An incredibly fitting end to a ten year endeavor

Rating: 8/10 (17 July 2011)

Well this is it. This is the film that ends the legacy that began an entire decade ago. 2001 saw Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and eight films later we are ending it all with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. This is an incredibly impressive feat to make an entire book series into a film series with literally only one recast. I refer of course to Michael Gambon's recast as Albus Dumbledore, but that is only because his predecessor, Richard Harris, passed away. The series has seen its highs with works of art like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which proved that this was no longer a small time family series, to the terribly unconvincing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which showed us how awkward the series could be. But now we've arrived at the very last film which provides us with an explosively grand ending to a series that has been mystifying our minds for ten fun filled years.
In this final chapter Harry must face Voldemort for the last time. He's down to only three horcruxes and Voldemort knows it. Harry returns to Hogwarts to save the school from Severus Snape's iron fist of oppression but then must save it from a bigger threat. Voldemort has amassed an army to attack the school so that he can find and kill Harry Potter. And so the epic battle for Hogwarts begins. This is one of the most grandiose and loudest Harry Potter's in a long time, making it wildly exciting and a wondrous entertainment for the eyes and ears. For the brain, not as much, but for the heart most definitely as we reach an emotionally stirring conclusion to a series that has been with us for so long.
The first part to The Deathly Hallows was all about character development as the final steps were taken to mature these characters that we knew as little kids in 2001 to true adults in that film. Part 2 is a much more action and plot driven story as we wrap up everything and come to a complete conclusion for this long tale. The dialogue isn't as sophisticated or driving as it was in part 1 and the thing we will really remember from part 2 is most certainly the action and the key parts of the storyline which resolve everything. The film does have a great plot and I don't know that you could ask for a better way to end the story. Ten years and you need something explosive and that is just what you get.
This film is a visual spectacle that brings together every great wonder we've enjoyed about the Harry Potter series since film one and throws it all into the final chapter. We are treated to things like little flying blue imp creatures from Chamber of Secrets and the giant spiders from the same film. We get a taste of Dementors from Prisoner of Azkaban and even some long overdue flying broom sequences which are incredibly fun and very well shot. Sadly, we still get no Quidditch but due to the things going on in this film there wouldn't exactly be any time for it. The film also brings back practically every character that hasn't died, and even some who have. No direct spoilers here though. All I can say that it is incredibly satisfying to see so many characters all together once more, fighting alongside one another in the most epic battle in the history of Harry Potter.
Honestly, you couldn't ask for a much better conclusion. It would have been incredibly disappointing if the final film to end an eight film series didn't live up to the hype, but I would say it does. It gives us everything we ask for and respectfully puts an end to a series we've loved for a whole ten years. This isn't a perfect film on its own, but putting it into context it is fantastic and plenty satisfying. All sorts of things could have gone wrong with the final Harry Potter film, but none of those things happen and we are delivered a mighty conclusion to an incredible series of films.