While movies like Transformers: Dark of the Moon also deliver plenty of intense and exciting scenes, this feels like something altogether different, and a lot of that is helped by the dramatic tension and high stakes surrounding this finale. That’s right, just because there’s action aplenty doesn’t mean we only see a couple of hours of explosion after explosion! However, the few times things do seem to be heading in that direction, the director delivers a unique and different enough take to keep them fresh.
Screenwriter Steve Kloves does a great job of adapting and condensing another one of J.K. Rowling’s lengthy novels to the big screen. Of course, The Deathly Hallows is the only book to have been split in two, and with this being the second part, there’s plenty of time to get straight into the action and epic set pieces which make up the last hour or so of the movie and latter half of the book. As with the past seven films, there are some things they improve upon and others they do not. One thing I did notice was that the violence is toned down quite a bit, with many of the characters deaths occurring off screen. However, this is an understandable decision, and doesn’t impact the movie overall. For the most part though, this is a faithful and well done adaptation and while I’m there are probably more than a few scenes missing, it’s been a few years since I read the book and there was certainly nothing major not there from what I remember. If there was one major problem I had, it’s that a few of the important character moments are shortened in exchange for action. The final battle between Voldermort and Harry is lengthened in a way which actually results in it being even more thrilling than the book, but the important dialogue between the two I remember so well is nearly non-existent. This could have very easily ruined the movie for me as a diehard fan of the books, but there’s no denying that it’s a well written movie which tells the story in a satisfying and exciting way. It would be easy to tear this or any of the previous movies apart for their lack of faithfulness to some aspects of the books (many subplots, characters and moments have been cut entirely) but the adaptations of all seven have been very good in my opinion, and despite the lack of what I personally consider to be some important scenes, there’s no denying that this is probably the best film in the series yet.
In terms of acting, Daniel Radcliffe gives a strong performance, as do Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. The latter two don’t really have all that much to do in terms of dialogue (hardly surprising as this is really Harry and Voldermort’s story) but I couldn’t fault either of them as they do a perfectly good job with what they do have to work with. As for Radcliffe, I’ve been critical of him in the past, but he’s progressed well as an actor and I found myself greatly enjoying his performance here. As per usual though, it’s the older cast members who really steal the show. Without divulging any spoilers, Alan Rickman in particular delivers a touching and particularly memorable performance as Snape. Regardless of how big or small his role has been in these movies over the years, he’s always done an excellent job, but truly shines in the final instalment of the series. Hell, if you don’t at least tear up a little, you’re probably dead inside. Predictably, we get yet another quite frankly awesome take on Voldermort by Ralph Fiennes. Even more evil and twisted than usual, the man is as terrifying as ever and is without a doubt up there as one of the greatest movie villains ever, and despite the character having a considerable role in Part 2, I still wanted to see even more of him. Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagoll and Mathew Lewis as Neville Longbottom get a chance to shine in a way they never did in the past, while Tom Felton gave a surprisingly good performance in a fairly short amount of screen time. I also loved Warwick Davis as Griphook. Sadly, the focus on action as mentioned above results in us seeing less of some characters than I would have liked, and I must confess to being slightly confused by Kloves’ decision to give many of them pretty much nothing to say. Helena Bonham Carter and Robbie Coltrane are the perfect examples of this, but it’s still great to see so many of them included, and just the fact they’re there adds to the overall experience especially for any fans of the books…and if it still bothers you all that much, go read it and fill in the blanks yourself! However, this surprisingly doesn’t affect the film as much as you may think, and in all honesty it could have potentially slowed things down too much. After all, what works on the pages doesn’t always work on the screen! There are really no major faults I could find with a single actor in the movie regardless of however many lines they had anyway.
The special effects are as good as they’ve always been, and there are some even more impressive set pieces than usual in the finale. It goes without saying that the action packed fighting and destruction at Hogwarts is both breath-taking and epic, and I’m sure that a staggering amount of work was put into making it look as good as it did. In fact, I’d say it’s easily the some of the best action I’ve seen in a movie this year, possibly ever. Needless to say, the various spells and CGI enhancements are also as fantastic as usual. You only have to look at the latest trailer for the movie to see an example of the amazing visuals, so I won’t list them ALL again here, but they obviously look much better on the big screen and I can’t think of a better way of experiencing them. Whether it’s the underground scenes at Gringotts, a dragon flying over London or an intense fire in the Room of Requirement, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a stunning movie. Can the same be said for the 3D though? Not really. While it’s a much better conversion than THOR or Green Lantern, there’s no real need to see it in this format. It does admittedly enhance a handful of scenes, but I honestly wouldn’t advise forking out the extra cash just for those. With most of the movie taking place at night, it’s a blessing that they did do such a great job with the conversion as these scenes thankfully don’t suffer. Overall, it’s another movie unnecessarily converted in order to make more money at the box office, but if you are a fan of 3D, you’ll have little to complain about. Oh, and the score is superb! The cinema literally vibrated every now and then, and it really helped to enhance and improve the many dramatic and action orientated scenes.
