I'm not a big Harry Potter fan. Read the first book, enjoyed it but not enough to want to keep reading. I have seen all of the movies but not in sequence, and although I enjoyed some I disliked, even hated one or two also. But one I did enjoy, very much in fact, was last year's penultimate installment which sets up this grand finale. I thought director David Yates did a great job eliciting genuine and engaging performances from the three leads, something I felt was largely absent from all previous movies.
So does he continue his good work with this last movie? Well, yes, but while his previous film felt quite slow and a bit dragged out at times this one suffers from the opposite. At just over 2 hours the shortest of the series really feels it. Because the final book was split into two movies we get what is basically a race to the finish line here. Now this is great for exciting action scenes, but it also means the story , as well as some supporting character's suffer for it at the same time. After a very effective opening scene featuring Snape watching students being herded into Hogwarts by Dementors we begin straight after events of the last movie. Potter, Hermione and Ron bury poor Dobby the elf and continue on their mission to destroy the remaining Horcruxes which contain fragments of Voldemort's soul. There is a great bank heist set piece but then it's pretty much straight into siege movie territory, as the remainder of the action takes place in Hogwarts with our heroes battling to defend the school, and themselves, from annihilation. Along the way, destinies are realized, romances blossom, people die, good wins out(or course). And it's all very exciting and emotional. Kind of.
See the problem for me was that what were clearly supposed to be the big emotional sucker punches in the story didn't really work. Now you might say "Well that's because you're not a fan, don't love the characters" etc etc, but you see had I loved them I would have been more annoyed! I'm sure you know that there are several pretty significant deaths in the movie. A few supporting, but important character are killed in the attack on Hogwarts. But we don't see it. We see them lying dead and everybody is sad but this is a wasted opportunity to turn the peril and dramatic stakes up to 11. It's almost as if they were an afterthought. And time is no excuse, Yates didn't mind sticking every last shot of characters walking across mountains that he could shove into the last movie. I don't see how adding another fight sequence or two would have hurt this one. And then we have the "twist". So it turns out Snape is a good guy after all. He is killed by Voldemort. Should be all sad and redemptive and emotional right? Well maybe it would have been but the big revelation comes AFTER he is dead. Now if you read the books and knew this was coming, fine. But what if you hadn't? Seems like putting the cart before the horse to me. Despite that, Alan Rickman's performance and the flash back we get mean it does have some impact, just not as much as it could have had imo.
Now this stuff didn't ruin the movie for me because it is after all Harry's story and with him and his journey I was invested. Thanks in no small part to another great performance from Daniel Radcliffe. He is in practically every scene and the action only slows down for him in brief moments while he is searching the castle etc. Unfortunately this means that his two co-stars don't get a whole lot to do. Ron and Hermione's biggest contribution to this story is that they finally kiss. Even Neville Longbottom get's more to do. Again, not a deal breaker for me as I don't particularly like Ron as a character and Hermione I could take or leave. Still, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson give decent performances, Watson actually very good. And as I mentioned, Matthew Lewis as Neville really comes into his own as a total bad-ass. And as the personification of evil, Ralph Feinnes is once again on form as Voldemort. Having a much larger role here than in any previous movie. We also get pretty much every character, alive or dead, popping up for cameos. Which is cool, but when great characters like Helena Bonham Carter's Bellatrix Lestrange get sweet [frick] all do do except simper and die you start to feel maybe a few too many familiar faces were shoe horned in.
But what about the action I hear you ask? This is after all the last battle, surely we can expect some epic clashes? Yep, in that regard it does not disappoint. The entire siege on Hogwarts is handled brilliantly. And the special effects are second to none. Dementors, Trolls, Stone Warriors all clash while our heroes race around with their wands flashing left right and center. It's great stuff, and builds to a very satisfying face off between Harry and Voldemort(except I hate the whole he dies and comes back to life crap). But I think my favorite scene is the epilogue, set 19 years later. For me it just seems like the most poignant part of the story and the actors all play it brilliantly.
I enjoyed the movie, just not quite as much as the last one even with the added action this time. If you are a big fan I'm sure you will get more out of it and maybe, lets be honest, gloss over a few of the problems. But still, a satisfying enough ending to the franchise and along with
Deathly Hallows part 1 by far my favorites in the series.
Oh, and I can't comment on the 3D because I decided to skip it on the advice of quite a few people. 2D was just fine.
By TwitterButtons.com