An epic finale to one of my favourite film franchises. As the final Harry Potter film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part II) had great expectations to fulfill. Ultimately, it looks like it has lived up to the hype, and in the process, captivated audiences worldwide who will no doubt be sad to see this magical world leave our screens.
Right from the opening scene, this film was very dark − it seems to me like each Harry Potter film was getting progressively darker. So while many of the people watching this film would have grown up together with the characters, I wouldn’t recommend Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part II) to younger, newer audiences. When I think back to the first film, it was much lighter − these young witches and wizards on the train to Hogwarts, where we see them do some magic and we see them in their various classes. Now it’s all about life or death − Harry’s friends are dying and we have emotional visits from loved ones already gone (and to the point where I actually started to tear up while the lady next to me in the cinema was crying!). For the last two films, we don’t see Harry, Hermoine and Ron attend any classes − they are no longer studying and their mission is now purely to defeat Voldemort. However, it was good to see some lighter moments, often in the form of passing remarks made by characters in the film, which helped break up the tension.
This film also focuses more on the character of Severus Snape, who up until now had been a fairly black-and-white almost two-dimensional stereotypical antagonist. But this time around, another layer of Snape is revealed and we see he is a much more complex character. Even as someone who has read all the books (a number of years ago), my memory of the films is stronger and so having watching all the previous movies lately, I also got sucked into the impression that we knew all there was to be known about Snape. So I guess, like Harry, I learn more about his character and it is quite touching to find out that there is essentially a love story at heart here, Snape’s undying love for Harry’s mother, Lilly. This film seems to illustrate that there is no longer plain good or bad people − the boundaries can be quite blurred. I don’t if it was just me but even Voldemort seemed to be on the verge of empathy at one point in this film − it was like he was rethinking his plan to kill Harry.
Anyway, there was also a lot more action and special effects in this film. While earlier films used effects largely for magic, like for the Whomping Willow or flying car, in this film, special effects are used for the major fighting scenes between the Death Eaters and the students and teachers at Hogwarts. These action scenes actually reminded me of Lord of the Rings − particularly with the types of creatures (like trolls) that featured in the battle, as well as the fact that they were trying to infiltrate the castle.
Also, I have to mention the ending as I was really curious as to how it would be portrayed in the film, if it would be portrayed at all. So as in the book, the film then jumps 19 years in the future. I personally found the final scene amusing as it just seemed really unrealistic. I’m not referring to the plot but the way the characters looked. I think I was expecting to see different actors play the grown-up versions of Harry, etc. Instead, we saw the same actors but with some extra stubble for the boys and more mature hairstyles for the girls. For me, there was hardly any difference between their appearance in the rest of the film and when they 19 years older. This struck me as strange and I guess it undercut the poignancy of the final scene for me.
Nonetheless, it’s sad that this franchise has finally ended − over the eight films we’ve seen these young characters grow into interesting individuals with their own distinctive personality traits. We’ve seen both dark times and light moments − happiness, fear, bravery, death, friendship and love. It’s one big magical adventure that is sure to remain one of my favourite film franchises.
5/5
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