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Cinematically, it began a decade ago. Eight films and three hundred billion-fazillion dollars later, the epic conclusion to the mysterious world of muggles and magicians has arrived. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a relatively solemn and exposition-heavy conclusion to the series that was once so lighthearted and blissfully unaware of the real dangers that lurked in the shadows of Hogwarts. The kids grew up. So, too, did its audience. Voldemort became stronger. So, too, did the Potter franchise. Darkness prevailed the land. Madness became merchandise.
Until now. It all (hopefully) ends with this the final installment in the series.
Dark is the look of this film; it bleeds through each frame with dramatic contrast to what went before in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The two worlds don’t even look or feel the same anymore. Indeed, havoc has brought gothic ruin to landscape of Harry Potter’s world. While I won’t give details away in the narrative behind the showdown between Voldemort and Potter, know that Director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves have adapted the material to give closure (albeit sometimes off-screen in a disappointing manner) to what can only be described as a witchy family reunion of sorts. Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter), Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), Ollivander (John Hurt), Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), Prof. Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith), Sybill Trelawney (Emma Thompson) and Molly Weasley (Julie Walters) all return in the final showdown between Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), Ron (Rupert Grint) and the dark tidings of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).
The cast reads like a living and breathing list of Who’s Who Among British Actors. It’s such a stellar cast that if you never were a part of the Potter royalty and you’re a British actor, I would feel sleighted and even pissed for not being included. The kids, Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint, are all grown up and still they are conquered by the adult talent that surrounds them. To be fair, their characters aren’t nearly as cool as say Bellatrix Lestrange or Sirius Black, but they are simply dominated all throughout this by the British royalty of actors and actresses that simply has to stand next to them to provide a fair amount of upstaging. Sometimes the material doesn’t give them a chance to break from their sneaking about ways, but mostly it’s the power of the cast that swells against them. It’s no secret that powerful performances from Rickman and Fiennes steal this movie out from under their feet; the youngsters don’t have a chance against those two titans.
I am not the biggest fan of the series (which I still argue has gradually gone downhill since the fourth entry), but Yates has assembled a conclusion that should satisfy everyone on some level. It isn’t a film in and of itself and still has a tremendous amount of back-story to tell that Part One couldn’t (what the hell?), but when it settles into the explosions and destruction and wages its 10-years-in-the-making-war against Voldemort the film finally comes alive. It isn’t mindless which is good, but sometimes it trades its momentum for book-servicing facts and loses focus. Again, large parts are too mannered and reserved for its extended two-part performance but when it works, while some of the young cast stumbles with their performances, it offers one hero - Matthew Lewis' Neville Longbottom – the chance to emerge as something more than comic relief. Moments like that are marvelous.
Eduardo Serra's cinematography, first established in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, continues to merge real world settings with fantastical landscapes and the affect is darkly pleasing if not a bit confusing at times. When did the school relocate (again?) and place itself next to such dramatic and towering heights? I guess the question of placement and logic doesn’t matter as Serra’s camera toys more with destruction than in painting portraits this time out. And, man, do things ever blow up.
While Part Two is still a love letter to the faithful fans of the books and the rest are challenged to place context where they can, the hour long battle between good and evil is satisfying for the casual observer. Of course, they’ve stretched the material (due to the halving of the films) so, once again, mounting tension is broken with extended exposition and the movie (which doesn’t establish an identity outside of the book [which is why I like director Alfonso Cuarón’s The Prisoner of Azkaban so much]) suffers as a result. There’s also one too many explanations of Harry-Will-Kill-Voldemort-This-Way that, with little to their introduction, just get sillier as they continue.
It isn’t the best film of the series and provides no rationale to its Part One/Part Two structure (other than to milk more money from those damn foolish muggles) and even if the 3D is worthless (too damn dark to dimensionize anything), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two is an agreeable (warts and all) concluding statement to a pretty remarkable legacy. Some grew up with Potter, some just tolerated him. Regardless, Yates’ film is the only conclusion to the world of magic and Elder Wands either example will ever get.
Until Warner Bros reboots it.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence and frightening images.
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