Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two

Rating: 10/10 (22 June 2014)

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two" (2011) is the final of the series, which comprised of eight movies altogether. This movie had a lot of hype to live up to with the success of the book series as a whole, and the huge fandom that follows it. Anytime a book is made into a movie, there is a risk of angering a whole readership of people, and this movie did a superb job of following the book as much as possible. In this movie, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) are on a hunt for horcrux's, which are pieces of someone's soul concealed in an object. These horcrux's belong to Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), whom is the villain in the entire series, and has been trying to kill Harry since he was only a year old. The hunt for these has secretly been going on the whole series, but really culminates in these final two movies. The hunt leads Harry and his friends back to Hogwarts, the wizarding school, and is where most of the movie and the major battle occurs. The overall theme of the battle, and the whole series in general, is the battle between good and evil. Harry and his friends, along with the groups that are created to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters (his followers who do his bidding, which includes murder) represent the good, and Voldermort's team represents the evil. There are many instances in the movie when it seems that the evil might beat out the good. The overall feel of the movie is dark, and the lighting, especially during the battle of Hogwarts, is dark, which allows for the explosions and spells cast from the wands to be electrified even more. Even the music throughout a lot of it is seems dark and sad, but it slowly starts picking up as the battle rages on and gets more intense, adding to the feel of excitement. The montage of memory Snape's memories is a great piece of editing. The way that each memory flow so smoothly to the next, and how spot on to the book it was, really gives viewers the feeling that they are watching it right next to Harry. The key was the transitions. They not only flowed well, they tied back in with the story line, keeping the theme going at all times. Through most of the series Harry battles with not only Voldemort, but his own personal demons as well. This makes the theme of good and evil show up on many different levels, which all leads up to when Harry essentially sacrifices himself (realizing during the battle he himself is one of Voldemort's horcrux's) to make Voldemort mortal again, and able to be killed. This is Harry officially making the ultimate sacrifice so that the good side has a chance to win, even if he is not around to see it. He was afraid he was becoming evil, becoming like Voldemort but who we really are is shown in our choices, and his choice to sacrifice himself is one that Voldemort would have never made himself. Another wildly popular story about good and evil would be The Hunger Games. Even though it isn't as obvious as it is in the Potter series, the characters in the Hunger Games are essentially starting to fight back against the group of people who are running their lives, and sending children in an arena to fight to the death. In this story, Katniss would be the Harry character- unwillingly thrown into the hero role, leading a charge against evil, which would be the Capitol, led by President Snow. Snow could be seen as the Voldemort of the plot since he is responsible for the death and suffering of many people. Most stories that deal with good and evil have the viewer's rooting for good to prevail, and hope that the hero (or heroine) makes it out alive. If there is one thing that is learned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two it is that the battle between good and evil is not always easy, but backing down is not an option if you have something worth fighting for. Even when things look the darkest one must fight on until they have nothing left to give.