Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

To me, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was on one hand impossible to make while simultaneously extremely easy to make. It was easy to make because in JK Rowling’s book, she tossed up several action sequences which begged to be made into incredibly suspenseful and intense action sequences in a hugely-budgeted film. On the other hand, this movie was impossible to make because given the source material, the film makers were hard pressed to give this series the ending it deserved. What I mean by that is this: JK Rowling’s final book roundly failed to deliver the closure for which fans of the series begged. She randomly and emotionlessly killed off major characters and failed to provide the “big 3” with the large scale resolution wanted, and at no point provided a satisfactory conclusion to the story of Albus Dumbledore. Given this, the film makers had to create something that was satisfying in a filmographical sense which failed on a literary level.

As far as the good moments went, I felt like the film did a fantastic job. When I read the book, I thought four scenes were developed especially for the film adaptation: Malfoy Manor, the robbery of Gringotts, the sacking of Hogwarts, and the scene at King’s Cross. The only scene of these which took place in Part I was Malfoy Manor, and I thought that scene was far and away the best in the film. The remaining scenes, which took place in Part II, were riveting, and provided more satisfaction (due entirely to visuals: the book was a template for a film rather than a true literary experience, IMO) than the book. I don’t want to give anything away, but suffice it to say that Neville Longbottom seemed far more heroic in the film than in the book.

As far as the difficult pieces, the film did a decent job. The ending of the book was laughable, if not down-right aggravating. I can remember reading the book and trying to muster up some tears for the ending of this series, which had spanned my entire childhood, and failing to do so. The film was not heart-wrenching, but given the source material, I felt relatively invested in the ending–more so than I did in the book. It is a shame that Ms. Rowling failed to adequately develop characters such as Ginny Weasley and Tonks, it is too bad that she killed off major characters without much fanfare, and it is too bad that she felt it necessary to murder the comic relief (seriously, if JRR Tolkien had murdered Pippin, we would have skewered him too). In parts, the film seems to mock the book’s ridiculous twists by giving slight references to major deaths.

In the end, if you are a fan of the series, seeing this film is necessary. Ms. Rowling and her compatriots at Warner Bros. have woven an amazing portrait of characters and situations which yearns for closure. It is a shame that the resolution they provide is so lacking–but it is what we have. If you, however, have not read the books or seen any of the films to this point, avoid this film. It is “Part II” of film which is the 7th part in a 7th part series. If you are unfamiliar with it, you will be entirely lost. And in addition, it isn’t all that great.

There is no way that those pictures are of the same person.

I wish I could chalk all this pessimism up to the fact that I am a 24 year old man watching a film made for children–but I can’t. Rowling’s work has been praised for its accessibility to audiences of all ages. The most tragic part of the conclusions to this series is that we know–down in the depth of our souls–that Rowling had the story-telling talents to give us an incredible conclusion to an amazing series, and failed to do so. It was my great hope in 2007 that she would write us another novel from the perspective of Neville Longbottom about this time period. However, as it becomes less and less likely that Ms. Rowling will ever write another novel, and that the resolution we have is the only one we will ever get, it makes me a little sad.

This has been cross posted from my personal blog, which you can find here.