A fitting end to a long saga

Rating: Null/10 (15 July 2011)

There were a more than a few sighs in the cinema audience when the final scene ended with the fade out of the 3 protagonists (who IMO didn't age 19 years at all) as their children departed for Hogwarts. Most of these sighs came from the slightly younger people in the audience, the Gen Y and Gen Z. I know how it feels. I grew up with Star Wars and I got that same feeling when the saga concluded with "Revenge of the Sith". It's that feeling of emptiness that there is nothing else to look forward to now.
The final installment of the Harry Potter story is everything the viewer wants, and more. The performances of all actors, even those in supporting roles, were excellent. While it was natural that the younger stars got most of the attention, to me, the outstanding performances came from the older ones, like Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, David Thewlis and Jason Isacs.
I was completely fascinated by Alan Rickman's Severus Snape. His back story, done in a flashback, was the fulcrum to which the entire series rests upon. Alan Rickman played the part of a misunderstood hero to absolute perfection. From the flashback, you can see his complete devotion to his childhood friend, Lily, and how he loved her so much that he was willing to sacrifice his good name and reputation to protect her legacy, ie, Harry Potter. Watch out for the scene when he uttered "you have your mother's eyes" before dying. It would make your viewing of Snape's memories that much more poignant. Unfortunately, that flashback was hastily done, and it does not give justice to Snape's dislike of James Potter. But I suppose for that to happen, the running time would have to be extended by another 30 mins. Alan Rickman owned Snape, and Snape owned Harry Potter.
The other standout performance was none other than Ralph Fiennes' Voldermort. He reminded me of that sadistic Nazi camp commander in "Schinder's List", a role which he excelled. You'll feel a chill in your spine even when all he needs to do is stare at you from the screen. A little girl about 6 who was sitting in the row in front of me grabbed her mother for dear life when he did this. Yes, he was that good.
Finally, you will understand the reason for the inter-twining of the destinies of Harry and Voldermort, which happened on the night James and Lily were killed.
All in, this is a fitting and well deserved conclusion to a saga which needed a full 10 years to unfold.