End of a Wild Wizarding Ride
Director: David Yates
Writers: Steve Kloves, J.K. Rowling
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Isaacs, Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright
SYNOPSIS: Harry, Ronald and Hermione continue their quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes, culminating in an epic battle between good and evil, and between He Who Should Not Be Named and The Boy Who Lived.
REVIEW: Ten years, eight films, seven books, five directors and one amazing author have brought us a literary phenomenon, a $6 billion plus movie franchise, and an epic story of three wizarding friends that changed the landscape of both print and cinema. Launching a dozen or more other children's novel film franchise hopefuls including The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, the Harry Potter series remains at the top of the food chain. A generation of children and adults have grown to love the action, adventure and spell-binding charms of a boy with a lightning bolt scar and possibly the Chosen One against the darkest of the dark arts.
David Yates, director of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, takes a treatment from J.K. Rowling's trusted adaptation scribe Steve Kloves (except Order of the Phoenix), and brings the road trip home in time for the ultimate battle between the forces of good and darkness.
Where Part 1 was a epic road trip, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is a epic war film. An amalgam of Star Wars and Saving Private Ryan - and the culmination of the Potter films that preceded it - this Deathly Hallows is filled with vast slow-motion battles, a variety of creatures, good and evil wizards, and our trio of teenage "Year 7" heroes. Veiled in deep dark tones, and seeped with swirling dust and rubble, Part 2's gritty portrayal of the end of Hogswart's and the spellcasters that oppose Voldemort is both sad, despairing - with a glimmer of hope and perseverance. How can anyone stand up to the tide of darkness that He Who Should Not Be Named leads?
Remember how you felt when Luke finally faced Darth Vader in the third act of The Empire Strikes Back for their lightsaber battle? When Lord Vordemort and the Elder Wand faces off against Harry and the weapon he disarmed from Draco in Part 1, we bear witness to a magical duel we have never seen before and have been waiting for eight films. In a word, brilliant!
I need not explain the story to the readers and viewers since the majority of the planet have read the entire series of novels. That been said, the same fans who will cheer at Neville Longbottom and Professor McGonagall, avid fans will complain about some of the omissions from the source material or scene edits that seem to expect the moviegoer to know the background of the film they are watching. How does Hagrid end up at the end of ropes, captured by the Deatheaters? Some scenes are kept in because the readers would have been horrified if they were cut, but the loss and triumphs of the Weasley family during the final battles seemed more like background noise instead of center pieces.
Once the dust settled and the smoke clears you will be happy to be able to tell people you witnessed the end, but will be immediately sad that the franchise is over. All we can hope for is for Rowling to start writing or releasing the "lost" stories of Harry Potter and his friends, so we can renew our adventures in the magical and wizarding world of the Hogwart's universe.
REVIEW: Ten years, eight films, seven books, five directors and one amazing author have brought us a literary phenomenon, a $6 billion plus movie franchise, and an epic story of three wizarding friends that changed the landscape of both print and cinema. Launching a dozen or more other children's novel film franchise hopefuls including The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, the Harry Potter series remains at the top of the food chain. A generation of children and adults have grown to love the action, adventure and spell-binding charms of a boy with a lightning bolt scar and possibly the Chosen One against the darkest of the dark arts.
David Yates, director of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, takes a treatment from J.K. Rowling's trusted adaptation scribe Steve Kloves (except Order of the Phoenix), and brings the road trip home in time for the ultimate battle between the forces of good and darkness.
Where Part 1 was a epic road trip, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is a epic war film. An amalgam of Star Wars and Saving Private Ryan - and the culmination of the Potter films that preceded it - this Deathly Hallows is filled with vast slow-motion battles, a variety of creatures, good and evil wizards, and our trio of teenage "Year 7" heroes. Veiled in deep dark tones, and seeped with swirling dust and rubble, Part 2's gritty portrayal of the end of Hogswart's and the spellcasters that oppose Voldemort is both sad, despairing - with a glimmer of hope and perseverance. How can anyone stand up to the tide of darkness that He Who Should Not Be Named leads?
Remember how you felt when Luke finally faced Darth Vader in the third act of The Empire Strikes Back for their lightsaber battle? When Lord Vordemort and the Elder Wand faces off against Harry and the weapon he disarmed from Draco in Part 1, we bear witness to a magical duel we have never seen before and have been waiting for eight films. In a word, brilliant!
I need not explain the story to the readers and viewers since the majority of the planet have read the entire series of novels. That been said, the same fans who will cheer at Neville Longbottom and Professor McGonagall, avid fans will complain about some of the omissions from the source material or scene edits that seem to expect the moviegoer to know the background of the film they are watching. How does Hagrid end up at the end of ropes, captured by the Deatheaters? Some scenes are kept in because the readers would have been horrified if they were cut, but the loss and triumphs of the Weasley family during the final battles seemed more like background noise instead of center pieces.
Once the dust settled and the smoke clears you will be happy to be able to tell people you witnessed the end, but will be immediately sad that the franchise is over. All we can hope for is for Rowling to start writing or releasing the "lost" stories of Harry Potter and his friends, so we can renew our adventures in the magical and wizarding world of the Hogwart's universe.
WORTH: Friday Night Opening and BluRay
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