When I first heard that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would be split into two films I was outraged. I thought once again here was a chance for the filmmakers, including author JK Rowling, to rifle through the world’s pockets and take everything they could find. I thought they would ruin a perfectly good storyline just to make an extra few million. I resented their decision to split the book until I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
To my surprise, the story flowed well and stayed as true to the books as possible under the circumstances. Looking back, I realize this couldn’t have been done nearly as well if it wasn’t split. DH2 did enough back-story to get you caught up but mostly just moved smoothly onward from where DH1 ended. They could have made both movies a bit longer and more detailed, after all why split up the movies if, when you put them together again, it’s not even as long as Gone with the Wind? It would have been so much more worth it, I feel, if they were each 3 hours long; (no longer than each Lord of the Rings film) and I’m sure they could have filled in the time very nicely for both DH1 and DH2.
That being said, it was still very well done. It was exciting and thrilling and fascinating in a way that only the world of Harry Potter can provide. Most of that was thanks to the visual effects department. Make up wardrobe and CGI were all brilliant. There is a particularly powerful scene where the people of Hogwarts are gearing up for battle. What follows is a great digital animation sequence showing statues coming to life and a protective barrier springing up to guard the school. Since this is a wizard battle, they fight with magic. There are no swords to choreograph, no weapons, just little sticks waving around; and it’s up to the special effects department to painstakingly digitally add in all the flashing lights and make believe creatures, which they did to enormous success.
Additionally from the visual effects department, there was a nice use of age-changing technology. There are moments where some key characters are portrayed younger or older. Normally someone new would be brought in to portray the older or younger person, but it’s much harder to make the audience believe that this stranger on screen is the same character they have been identifying with for years. This technology allowed them to use the same actors, rather than bring in someone new, and the effect was nearly flawless.
As far as the plot goes, they could have mentioned the Deathly Hallows more, after all it’s only the title of the movie. This essential part of the story got shunted sideways to make room for the rest of the film and as a result I feel it is very lacking in explanation. All it would have taken was a few seconds of well-chosen dialogue at the end to successfully summarize the significance of the Deathly Hallows, but they didn’t do it.
The end battle was great to watch. It really captured the essence of the book well, though the final Harry/Voldemort faceoff could have been done better. The book shows it as a seven-page dialogue, where Harry reveals some key information, and if repeated on film exactly as in the book, it would have looked very anticlimactic. I don’t begrudge them spicing it up a little, but dueling and dialogue don’t go together, and this key information needed to be revealed somehow. They added a cheesy few lines that were not effective and only made the fight look awkward. Furthermore, everyone in the castle was supposed to be watching this epic battle. This is the crucial moment, the reason the stories exist and I think it would have had more impact if all fighting around them stopped as both sides watched Harry and Voldemort’s final duel.
By far the best scene was when Harry enters the memories of supposed dark wizard Severus Snape. Alan Rickman deserves an Oscar for his performance in this role. He is nothing short of captivating and I don’t think Rowling herself could have asked for a better actor to play this role. All throughout the series Snape has been the most dynamic and most mysterious character; his story finally comes together and becomes the pivotal point of the film. They needed a phenomenal actor to convey this character and Rickman was perfect.
The acting from all the cast was very well done, I particularly enjoyed Helena Bonham Carter’s portrayal of Bellatrix Lestrange, and Matt Lewis as Neville Longbottom. There are only a handful of moments in any film that I can say are better than the book and Neville’s monologue is one of them. It was heartwarming and defiant and really shows how courageous he is in the face of danger. Another moment I enjoyed more than the book was Harry’s speech to Snape; it was much more powerful and fantastic than what I had imagined. It also was great to see a number of characters returning from previous films to help in the fight.
The reason it has taken me so long to write this review is I had not yet had the opportunity to see it in 3D. Now that I have I wish I had just written the review. DH2 in 3D was OK but not great. There were quite a few parts that really needed 3D, like the battle scenes, that somehow just fell short. I felt like I was still watching it in 2D. The day has come and gone where 3D needs to be gimmicky with pop-outs and stuff flying in your face at every moment. Instead, 3D is supposed to enhance the overall experience. For me, at an extra three dollars per ticket at the box office, I was hoping the 3D version would be a little snazzier and it just wasn’t. The biggest 3D moment was when a certain dark wizard is destroyed and he disintegrates into many pieces. The ashy bits of him float up in your face and it feels so gross. Apparently, that scene the best they could do with their 3D technology, but it was an overall unpleasant effect and the least appealing of the pop-out moments.
Composer Alexandre Desplat should be commended for his great use of music. It was very soft and subtle; it didn’t overpower the scenes at all. It was dark and dangerous and then switched to hopeful and uplifting in all the right places. He also went back to basics. There were threads of the original score from the first film woven into this score, which enhanced the magical feeling of it and made me remember how it all began. Equally as impressive was the use of silence, in the most vital moments the silence and stillness made the scenes extremely powerful. Not a shuffle of snacks or even the sound of breathing was heard in the theater at these moments. I haven’t heard a Harry Potter score this brilliant since Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004.
Overall, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was a great success. It was much more accurate and more fun to watch than many of the others. There are rumors that this film will have a huge number of deleted scenes which will be included in the DVD, and I hope this is true. I really want to see if anything that was lacking will be made up for with these scenes. I will definitely be seeing it again and I hope you all will too. I do suggest watching DH1 as a sort of refresher course before you see DH2, especially if you haven’t read the books (though if you haven’t by now, what is wrong with you?)
