Too bad ... Its over

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 2011)

Its here. The moment we've all been waiting for and the moment we've been secretly dreading. For believe it or not, the fact is, that there might just not be any more Harry Potter left after this movie. The books are over, and with the latest Harry Potter installment, the movies are over too. And so, with Harry Potter, we've all entered adulthood.
First off, the movie was great. With the rave reviews it has been getting, I was of the opinion that most of these might have been given out of sympathy and an emotional attachment to the Potter franchise considering that we bid goodbye to him and his circle of friends with this. But the movie actually deserves all the applause its been getting. What struck me as different about this movie is that it has a constant feeling of movement - a feeling similar to what you get when watching Christopher Nolan's masterpieces like Inception and The Dark Knight. Even in a scene which could otherwise have been a simple dialog taking place between two characters, the background score gives the impression of movement - which in turn gives you the on-the-edge-of-the-seat feeling that you usually crave for in movies. And irrespective of whether you've read the novels or not, you're surely going to enjoy this movie because you are well aware that this is it, it has to end here. Either Harry has to die, or Voldemort will. Or maybe both ??? I'm not going to mention anything about the story lest I inadvertently manage to reveal a spoiler. Suffice it to say, that Harry, Ron and Hermione continue their quest of finding and destroying the Horcruxes and hence attempting to destroy Lord Voldemort and in their quest, are joined by almost every character we can recollect to be on their side since the inception of the Potter universe. For those who ain't read the novels, the plot is still simple to follow since most of the explanation bit has been done in Deathly Hallows - Part 1. For those who have, they've according to me included almost everything they could from the novel. Dumbledore's past has been left out and the sequence of events and the manner in which they take place in the ending slightly altered but apart from that, its like watching the novel come to life.
The recent Harry Potter movies have become increasingly dark, not just tonally, but also visually. The visuals are great although the darkness sometimes makes it difficult to see what's going on in the screen. I'd imagine the 3D to have an even worse effect which is why I saw the movie in 2D and apart from the opening logo and the ending sequence, I could not see how the movie could have been better in 3D than without it. The background score is simply excellent - just hear the bits playing during Snape's presence; they're haunting. The performances have come up too and again, although Fiennes as Voldemort gives us a scary act and Radcliffe, Grint and Watson are commendable as the trio, the best performance comes from Alan Rickman portraying Severus Snape. His eyes alone manage to convey a wide range of emotions, in some cases, with the rest of his body standing still. Its sad that he has less scenes in the movie. Just like Severus Snape, Rickman here proves to be the secret star of the show.
On the minuses, the movie is incredibly dark. Of course, considering that all the action happens during the night, it should rightfully be so but nevertheless, this makes things happening on screen sometimes, difficult to follow. Also, with the time they had, they could've easily extended the movie by 10 minutes or so and included all of Dumbledore's past. That would have added for some interesting character study from a movie's perspective and it would have ensured inclusion of the whole novel in the movie at just a few extra minutes of screen time's worth - something Potter fans and even non novel readers would not have minded. Besides, they should have shown how some of the characters who get bumped off (yes they do) have died instead of just showing us their dead faces. What is bugging is that they actually were cribbing of time all this time along and this movie being 130 minutes approximately, they could've gotten enough time (in fact all the time they needed) to put in those extra scenes which would have only enhanced the movie.
I've been preparing to watch this movie for months (three to be precise). I've been reading up all the novels and watching all the movies again. It is while reading the novels for the first time that I realized what I did miss on in all those years of my childhood. Nevertheless, the last few months feel as if I've been living in an alternate universe myself. And finally, I was able to watch this movie while having read the novel before hand - something which I wasn't able to do all these years. And now, its over. I have a hollow feeling inside me telling me that its all over - the event which I've been mentally preparing myself for 3 months is over. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable experience while it lasted. An of course, who knows, they might re release all the Potter films in 3D later on. Which reminds me, who's stopping us from re-watching and re-reading Potter all over again. For what it is, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 is a ride that's fun, scary and filled with a tinge of sadness. As a sort of a bonus, you even get to see scenes from the previous Potter films. A must watch. Long live Harry Potter. Longer live Severus Snape !!!
Score: 8.0 / 10