Harry
Potter is dead, long live Harry Potter. That statement is less of a
spoiler than it seems, but is suitably Byzantine for the twists and
turns of the final installment of the stupendously popular film
franchise based on the even more adored book series by J.K. Rowling.
Dark, moody, thrilling and yes, utterly melancholy, for the longtime
follower, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is one of the
best of the eight films. Those who have somehow never seen a single
movie will be partially under a Confundus Charm without a scorecard to
track all the characters, connections and lore that lead us to the
ultimate showdown between the bespectacled boy wizard and the pure evil
of He Who Must Not Be Named.
When
last we saw our brave Trio; Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron
Weasley, late of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they
were on the run from the unified forces of Harry’s archenemy practically
from birth, Lord Voldemort. Harry’s team of good guys emerges from a
safe house having licked their collective wounds after the previous
chapter’s tragic losses. The film takes a moment away from the hunted
teens to show us a little of what has been happening in their old
stomping grounds. We see a looming shot of the back of a cloaked figure
standing in a Hogwarts’ tower window observing as the formerly carefree
students now goosestep in time to the Dark Lord’s tune. The subsequent
close-up of the new headmaster, one Severus Snape, shows a man not
basking in the glow of the prestigious position he’s been granted, but
is the face of someone truly worried and conflicted. One person who
isn’t the least bit conflicted is Lord Voldemort. The nasty Hogwarts
alumni has prepped his Death Eater troops for battle on the grounds of
his alma mater in the notion that all resistance to his rule of the
wizarding world will fall away here with the deaths of Hogwarts’ great
defenders, Harry and his tenacious friends. The Trio make a decision in
their line of attack against Voldemort, choosing to abandon the
all-powerful Deathly Hallows introduced in Part One for the last few
horcruxes; the splinters of the Dark Lord’s soul captured in rare
articles known only to old Voldy himself. Harry’s theory is the
destruction of the seven horcruxes equals the destruction of Voldemort’s
complete soul and therefore, power. Nice theory, but can he prove it
without getting himself killed? An entire underground {Dumbledore's}
army of Hogwarts students believes he can and are willing to put their
lives on the line, not only to protect Harry, but to fight back against
the evil that wants to destroy them and their school. With death and
destruction all around him, including that of near and dear friends,
will Harry let his allies go on sacrificing themselves or will he live
up to the long-foretold prophecy about neither he nor Voldemort living
while the other survives? This is Harry Potter we’re talking about; the
answer should be obvious.
Dark,
dark, darkity, dark; gray is the prevailing colour of this final
chapter. From the rubble everywhere that used to be large sections of
the Hogwarts School, to the permanently overcast skies shrouding
everything in mist through most of the film, Deathly Hallows Part Two is
remarkable for its gothic beauty. Oversaturated silvertones fairly coat
the air around the floating, wraithlike Dementors, Voldemort’s deadly
legion of soul-sucking parasites, that now fly around the school at
will. The aforementioned opening shots of Snape look more like
Impressionist paintings than a scene from a kiddie film. Bruises are
everywhere you look; all over the Trio, all over their friends holding
down the fort at school and no one is spared. Seeing the Hogwarts
Quidditch field engulfed in flames is surprisingly moving. Everything
is up for grabs in this one and the tension begins right at the opening
Warner Brothers logo, shown with no music heard over it and after that,
the familiar themes used only sparingly and painfully, ratcheting up the
terse mood. There is far more concentration on action than narrative in
this chapter, and as such, scenes like the infiltration of the
ultra-secure Gringott’s Bank in search of another horcrux is literally a
roller coaster ride, ending with the Trio’s exhilarating flight on a
dragon. A very neat special effect is Professor McGonagall’s protection
spell which calls down the Ray Harryhausen-esque stone knights from the
very walls of Hogwarts and charges them to defend their school. The
movie improves a lot of the book’s failings this time; it is far easier
to see the interpretation of the battles that Rowling’s literary
descriptions limit. One of the hiding places for a particular treasure
is now a gigantic cavern and the conflagration of the same space is
amazing. The destruction of one extremely popular character is
horrifying even though it’s mostly only heard through a mottled glass
wall. Equally heartrending is the subsequent scene of that character’s
revelation and redemption. We are given a far more impressive Professor
McGonagall than was ever represented in the book, as she does what only
seems to make sense for the character and holds up the standard raised
by her true leader, the late Albus Dumbledore. The film also minimizes
the utter endgame uselessness of the Hallows, which seemed such a weak
and frustrating plot device in the book. The use of clips from the past
films to demonstrate things we as viewers might’ve missed or that
suddenly make sense when explained or elaborated on here is tremendously
helpful. It also shows us how very far in this series we’ve come from
those three oddball mites, who now stand to save both the Muggle and Wizarding
worlds, armed only with their wits, conviction and total trust in each
other.
