Wow. Just wow.

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2011)

*WARNING* If you haven't read the book and/or seen the movie, DON"T READ THIS REVIEW. *WARNING*
I just got back from an opening day showing of this movie. Read the title. This movie is great. No, it's amazing. No, it's epic. Heck, it's all three! Let me say that, as a general rule, I enjoy the HP books a LOT more than the movies. That rule applies more to some movies than others (I am not a fan of the movie version of OOTP, to say the least). However, this movie is the only HP movie to be recognized by me as an excellent movie that lives up (almost) completely to the book, and actually surpasses it occasionally! The amazing thing about this movie to me is it blends breathtaking action sequences with heart-wrenching emotion. For example, there is a 45 minute period towards the end of the film during which I almost cried several times. The highlight of this is Snape's back-story. During this scene, they take most of the key parts from that part in the book. However, towards the later half of it, they gradually show footage of Snape walking through the Potter's house after James and Lily die. When he finds Lily's body he actually breaks down. At the very end, there is one shot of Snape holding Lily's dead body and bawling his eyes out which maybe the most emotional shot in the whole series. Another thing that the movie does right is that it captures the epicness of the situation that Harry is in just like the book does. When Harry is in Hogwarts and he (slight spoiler) reveals to Snape that he is there, everyone gasps and they gain hope. Everyone is looking to Harry to guide them. It just made me think of the first movie/book when Harry was a little kid and he was actually getting made fun of. Lastly, this movie, along with last year's Toy Story 3, should be the prime example of how to end a franchise on the right note. I can't stress this enough. It packs so much emotion and action into the 2 hours and 10 minutes, and you can't leave the theater disappointed. It gives you everything you wanted and more. As everything wraps up, it finally hits you- this is it. As the poster said, it all ended. This movie, to me, symbolized the end of my childhood, similarly to how the more recent movies have symbolized the same for the main characters. As a standalone movie, this movie is perfect. However, having read the book, I have to point out certain things. For example, they kind of forget about Dumbledore's back-story and Harry's wand. Also, they add a little humor, a teeny bit of which is kind of unneeded. However, this movie is still the best movie of '11 so far, with Super 8 in a very close second.
They've saved the best for last. 9.6/10