Film Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

By guest reviewer Jod Burke

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is the final curtain call for a movie franchise the likes of which we have never seen before and perhaps will never see again. Eight films from seven books (the final book was turned into two movies) that took the world by storm. Harry Potter isn’t just a set of children's books, nor is it just a bunch of movies cashing in on the success of the books, Harry Potter is in fact a bonafide worldwide phenomenon. From Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone arriving on our screens all the way back in 2001 to the Deathly Hallows Part 2, this was a story told over 10 years and so engrossing that it quickly became obvious that this adventure wasn’t just for children.

Deathly Hallows Part 2 was ten years in the making and the film that I was most looking forward to in 2011, being a huge HP fan. Eager anticipation for the final chapter left me chomping at the bit. It is perhaps all these factors combined that led to me being ultimately disappointed as I walked out of the cinema at the end.

David Yates is once again at the helm for his 4th outing with Harry Potter, having previously directed Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows Part 1, and does a fine job of bringing the HP world to life. In the final installment, we pick up exactly where Part 1 left off with Harry, Ron and Hermione searching for the final three Horcruxes (the magical items responsible for the Dark Lord’s immortality) in order to destroy them and finally defeat Voldemort. He Who Should Not Be Named finds out about our protagonist's plan and brings his death eater army together to storm Hogwarts in a battle that will ultimately change their lives forever.

So it’s all set up for the final amazing installment. The icing on the cake, the cheese on your vegemite, the line of coke on Ben Cousins’ coffee table. This is going to be epic right? Right? Well in some ways it was but I'm going to get straight to the point here ladies and gents. Somewhere along the line Steve Kloves, who wrote the screenplay for Deathly Hallows Part 2, dropped the ball. Perhaps it’s not all his fault as no doubt David Yates has to take some of the blame here but my biggest gripe with the film is that some of the absolute key moments in the book, written by JK Rowling, were not conveyed well enough on screen and in some cases completely overlooked. It left me incredibly disappointed with the final installment of a very much loved franchise.

Let me jump back to the books. My favourite character throughout the entire series was always Severus Snape and from start to finish I agonized, like I'm sure many other fans did, as to which side Snape was really on. Was he good? Was he bad? Then, when I finally read Deathly Hallows, I was completely blown away with his fate and his role in the whole series. So much so, I remember I had to stop reading and just think about it for several minutes to take it all in. Without throwing spoilers into this review, I'll tell you now that Snape’s fate was not conveyed as well as it should have been or as well as it deserved to be on film. It was such a key moment in the book and so important to the overall story of the entire series, yet in the film it just all felt very confusing and somewhat rushed.

So too were the fates of other key characters such as Professor Remus, Tonks and Fred Weasley. Again, avoiding spoilers, these three characters, Remus and Fred in particular, were quite a large part of the HP universe and to have their storylines played out behind closed doors only to be quickly filled in later was disappointing to say the least.

Perhaps I'm nitpicking but I'm a huge HP fan and several of the key scenes in the book that I was so looking forward to in the film were either shortened, glossed over or just plain confusing. The final battle between Harry and Voldemort also lacked punch. This is a fight 10 years in the making, all over fairly quickly without the fanfare it deserved. In the end, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 probably suffered from simply having too many characters. Being able to serve each character and bring each character's story arc to a satisfying end is certainly not a job I would want. It is however a job Kloves and Yates took on and in my opinion, fell short.

It is of course not all bad, the visuals and sound are as strong as ever. The score by Alexandre Desplat was once again a highlight. The HP theme is now up there with the likes of Indy, Star Wars and Superman as being instantly recognizable. Performances are again strong, Radcliffe, Watson and Grint are in good form, Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom shines as he becomes a somewhat reluctant leader of Gryfindor in the absence of the chosen one. One of HP’s strengths though has always been it’s casting, from the first movie to the last, it’s casting has been near perfect with the likes of Alan Rickman (Snape), Julie Walters (Molly Weasley), Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix LeStrange). The list goes on and on. It is of course the incredible talent of Ralph Fiennes that steals the show as the utterly frightening Lord VoldemortFiennes is still able to convey Voldemort as vulnerable and scared as much as he is ruthless and cocky. Apparently, he even scared little children playing extras on the set, such was his performance as the Dark Lord.

All in all, I find it hard to give HP7:2 a rating out of five. It certainly was by no means horrible. It was extremely entertaining and as usual some of the set pieces were exciting and visually stunning. They didn’t however take away from the story, which was pleasing. The Gringotts break in and the Room of Requirement fire were standouts. The pacing of the film was better than Part 1, never letting your mind wander. The characters we have come to know and love are all present, it’s well acted and the music is soaring, setting the mood in what is a much darker film than any of the ones we have seen before.

But in this humble reviewers opinion, the most important part of the final book was always the showdown at Hogwarts, the final setting for a story ten years in the making. The final battle felt confusing, rushed, and lacking any real suspense. Too much is going on in the book to perhaps put it all up on screen but so many key moments were overlooked. It just left a sour taste in my mouth. Maybe a second viewing is in order. God knows I've seen the first seven numerous times.

To think there will be no more Harry Potter adventures in the future leaves a large hole in the very fabric of cinema. Here’s hoping JK Rowling isn’t quite done yet.

3 & 1/2 STARS