REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

SPOILER ALERT! If you are the type of a review reader who doesn’t like his movie being spoilt to him, DON’T READ THIS. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.

This movie, this book, is a part of the childhood of many young people (including myself) that as soon as HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 finished, the finale was the talk of fanatic town. Imagine, this movie series, which captured the young and the young at heart, ran for a decade and seemed to never end. So when we all heard of the brutal truth that it will all come to an conclusion, we couldn’t help but talk about it.

Maybe Warner Bros. didn’t even have to put out all those billboards and advertisements for people to come and see it all end; the fans did it for them—it trended in twitter, creations relevant to the film were posted daily on Tumblr, DeviantArt and similar sites, fans made online forums to celebrate and mourn this ending—name it, all for the sake of closing that chapter of their childhood. Probably, WB already knew about that, which is why their displays consisted only of “It All Ends – 07*14” or “It All Ends – 07*15” with visually appealing images of the characters, to serve as a gentle reminder, “Hey you fans and regular viewers! Mark your calendars!”

This is what it spelled—HYPE!

Indeed, it had become all hype; it brought my expectations so high—maybe I shouldn’t have allowed myself to—that I felt like I fell head-on to ground when the reel started rolling.

Like I said in a previous review of a book-adapted movie, book adaptations should never be compared exactingly to their book counterparts. How do you expect a screenwriter to adapt an 800-paged book to a movie script of 90 to 100 pages? Exactly the way it was written by the book author? Be realistic!

On the other hand, to balance that declaration, we don’t want the screenwriter to rip the book apart or pull patches of scenes from the book, sew it up all together and hope it makes sense.

I personally didn’t expect the finale to be perfect, but what I did expect is for the movie to do the book justice. This supposedly action-and-emotion-packed film was lackluster of the typical wit and excitement that J.K.Rowling brought in the book and or the screenwriters in the previous films. The scenes that needed highlight were too fast (e.g. Snape and McGonagall Duel!), while those that could’ve been cut short (e.g. Gray lady-Potter conversation!) were too long. I was hoping to be uneasy while I watched, to squirm and maybe scream a little, laugh a lot and hop out of my seat while watching the movie even though I already read the book—yet it was a dull 2 hours.

Maybe the producers were eager to ride the tide of hype while it was still strong. I can hear them say, “Why should we bother what people will feel when they walk out of the cinema when it is what they actually feel about the movie that will bring them to the box office and buy our tickets?” I’m just assuming.

I should say, it is truly the experience of nostalgia that probably sold this film to many people, enough for it to gain WB a whopping amount of 44++Million USD in just one week. How should you feel when you see characters like Professors Sprout and Trelawney as well Madame Pomfrey in the background? How about watching Professor Flitwick scrambling on his tiny legs to reach safety? OR Professor McGonagall kicking Death Eater butts and fancily waving her wand to cast a powerful spell? They loaded big guns and small alike! They sure should. Even related merchandise were selling like hotcakes—shirts, accessories, DVDs and more. Unfortunately, they didn’t bring the right ammos.

While watching the movie, it also felt like loose ends were being forcefully tied together or being cramped into two hours. Lame techniques such as scene flashbacks from previous films and Lord Voldemort voiceovers became fillers to the gaping holes in the film. The movie looked like a poorly done collage.

However, I should say that the perfect way to bring this chapter of my life to a closure was to finish the movie to the last letter in the credits (which I learned in college, through one of my film professors), in respect of the people who made this film a reality. Besides, what are they there for, anyway? To waste film? Now I know what people pay for when they fall in line at the box office—a chance to be a child again, even just for two hours—or for people like me, to give that chapter of our lives a closure. And if that indeed was the movie’s major objective, it was successful, no questions. But to tell the story with justice, I’m so sorry that it failed.

3.0 out of 5.0

You may not agree, but that's just me. :)