Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

DANIEL RADCLIFFE as Harry Potter in Warner Bros. Pictures' fantasy adventure HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART 2, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo by Jaap Buitendijk.

The story has finally come to its conclusion. And what a conclusion it is.

I went to see the latest – and last – of the Harry Potter movie series today, on its world premiere day, expecting a worthy end to a long running series. I haven’t read any of the books yet, so I was truly going into the theater blindfolded, not knowing exactly how things would turn out. I bought my ticket about a month ago, and spread across these weeks, I’ve re-watched the entire Harry Potter movie series from beginning to end; the first 6 on DVD from my collection, and the seventh (Deathly Hallows Part 1) was downloaded from a file-sharing site. I chose to download it (technically, that probably makes me a criminal) because, given their titles, I merely want to wait until the last one comes out on DVD to buy the last two together as some sort of box set or collection. And over the last week, I must’ve watched “Part 1” of this pair about 2 or 3 times, just to be buried deep enough into the story and not miss a thing when the final one would be released. That, and it’s really a great movie.

Those who have read the books, probably already knows how the last film turns out in the end, and those who haven’t, are in for quite a treat as well. If I had to make a suggestion: Don’t watch Deathly Hallows Part 2 unless you’ve seen the previous 7 movies first. I’d say that’s a necessary prerequisite before watching this one, or you’ll miss out a great deal on the story.

The movie picks up more or less where we left off, and the last scene from the previous movie (showing Voldemort) does make an appearance at the very start of the movie (before the title is shown). We are then returned to the beach safe house seen at the end of the movie, starting with Harry at the grave of *mumblemumblemumble*, mourning his friend (I won’t name names to avoid spoiling the end of part 1 for those who haven’t seen it yet). The trio (Harry, Ron and Hermoine) begin their plans for continuing the quest of finding the remaining horcruxes to destroy Voldemort, starting off at a certain storage location (again, not naming names to avoid spoiling too much of the fun).

I can’t really say much more without spoiling too much of the whole story, which I think really says a lot about how much stuff that happens throughout the movie. I feel I can say this much, though: Yes, some people we’ve known in the movies for some time now will die, but they do so in such a manner (and are minor enough) that we can mourn the losses and move on, although the moment of finding out they died certainly was filled with sorrow.

The movie’s story seems to take place in less than a day (not counting the epilog at the end), and is quite well-paced and filled with action.

Aaaarrrgh! I want to say so much about the story, but feel that I have to restrain myself to avoid spoiling the details!

We have followed these youngsters from a very young age, throughout about 7 years at Hogwarts and beyond, and along the way, these have become, at least in spirit, our good friends. It feels a bit sad to part ways with these friends, but it’s also a relief that so many bad things also come to an end.

All in all, a perfect conclusion to a long story.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★