harry has the ability to see into Voldemort's mind. It also means that Harry must die in order to defeat Voldemort. So the young wizard meets He Who Shall Not Be Named in the Forbidden Forest where he is immediately cut down by the Elder Wands, which Voldemort had previously stolen from Dumbledore's tomb. But Harry is only in limbo and returns to life just as the Death Eaters are marching triumphantly into the ruins of Hogwarts after the students, teachers and their allies put up a brave but futile defense of the school. Now, only one horcrux is left – Voldemort's ever-present giant serpent, Nagini. The following battle brings about the destruction of the serpent and the ultimate death of Voldemort.
One of the beautiful things about this final film is how all of Harry's friends are given important roles to play, not just acting as the protagonist's cheerleaders. Ron, Hermione and Nevil Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) all participate actively in the defense of the school and destroy two of the remaining horcruxes. It's appropriate, as Harry Potter has always been about the power of friendship. J.K. Rowling's storyline very neatly and logically resolves itself, without the ugly oversights that often accompany movies and television shows set around grand story archs. One of the most intriguing parts of the film is the revelation of how Dumbledore and Snape conspired to use Harry to bring about Voldemort's final destruction. In their intricate plan, Snape had the unenviable role as a double-agent who must kill Dumbledore in order to gain Voldemort's trust. It's a fascinating twist on the snarling Defence Against the Black Arts instructor, whom we have long hated but apparently never truly understood. And what is Snape's motive? Would you believe love for Harry's mother, Lilly, whom Snape became infatuated with as a child only to see her marry someone else? Snape, like Harry, is revealed to be a man of great opposites, yet loyal in love and friendship right up to his dying moment.
The film also lets us see the redemption (of sorts) of Harry's longtime foil, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). The arrogant and elitist Malfoy, along with his mother and sniveling father, quietly abandon Voldemort's ranks during the film's final battle at Hogwarts. Granted, it's the coward's way out, but perhaps an apt decision for such a twisted family. We glimpse Draco at the very end of the film, set nineteen years in the future, when he joins his former rivals (Harry, Ron and Hermione) on the train platform at King's Cross Station to send his own kids off to Hogwarts. This time though, Draco's smiling instead of smirking.
Naturally, as I'm walking out of the theater, there were plenty of people wishing aloud for more books and movies. I may be in the minority, but I hope this truly is the end of Harry Potter. I think J.K. Rowling is a clever enough writer to realize that when you've fashioned a modern classic, you don't need to add "more." Plus, the author is trotting out her Pottermore website this Halloween, which will hopefully slake the uber-fan's thirst.
I hope we do see new books from Rowling. I just hope they're not Harry Potter books. Where the story of the boy wizard is concerned, it's better to leave nearly-perfect alone.
As you may recall from Part 1, things look grim for Harry and his friends. They are on the run from the Death Eaters and on simultaneous quests. The first quest is for several magical objects called horcruxes which contain fragments of Voldemort's soul. The second is for the Deathly Hallows, three items which allow the barer defeat death: the cloak of invisibility, the resurrection stone and the Elder Wand. The first set of items need to be destroyed, the second need to be possessed... or at least kept from Voldemort. But it definitely appears that Voldemort has the upper hand. Even Harry's beloved Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is now under the oppressive thumb of Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), who ascended to the post after killing the former headmaster, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
As Harry and his friends diligently locate and destroy Voldemort's horcruxes, rendering the evil wizard both more vulnerable and more desperate, Harry discovers that he too is a horcrux. Dumbledore's ghost explains that when Voldemort failed to kill Harry as a baby, he unknowingly infused the child with a part of his soul. This explains why Harry has the ability to see into Voldemort's mind. It also means that Harry must die in order to defeat Voldemort. So the young wizard meets He Who Shall Not Be Named in the Forbidden Forest where he is immediately cut down by the Elder Wands, which Voldemort had previously stolen from Dumbledore's tomb. But Harry is only in limbo and returns to life just as the Death Eaters are marching triumphantly into the ruins of Hogwarts after the students, teachers and their allies put up a brave but futile defense of the school. Now, only one horcrux is left – Voldemort's ever-present giant serpent, Nagini. The following battle brings about the destruction of the serpent and the ultimate death of Voldemort.
One of the beautiful things about this final film is how all of Harry's friends are given important roles to play, not just acting as the protagonist's cheerleaders. Ron, Hermione and Nevil Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) all participate actively in the defense of the school and destroy two of the remaining horcruxes. It's appropriate, as Harry Potter has always been about the power of friendship. J.K. Rowling's storyline very neatly and logically resolves itself, without the ugly oversights that often accompany movies and television shows set around grand story archs. One of the most intriguing parts of the film is the revelation of how Dumbledore and Snape conspired to use Harry to bring about Voldemort's final destruction. In their intricate plan, Snape had the unenviable role as a double-agent who must kill Dumbledore in order to gain Voldemort's trust. It's a fascinating twist on the snarling Defence Against the Black Arts instructor, whom we have long hated but apparently never truly understood. And what is Snape's motive? Would you believe love for Harry's mother, Lilly, whom Snape became infatuated with as a child only to see her marry someone else? Snape, like Harry, is revealed to be a man of great opposites, yet loyal in love and friendship right up to his dying moment.
The film also lets us see the redemption (of sorts) of Harry's longtime foil, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). The arrogant and elitist Malfoy, along with his mother and sniveling father, quietly abandon Voldemort's ranks during the film's final battle at Hogwarts. Granted, it's the coward's way out, but perhaps an apt decision for such a twisted family. We glimpse Draco at the very end of the film, set nineteen years in the future, when he joins his former rivals (Harry, Ron and Hermione) on the train platform at King's Cross Station to send his own kids off to Hogwarts. This time though, Draco's smiling instead of smirking.
Naturally, as I'm walking out of the theater, there were plenty of people wishing aloud for more books and movies. I may be in the minority, but I hope this truly is the end of Harry Potter. I think J.K. Rowling is a clever enough writer to realize that when you've fashioned a modern classic, you don't need to add "more." Plus, the author is trotting out her Pottermore website this Halloween, which will hopefully slake the uber-fan's thirst.
I hope we do see new books from Rowling. I just hope they're not Harry Potter books. Where the story of the boy wizard is concerned, it's better to leave nearly-perfect alone.
