Harry Potter 7b

Rating: 7/10 (27 July 2011)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) was directed by David Yates. This film is wildly popular and is now ranked with the IMDb top 100 movies of all time. I can see why it's a box office hit. If you've read all the books, and seen the first seven movies, it's unthinkable not to see number eight. However, it's not clear to me why so many thousands of IMDb viewers rated the film as high as they did.
The three main characters are there and--gasp--they've grown up. Emma Watson looks great in jeans, and Daniel Radcliffe needs to shave. Many of the "dead" characters get to come back in dream sequences, so the excellent cast is complete.
Ralph Fiennes is one of the world's great villains. Any movie that includes Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith as supporting actors has to have something good going for it.
Director Yates has faithfully followed J.K. Rowling's plot--no one really wants a different story or a different ending. In fact, Yates has improved upon the book by paring down Rowling's ill-conceived epilogue.
If you want excitement, the movie is full of it. However, as a local Rochester reviewer pointed out, most of the action consists of people pointing wands at each other and firing away.
If, unlikely as that may be, you haven't seen all the other films, I wouldn't bother with this one. If you're someone who has, indeed, seen all of the other films, then you must see this one. You won't be disappointed, but you won't be enlightened or surprised either.
The Harry Potter series was successful, it was fun, and now it's over. It was a great ride while it lasted, and I enjoyed almost every minute of it. I'm just not sure that Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is one of the best 100 movies ever made.