Goodbye, Harry, Prince of Summer

Rating: Null/10 (13 July 2011)

"I never wanted any of you to die for me." Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe)
There goes a decade of Potter watching, a 20 hour marathon of magic wands and ripening kids. Not a bad run (billions of dollars later) with characters likely to stay in our popular culture imagination indefinitely.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, we see what happens when Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) gets the Elder Wand, one of the three components of the Deathly Hallows that will give him omnipotence. My consistent criticism of the series has been its reliance on pyrotechnics when the intellectual combat is more rewarding. But then J. K. Rowling's series is about and for adolescents who live through the magic of being young and the youthful adults who people the theaters and read the books with them.
In this final chapter Harry (Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) are locked in the final battle with the Dark Lord, Voldemort, specifically trying to destroy his three Horcruxes and therefore his hold on immortality. Through all the fireballs and flame throwing, the most important element for me is the presence of death, even alluded to in the last part of the Dark Lord's name. The film carefully and maturely considers what James Joyce called the "melancholy unity between the living and the dead." Not only must Harry face his imminent death, he must also learn about the great circle of human sympathy that extends to the dead, with hands held out, so to speak, in brotherhood. Yes, we do see Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Harry's parents again, shades that they are, but substantial ones who stay with Harry in his final moments, as all our departed loved ones do in our minds.
The film is ultimately about growing up to meet the challenges of adulthood and death. It all ends with just the right emphasis on the circle of life and the reality of death.
Hats off to an enduring series that has asked kids to face maturely the biggest issues of life and have magical fun at the same time.