Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

A generic fantasy colouring book that benefits from the dark undertones of The Dark Knight and The Return of the King. The inspiration of those masterpieces is blatant in places and at times it seems that the viewer will finally find their own way in all that copy-pasted and uninventive darkness (where is the childlike playfulness and originality of the first and second films?), but the finale is a flabby, artless affair. I can understand that just as the Harry Potter books and films age and evolve, so do their audiences, but keeping they’ve been far from successful at quality bar at all frequencies. (08/14/2023)

Harry Potter is a monotonous and long-winded franchise that reached its premature peak in the third part, Cuaron’s The Prisoner Of Azkaban, which isn’t at all surprising. The first four books can be considered standalone stories, each with its own specific plot arc (the search for the philosophers’ stone, the legend of the chamber of secrets, the danger of a fugitive prisoner, the tournament of schools of wizardry), while the remaining three are a overly long storytelling mess about the “final confrontation of good versus evil”. Add to this the fact that the third part was the only one in charge of a director whose ambitions could be said were higher than only bringing to the screen an unoriginal adaptation of a book, and the shortcomings of the entire saga are clear. Evidently, this will be enough for some of the hardcore fans, nothing against that, but it’s funny to observe how some of them give priority to (and also reject) a different episode. This could be taken as proof of the diversity of the episodes, but to me it’s actually proof of the inconsistency of the saga as a whole – basically, it only depends on which film each fan prefers. But now briefly about Deathly Hallows: Part 2 itself (because it doesn’t warrant a long comment). I can take bland performances in summer blockbusters, I can take a concise and episodic script, but that the mood among the people of Hoghwarts after the longed for defeat of the Lord of Evil (which everyone had been waiting for X years) would be as if their team had ended third out of four in a big tournament, and that major characters would die out of frame as if by the way, without a hint of emotion... THAT’S QUITE SOMETHING! Yeah, and the epilogue is just as stupid as Rowling wrote it, so the film doesn’t deserve any bitching for that :-D (07/20/2011)

About until half way through (somewhere after conjuring up the barrier) I have no objections. However, thereafter, instead of gradually climaxing the eighteen hours spanning ten years, it chops it up into a series of a few dozen moments. Each of them is great, often atmospheric too, and frequently gripping and ingenious, but put all together they don’t give the impression of a unified story heading toward one goal. It chops it up more and more until it turns into something that, despite being impressive and entertaining, is an epically cold popcorn picture. The only emotions are provoked only by (again the genius of) Desplat. And that is a bit too little. (07/17/2011)

It's definitely almost a star better than the first part (but I'm still giving it the same rating since it just doesn't deserve 4 stars). Yes, we've got the conclusion of the grand Harry Potter saga, we get to see a lot of old friends flash by, except that... everyone's barking, nothing is done properly or realistically, and the music isn't that great either – kind of a mousy wallflower (here of all places, when it's supposed to be so epic!). For being 130 minutes long, the film went by very quickly for me – a plus. Unfortunately, a lot of scenes came across as kind of weird, hollow, there was bad continuity (for example the sequence of Hermione – snake – Ron, then in the next shot the snake – Hermione and Ron; I’m wondering how Hermione got past the snake...), even the scene that made me shed a tear, all of the action was so tastelessly interrupted that I couldn't even properly enjoy the feeling of grief, sorrow... what a pity. And then the fight with Voldy. I mean, it was ridiculous; even his death – are we back to the first one again? Despite my dissatisfaction with all the individual flaws, it was a decent film overall, but I wouldn't have had to go see it in theaters (which I did), the DVD would have been enough. For how I expected the film to be a climax, it didn’t quite land. A better 3 stars, just so I’m not being mean. Btw. I am a fan of the saga; I just don't want to watch something all blinded with sentiment. (09/09/2011)

It started beautifully and magically, it ended dramatically and spectacularly... I am satisfied beyond measure with the ending. Compared to the first part, I have nothing to ponder here and I'm giving it full stars right out of the box. I really had the feeling that something important was ending and I must admit that I even shed a tear. In my mind the creators left no stone unturned... the perfect reveal of the truth about Snape, the final fight between Harry and Voldemort, and the final memory of how it all started... once again, 100%. (08/10/2011)