A great end to the franchise, a good film on its own

Rating: 6/10 (26 October 2013)

When I watched all Harry Potter films for the first time earlier this year within a short period of time, I really loved the very last entry to the series. Most recently, I rewatched just the last film and the experience was not as great, but still made an entertaining two hours. So let me recommend you to always watch at least "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" before going for the final installment. But whatever you do, you're still in for an exciting conclusion to the biggest film franchise of the 2000s and that comes from somebody who isn't even that big of a Potter fan. While the three young actors are okay as always, although I still struggle to see Radcliffe's Potter as the force he is supposed to be and Watson had more material and a better performance in previous work, it's nice to see some of the supporting players have great spectacular scenes as well before it all closes: Julie Walters on Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith on Alan Rickman and Rickman himself in his final scene, who was probably my favorite performance here and I really loved how it all unfolded for Severus. The way we find out more about his background was done impressively, especially the flashbacks to his childhood and they really hit me on an emotional level. That certainly made up for the first half hour, where the film admittedly needs a while to really get going. The final scene 19 years later was really beautiful too, particularly the name reference (which made me ignore the fact that the trio doesn't really look 20 years older), and even if it probably guarantees there will be no more Potter films in the future, it was such a nice inclusion and there was something beautifully final about it.
Visually, the film is as impressive as the previous one. Great costumes, art direction and special effects, especially the massive statues coming to live and I only watched it on the big screen in my living room. In the theater, it will certainly be even more breathtaking. Recommended.