It All Ends. With little doubt the most appropriate tag line of the franchise. After seven books and eight films the epic series of the boy wizard comes to a glorious end. The people in front and behind the camera know the expectations are high from the fans. With pressure coming from muggles everywhere the cast and crew bring their A game and provide us with a brilliant end to a wonderful series.
In front of a packed theater of Harry Potter faithful, you would expect the movie to open to giant cheer and screams of jubilation for the long awaited final project, but the film makers allow no time for cheering. The movie opens on a dark and ominous tone, the movie opens where the last one left off, Lord Voldemort standing over the grave of Albus Dumbledore, the elder wand in hand. His killer Severus Snape, now the headmaster of Hogwarts, looming over his students marching into a once happy hall now overcast with dark clouds. If I just ruined anything for you, you probably shouldn't be seeing this movie now anyway. The story jumps right in and without proper context you will be left without the emotional attachment to care who will live and who will die, and you certainly won't know what a horcrux is and why they are so important to the story.
It is a credit to the whole production team that they chose to lay it out this way. David Yates does a wonderful job once again telling J.K. Rowlings story, and picking up the pieces after Chris Columbus bumbled around with the first two movies. He understands the tone of the latter half of the stories and really runs with it. It feels as if he may have even used a gray filter throughout filming, because the whole movie features a dark frame to it. But the real hero of the story may be Steve Kloves who wrote the screenplay for every movie besides Order of the Phoenix. While he says he needed a break he has stated that he regrets not penning that movie as well. He has done a fine job courting not only the diehard fans but the casual movie goers as well. His knowledge of the source material shows and much of the credit for bringing the series alive belongs to him. Similar to Part 1 though, this film is for the fans of the series so it is important that you show up and know what you are getting into.
The movie ran at a brief two hours, I say brief because I thought it would run much longer than that, but with only half a manuscript to go on I suppose it makes sense. Lost from the first one are the explanations and explorations, all we are left with is the final confrontation. With the inclusion of every detail from the original manuscript it is tough not to feel that the movie gets bogged down a little. While watching the movie it felt as if many of these scenes could have been cut, but upon further reflection it all adds to the tension and the fear that the hero shares with his audience. If anything was going to be cut before going into the movie I wish it had been the epilogue, this was the hokiest piece of writing in the series, but visually the ploy works. The decision to stay this loyal to the book works out for everyone.
This movie is full of explosive action with the final battle taking place where else but Hogwarts. They could have gone all Michael Bay with this as that seems to be what the book calls for, but Yates has mastered the tempo of the movie. At one point of intense inner drama he even silences the battle around him which increases the sense of danger our heroes know is coming while death surrounds them. You may want to bring your hankies to your screening as not everyone is makes it out of this story alive and there were many audible sniffles coming from all around the theater. The emotional weight of the movie is high as the audience hangs on our young actors every movement.
It has been a pleasure to watch Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint grow up before our eyes, and once more see how their acting chops have developed. They have spent more than half their lives in this role so it is easy to understand why they are so comfortable now. In fact that may be why they have trouble separating from their roles to try and break out elsewhere in Hollywood. Radcliffe is at his absolute best in this one, as he allows the weight of the franchise to bear on his shoulders just as his character bears the weight of the wizarding world.
A hero can only be measured by his villain and Ralph Fiennes once again is tremendous as he who shall not be named. In this one he even seems more dangerous as Harry and Company continue their quest to destroy his soul and weaken him. Possibly the most important person to this story is Alan Rickman as Severus. With little doubt the most interesting character to the story, it always felt as if his character wound up on the cutting room floor. In this movie, we learn everything about his character and he does not disappoint. It may go a little overboard into the ridiculous during a flashback but the rest of the back story is so good that all can be forgiven. A great casting choice, he has served the character well and all while wearing the same clothes the entire series. Another character that I felt never got her full due was Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, and in the final act she gets a proper curtain call with some great scenes and lines in the movie. There have been a plethora of who's who of royal British Actors and while they don't all get major scenes most at least receive their curtain calls including but not limited to Gary Oldman, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall, Miriam Margolyes, and Julie Walters. That is quite the list to be on, and with little doubt you will be able to add the young stars of the movie to the list of great English actors.
The final film does what all that we hoped it would. It wraps up the series on a stirring achievement. It also justifies the creative split of the final manuscript as a move not solely made for monetary reasons. This is a tribute that the series deserves; it soars above being just a movie to become a cultural phenomenon. Fans of the series and of great story telling will not be disappointed. A-
