“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II” is a film of reunion, redemption and reconciliation. The fans that have grown up with the characters of what is now the largest franchise in movie history have not come for the end, but have come to say goodbye.
In a homecoming roll call of old friends and enemies, “Harry Potter” comes to a close in this eighth and final sequel. Yes, this is the conclusion to a story already split in two, but this is more of an opportunity for everyone to reflect on the life that started nearly 10 years ago today, and how we now realize how the magic will live on.
It’s for the legendary Maggie Smith to put on one last fiery show. It’s for Robbie Coltrane to charm us one last time, the big lug. It’s for Michael Gambon to take a long-awaited final bow. It’s for Helena Bonham Carter to literally explode on screen. It’s for Ralph Fiennes and Alan Rickman to finally revel in their own villainy.
And it’s for Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson to show they’ve at last grown up.
The kids proved to be the best of casting choices a decade ago, and here they show maturity, not teen angst, as the fate of the wizarding world rests upon their shoulders.
After the death of Dobby, they’ve resumed their quest for the horcruxes to defeat Voldemort, and although the first part of “Deathly Hallows” had them discovering hard truths about themselves and their friendship, “Part II” has revelations about all the colorful characters they thought they knew and trusted.
From Dumbledore to Snape, Harry, Ron and Hermione perhaps learn more than they ever wanted to know. But the beauty of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II” is, all of this is exactly what we as an audience want to know. The mark of a true blockbuster franchise is one that forces the audience to crave the details and the character development, not the action in between.
Even at 130 minutes, the shortest “Potter” yet, there is a lot of both. Supporting character actors and even new ones such as Dumbledore’s brother Aberforth (Ciaran Hinds) and Helena Ravenclaw (Kelly Macdonald) fight for screen time against the film’s truly epic battles. Amidst them, these new characters are thinly spread, and the most memorable things omitted from the book’s adaptation were not action filled set pieces but exposition details that actually lend weight and depth to these beloved figures.
But the action scenes are directed with astonishing vigor. Even after eight movies, Rowling and screenwriter Steve Kloves still find some surprises up their sleeves, from exotic creatures to crafty spells yet to be seen.
Granted, much of the action can feel driven by the deus ex machina. And whereas the previous “Potter” installment enchanted with its on-location cinematography that dashed through the trees and lingered on desolate mountaintops, “Part II” merely glides through giant virtual landscapes as it surveys the once colorful and luxurious Hogwarts as no more than a grim battlefield.
Perhaps that is this sequel’s biggest casualty. Gone is the vivid color that once illuminated these films. “Part II” is a dirty film populated with grays and blues that hardly convey whimsy. They better fit Voldemort, who thanks to Ralph Fiennes’s work, has a permanent place in the canon of movie baddies. Most Bond villains don’t even have the slimy charisma Fiennes contains in just one pale finger or slender nostril.
Yet for all the segments of the book Kloves and Director David Yates chose to do without, there is one glaring portion they noticeably included. J.K. Rowling’s epilogue at the end of the seventh book angered even the largest of “potheads” for its cheesy execution and toothlessly perfect ending. I can only guess what the general impression of this silly segment will be.
Still, for all its failings, and there are only a few, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II” is a welcome and fitting finale. It rekindles in us the magic of so many other precious moments. It is not the perfect movie or even the perfect ending, but the perfect farewell.
3 stars