The Perfect Finale to a Remarkable Series

Rating: 10/10 (12 August 2011)

I have been a Harry Potter fan for a long time, so I really surprised to find out that the final Harry Potter film "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" is the best of the eight films since the first four films. In "Order of the Phoenix", I thought that David Yates was making the story a bit dull, but it was still a good adaptation. In "Half-Blood Prince", Yates made the story better and leaner and funnier than ever and he became a rather ordinary to an extraordinary filmmaker. In the first half of the "Deathly Hallows", he succeeded again only to bring in a lot of the rising danger that our three heroes had to face and he did that with the help of composer Alexandre Desplat. Now in "Deathly Hallows Part 2", Yates has become a full-fledged director who knows how to pull all the right stops and he, like screenplay writer Steve Kloves (who didn't adapt the 5th book in J.K. Rowling's series), manages to stay true to Rowling's books by bringing us to the edges of darkness. In the end of "Deathly Hallows Part 1" Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) possessed the Elder Wand from the dead Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and in the beginning of "Deathly Hallows Part 2", Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) has finally reached the breaking points in their friendship. They are still in search of the Horcruxes (fragments of Voldemort's soul) and it is bringing them back to the place when they were taught how to do magic: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's now owned by the Death Eaters and Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), the magic has crumbled and the dementors are keeping a lookout for the trio. A lot of our favorite characters are back and some get some huge screen time including Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis, even stronger than "Order of the Phoenix") and Professor McGonagall (the ferocious Maggie Smith). The Battle of Hogwarts itself is very shocking and very scary. Lives are lost, one has to make a sacrifice and there are a few people who are willing to survive and to live another day. I am seriously not spoiling anything here. But we do get to know the back story of Snape and the long-awaited battle of Voldemort and Harry. Yes, there are also a few fan moments that we have expecting to see, especially a battle between Mrs. Weasley (Julie Walters) and Bellatrix (Helena Bonham Carter) and the incredibly emotional finale set 19 years later. (I won't explain the rest). At 2 hours and 10 minutes, "Deathly Hallows Part 2" is the shortest of the series and it manages to still stay true to the second half of the book. It is devastating, funny, sharply written and brilliant at its very best. I'll give you a warning though for those entering in: It's extremely violent for a PG-13 and then again, it's perfectly safe. I loved the books and I've admired the films for over 10 years now and it's great to see how Radcliffe, Grint and Watson grown from young up-and-coming actors to real grown-up actors now. It's very remarkable. P.S: I went to go see it in 2D instead of 3D, but then again, it's your choice. This is, not only the best of the series or the best summer film of the year, but it is the best film I've seen in 2011. Period. It's the best finale yet and, yes, I am comparing them to the finales of "The Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars". They were epic in every way and now this one is an epic that stays on its own. I advise you see it, for Harry Potter fans only.