Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Review
By Brian Holland

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is about as good as it gets with all the Potter films. There was action, drama, and suspense throughout with even a bit of comedy sprinkled in, as in most Potter films. I would have to say this is the best Harry Potter film out of all eight, not because it followed the book the closest (which it didn’t), but because it was truly a great film with an intense climax.

I tried looking at this film not as a movie based on a book, but as a continuation of the first part of the movie. After doing that, I realized that this was a superb film. The acting was outstanding, direction was great, cinematography, costumes, music, you name it, it was great. I would be shocked if this film didn’t get nominated for at least one or two Oscar awards. Even non-Harry Potter fans would probably enjoy this film. And it’s pretty easy for them to understand: A group of teenagers is trying to hunt down objects to help destroy a very powerful bad guy and they return to their school to 1) Find one more object and 2) To help protect it from the bad guys. The way J.K. Rowling and the screenwriters made it that simple to understand makes this movie watchable by any moviegoer.

Now, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in how the movie didn’t follow the book too well. To me, whenever they make unnecessary changes (and believe me, they did), it is a bit of a slap in the face to author J.K. Rowling and her writing, saying that it’s not entertaining enough. However, while they did change many things, they still managed to keep things relatively close to the book, and changed very little which would contradict things from the book. For example, they had Goyle dying in the Room of Requirement, not Crabbe, which contradicts the book, but they needed to do that because the actor that played Crabbe was arrested. Other than that, very few changes that bothered me. I understand why they made all the other changes, because even I will admit the death of Voldemort in the book was a tad anti-climactic, so they had to spruce it up a bit in the film.

My favorite parts of this film were Snape’s memories and King’s Cross Station. Both were done extremely well and followed the book. Alan Rickman was amazing as Snape, especially in the Pensieve scenes, which is why I award him my “Best acting performance” award. Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, and Helena Bonham Carter were also very good in their roles. There really were no bad acting performances, except I wish we could have seen Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid more in this movie, because he always shines as the loveable caretaker.

I would recommend this film, obviously to any Harry Potter fan, but to any casual moviegoer. You really don’t need to have read the books, or have even seen Harry Potter films 1-6. All you have to really do is see the first part of this film. It is an enjoyable film for anybody 10 or older and this is definitely one film I want to see again—in theaters.

Rating: 9/10