Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 is the finalé to the Harry Potter saga that has spanned the last whole decade. This final part of the mega successful movie franchise ever recorded in Hollywood history continues from where the first part of this story ended - when Voldemort broke into Professor Dumbledore's tomb in Hogwarts to steal the Elder Wand, one of the three components that made up the Deathly Hallows.

Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione continue their journey to search and destroy the remaining two Horcrux objects, which each contained Voldemort's soul. However, unknown to Harry, he was also one of the Horcruxes Voldemort had not intended to create when he killed Harry's mother when she tried to protect Harry from being murdered by Voldemort.

Harry, Ron and Hermione's journey of searching and destroying the remaining Horcrux objects saw them breaking into the wizarding bank, Gringotts as well as returning to Hogwarts, where the final and ultimate battle with Voldemort took place. The battle of Hogwarts scene was the climax that I was looking forward to and it did not disappoint me. 

Not to mention the actors and actresses (apart from Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) who played their respective roles to perfection. The outstanding acts worth noting are that of Dame Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort and Alan Rickman as Professor Snape. Helena Bonham Carter who played Bellatrix Lestrange has somewhat a more subdued appearance in this final installment. 

In this installment, Alan Rickman really injected a heart-wrenching and poignant moment acting as Professor Snape when his character at last was murdered by Voldemort, using the snake called Nagini. This moment came when Harry, Ron and Hermione found him breathing his last moments, as he pleaded Harry to take some of his tears in which later on revealed some of the most surprising secrets when Harry dove into the Pensieve containing those tears.

The ending of the story (not the scene at Platform Nine and Three-quarters nineteen years later) was quite disappointing when it showed only Harry breaking the Elder Wand and threw it over the cliff from the bridge of the Hogwarts castle. It would have been better had the director of the movie followed the book, i.e. the scene where Harry, Ron and Hermione were talking to the portrait of Professor Dumbledore in the Hogwarts' Headmaster's office, and that Harry repaired his holly and phoenix tail-feather wand using the Elder Wand. 

Overall, the movie is really good, I would give it 4.5 stars for it. The really good portrayal of the main characters (must be because it is the very last one in the mega successful movie franchise) and the right climax scene (the battle of Hogwarts) made up for some of the disappointments I have for the movie. However, for people who love the movies more the books, they should wait a little longer for the complete DVD set, I guess to be released towards the end of this year.

As for me, I would still prefer the books, especially where the details and intimate nuances of the story not shown in the movies are concerned. The movies are great to complement the books but since they were adapted from the books, the real deal would still those books themselves. The movies would do very well to help readers appreciate the story better because the visualisation effects were absolutely well done as always by Hollywood.

Now as the post Pottermania kicks in, even I could feel the emptiness of not being able to anticipate any more dramatisation of the Harry Potter saga. Even though the movies would not be able to outclass the books, they definitely created an extraordinary phenomenon rarely experienced in the movie industry in the past. Thus, if I ever want to relive the Harry Potter saga over and over again, then I should first turn to the books and then only to the complete DVD set.