Spoiler - David Yates Rushes

Rating: Null/10 (3 September 2011)

My wife and I went to see the DH2 on her birthday. I was hopeful that David Yates would have broken his dismal track record with Harry Potter. My hopes were dashed early on when Mr. Ollivander talked about the Deathly Hallows instead of just the Elder Wand. It was also clear that Harry's Holly and Phoenix Feather wand was not going to reappear since Harry didn't ask Ollivander about fixing it. Of coursing blowing past Harry's birthday party and not allowing Hagrid to give Harry the mokeskin pouch in DH1 pretty much called that shot.
The story line, Voldemort "feeling" the loss of the horcruxes, represented a total lack of knowledge of book six where Dumbledore states that Voldemort's soul is too damaged and immersed in evil to be aware of this. Dumbledore guesses that at the point of death Voldemort might know but otherwise not so much. This is further highlighted in that when the ring horcrux a.k.a. the resurrection stone, is broken Voldemort isn't aware of this. He is also unaware of the breaking of Slytherin's locket. In fact, it's not until Voldemort is told of the break in at Gringotts that he kills everyone he can in his rage knowing that Harry is after horcruxes. He then keeps Nagini with him all the time and, in the book, begins to check the other horcruxes finding them gone. Yet he believes the one at Hogwarts is safe.
Snape's death was not as reflective of what Harry saw since he saw it from inside Voldemort's mind in the book. This allowed the horror of it, the total disregard Voldemort had for the life of a valued servant, to slip by though Snape's actual death scene was evocative. Unfortunately the death of Fred Weasley, Tonks, and Remus, seemed far more detached and quickly passed from the screen. Harry wanted to bury himself in someone else's memories and he had very little time and fewer answers in the screen version of "The Prince's Memories".
As has been said by others Hagrid showed no emotion over the loss of Harry. In fact, other than Ginny and Neville no one showed any emotion over the loss. By the way, it should have been just before daylight and there were only two giants both of whom should still be alive. Grawp fought for the good guys as did Buckbeak or should I say Witherwings and the Thestrals in the final battle along with the residents of Hogsmeade and family of the remaining students and even the house elves led by none other than Kreacher! That would have made a far more powerful end than people and snakes blowing up in smoke.
Molly came to rescue her daughter in a powerful way. Bellatrix attempted to laugh her off but quickly realized she couldn't. When Molly was victorious Bellatrix fell over and died. People cheered. Why can't David Yates show this kind of emotion. By this time Nagini was already dead. Killed in front of Voldemort, its head falling at Voldemort's feet.
If you wanted to show fear on the face of Voldemort follow J K Rowling's ending more closely. When Harry threw the shield charm to protect Molly and Voldemort looked to see who had done it and Harry came out from under the cloak the Great Hall exploded and then went completely still. In the movie Voldemort is forced off a tower by Harry and they somehow survive the fall crawl to their wands and fight until the snake is killed. Give me a break. Then when Harry kills Riddle, Riddle melts into nothingness so how do people know he's really dead? That was the problem with the first event; no body to bury.
To top that all off, no one, absolutely no one says good job Harry. Hagrid gives him a hug but that's as emotional as it gets. Then Mr. Yates has Harry break the Elder Wand. Now why didn't Dumbledore think of that? After all Dumbledore wanted to prevent Voldemort from getting the Elder Wand and here he thought he had to die undefeated. If he would have asked Mr. Yates he would have known to just break the darn thing.
The actors did a great job with what they were given. This was not a good end to a great series. It was an average end at best. I know I'm in the minority with this. I think David Yates was on a schedule and meant to keep it. I wish he would have invested a few more minutes into the movie and then he could have had a ten. Unfortunately it was too important to get to the end. The prologue even missed out on some of the touching emotion that could have been there. A movie, after all, is more than just about action.
Don Whalen