Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

Part 2 (2011)

P365 Film #190

Well, well, well. Here we are. After 11 years, eight of which had a movie released, we are finally at the end of the Harry Potter saga. I think I read the first book when I was about 11 or 12 and and books 2-4 shortly thereafter. The first movie came out not long after that. And I kept up with the books and movies, right up until today. So what did I think of this final film? It was good. But the word that kept coming to mind was… “underwhelming”. I’m not sure if I put too much expectation on it, or if I was remaining too faithful the book but most things fell flat for me. It started off really well. There were some really awesome moody shots and I was getting amped for the ending. But I just kept waiting and waiting and waiting for something epic and amazing and I didn’t feel it ever quite delivered. I was particularly disappointed in how it kind of glossed over some of the deaths of certain characters. I was looking forward to some emotional intensity at characters being killed, but they were very casually dealt with. It showed them dead for a second, then moved on to whatever Harry was doing. Everything moved so fast - they hardly ever dwelled on anything (though that’s been true of most of the films for me). So, yeah, most things felt disappointing to me. Harry’s final confrontation with Voldemort should’ve been the grandest moment of the series, but it was nothing too spectacular. Also, I guess it was inevitable with it being all about Harry and there being so many characters, but a lot of them really felt marginalised. Some of the pretty important or memorable characters only got one line, if that. One thing I will praise greatly was Alan Rickman. He was the best actor in the film and I really liked the flashbacks to his past. Maggie Smith was also brilliant. Anyway, I guess I wish I didn’t have the baggage of having already read the books. It’s really nowhere near as bad as I’m making it sound - it was still pretty well-made and enjoyable, but, like I said, underwhelming. I’m now pretty keen to read all the books again, to see how the stories should be experienced.