Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part Two Review

Lets get this out of the way; reviewing Harry Potter is as useless as a chocolate teapot because lets face it, you’re either in Camp A: The large, vocal and rabid fanbase whose admiration for Harry and chums can range from playful fanboyism to the terrifying depths and depravity of slash fiction authors.

Or you’re in Camp B: People who sneer and roll their eyes at the thought of the most successful series of books for the past twenty years being the mind-numbingly simple yet overwrought tale of good versus evil which has somehow been accepted into the world of adult adulation and said books have now also become the highest grossing film series of all time.

But avoiding the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part Two is avoiding the proverbial elephant in the room. It is, as mentioned earlier, the highest grossing film series ever and yes, I not only have seen each film (in a marathon session with the missus prior to this review), I fount them to be relatively decent (despite only reading half of Prisoner of Azkaban as a youngster and being bored to tears).

And it slightly pains me to say this but; Deathly Hallows Part Two is the best summer blockbuster of 2011.

Beginning immediately after the events of Part One, Part Two continues Harry, Ron and Hermione’s quest to destroy Voldemort’s splintered soul and save the wizard and real world from his evil clutches. That’s the film’s plot in its simplest terms but obviously for the sake of time, I’m not going to explain how Daniel Radcliffe’s seven year education at Boarding School and Ralph Fiennes and co wanting to take over the world tie together (tl:dr; Wikipedia it!).

So naturally this being the final entry of a long running series; Deathly Hallows Part Two has the “joy” of not only wrapping up the story in a nice neat bow but also explaining any long running plot threads with a cohesive and satisfying conclusion. Normally, this is where said finale falls out of flavour with fanbase/audience as it can never live up to expectation.

But Deathly Hallows Part Two somehow does, partly due to the original source material being split into two films therefore giving Warner Brothers more revenue…I mean, allow the story to breath and not feel constricted to time restraints. Although the more hardcore Harry Potter fans still might be annoyed that “said character didn’t do such and such”, Deathly Hallows Part Two for the casual fan covers all the major bases and gives a satisfying conclusion to all the major character arcs.

It also addresses one of the biggest criticisms with Part One which was rightly summed up as “the one in the woods”. Part One was a necessary story in the long run but didn’t make action packed viewing. It was a build-up which crammed in some last minute character development and showed the effects and strains of the story on individuals rather than the world at whole.

Part Two however goes all LotR on us with huge, encompassing and visually stunning battles. Although no longer innovative as nearly every historical film has utilised some form of crowd capturing, but what helps is the audience’s attachment to the established setting and the characters involved. Ok, it helps that the film has a few moments of innovation (although as strange as it sounds, we’ve all seen large trolls knocking people off bridges), it’s the story that makes the action all the more exciting.

However, by far the best moments in the film are the intimate character moments. To avoid spoilers, the resolutions of two characters in particular (who you’ll know about when actually seeing the film) may potentially choke you up by playing on the emotions of unrequited love and the idea of death being something to acknowledge rather than fear.

It’s these moments where you can see why the series has become such a juggernaut but at the same time, when it all boils down to it, the story is relatively simple. You can argue that accusing a children’s story for lacking depth in terms of characterisation is about as easy as it gets but the fact the story boils down to good versus evil in such simple contrasts of black and white and where the only character with a shade of grey sticks out like another annotation lacking creativity in this review, one wonders why something like Harry Potter succeeds where others fail.

But if Michael Bay has taught as anything; story means nothing in the big picture. Visually, Deathly Hallows Part Two continues the grey and miserable setting established in Part One to evoke the enveloping evil that has spread across the land and credit to Warner Bros for allowing David Yates to continue his previously established motifs made with his previous three entries to the series. Composer Alexander Desplat returns from Deathly Hallows Part One and continues where Williams and Hooper left off with reimaginings of previous themes and creating sombre and dark themes that suit the picture.

Special effects are non-surprising but at least consistent with the tone of the film. The 3D is surprisingly effective and unlike other films, is not particularly distracting. I feel strange for saying this, but if you’re a fan of the previous films, definitely see this one in 3D as it does heighten the experience.

The principle players after have come along way since the almost farcical debuts in Philosopher's Stone and one can only hope they don’t find themselves typecast as wizards for the rest of eternity. The adult cast’s all star line-up are undeniably great and seem to have a lot of fun revelling in their roles. Ralph Fiennes in particular steals the show as the terrifying Voldemort which is made all the more frustrating as, like the previous films; only his presence is consistent, the character himself appears sporadically but when he does, it’s always memorable.

On the whole, after nearly nine hundred words, this review is pointless as you’ve no doubt already seen Deathly Hallows Part Two several times judging by it’s profit intake or mocked said individuals for giving this over-hyped drivel your precious monies.

Jumping on at this point is relatively pointless as the film is a pretty if very confusing tale which lacks any emotional punch and will show the film’s plot for all it’s simplicity despite going on for eight films.

For fans of the series, the accolade of “the best one” sums up Deathly Hallows Part Two nicely. It wraps up the story in a satisfying way, has a lot of great action and special effects and whilst no doubt lacking a few bits and pieces from the book, it’s as good as a Harry Potter adaptation on the big screen will ever get.

…Until the inevitable reboot takes place. Don’t say I didn’t warn you kids.

8/10 (for fans of the series)

6/10 – (for everyone else)

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