Two
things not so well explained are the inclusion of Professor Dumbledore’s
brother, Aberforth, who protects the Trio and their Hogwarts friends and
has conversations with Harry as if they’ve been in communication through
the whole series. I only recall seeing Aberforth chase a goat in
Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, though there’s a
blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in the previous film regarding a special
piece of glass, it’s not enough to justify the in-depth dialog the two
share. It was awkward, like a big expository scene had been cut. The
other whaaa moment is pretty much the same as in the book, where a
certain character is killed, but is given a choice whether or not to
come back to the world of the living. Those who’ve read the book might
get a better grasp on it, but for the casual movie viewer, it doesn’t
make much sense. Despite the spectral appearance of Harry’s mentor,
Sirius Black during one tearjerking scene, on screen, that moment still
plays as cheesy and solely meant to wring a few more drops out of your
hankies as it was in the book. Recalling the multitude of characters
that you only get an inkling of is also a challenge as things are so
much faster paced in this movie. Even I needed a refresher on a couple
of the faces.
Back
to the good stuff, and by good stuff I mean a good lot of this paragraph
dedicated to singing the praises of Alan Rickman as Severus Snape.
This is really the actor’s moment to shine after over a decade in the
black wig, working that cape like America’s Next Top Model, increasingly
alluring visual-kei, Jrock star styling and short appearances in each of
the films. With Snape, Rickman has played a character nearly
Shakespearian in the depths of his tragedy; heartbreaking in the choices
he faces and the things he must endure for the sake of promises made and
the remembrance of a secret love. To be seen on all sides as a villain
and harbour an aching love/hate for the man -- and later, child -- to
whom he must entrust all his endeavours even if they may lead to his
demise. Pathos, fear, anger, hopelessness and heartache are all
captured in this final movie’s Snape and I’m calling a Supporting Actor
Oscar nomination for Rickman based on the power and scope he achieves in this
relatively small role. Other great stuff is the entire Malfoy clan, at
the loosest of ends, and like so many others, not doing very well in the
thrall of Lord Voldemort. Helen McCrory is a canny enough Narcissa; a
loving mother to her rotten son, Draco, and one who knows enough - even more
than her bedraggled, humiliated husband, Lucius - to get when the
getting is good. Matthew Lewis comes into his own as the brave and
unexpectedly mighty Neville Longbottom, cutting it pretty close to my
adored Rupert Grint in terms of arch comedic timing. There is also a
great line that undoes what I thought was a silly non-development in the
books, that author Rowling dismissed as “too obvious” (Yeah, because
nobody ever predicted Ron and Hermione would get together.).
Speaking of the Trio, doesn’t Miss Emma Watson look fabulous in Goth
gear? Good gravy, she’s even got cleavage. Yep, those kids are
certainly grown up and the not-very-spoilery payoff of Ron and Hermione,
while gratifying, does actually seem “too obvious” and only makes the
viewer wonder what took them so long? Sadly, Rupert Grint does not rock
the Goth clothing (or dodgy facial hair) with quite the same
style as Miss Watson, nor does his shirtless scene agree with him as it
does his leading man. Daniel Radcliffe is all grim determination that
still manages to take the breath away as he plays a seventeen year-old
boy who was ever on the sticky end of life’s lollipop, stating he is
ready to die. There are some characters missing from the final battle,
which in the book was pretty much a review of every living person left
in the series, but seeing old standbys like schoolmates Seamus and Dean
Jordan are a welcome connection to the series’ history. So, too, are
moments like Ron and Hermione’s arrival at the serpentine entrance to
the Chamber of Secrets. I actually would have liked even more
self-reverential moments, though I’m sure with a film as packed with
visual miscellany as this, I’ve missed a few.
So
very good this and so very sad: Not only because of the outcomes of so
many characters we as viewers may have cherished, but to know we’ll not
see them again or know their adventures. And no, the patently laughable
face merkin-filled flash forward doesn’t do much to alleviate the
melancholy. Even so, it’s been a good ride for the Harry Potter film
series with only a few real bumps (Deadly
Hallows: Part One, I’m looking at you.).
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 might indeed require a
scorecard for the uninitiated, but for those in the know, it is a more
than suitable ending for a decade-long journey that was truly magical.
Harry
Potter is dead, long live Harry Potter. That statement is less of a
spoiler than it seems, but is suitably Byzantine for the twists and
turns of the final installment of the stupendously popular film
franchise based on the even more adored book series by J.K. Rowling.
Dark, moody, thrilling and yes, utterly melancholy, for the longtime
follower, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is one of the
best of the eight films. Those who have somehow never seen a single
movie will be partially under a Confundus Charm without a scorecard to
track all the characters, connections and lore that lead us to the
ultimate showdown between the bespectacled boy wizard and the pure evil
of He Who Must Not Be Named.
