An emotional roller-coaster and the perfect end to constantly better series

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2011)

For many fans (and let me get this out now: I am one of them), this is much more than just another film in the franchise: it's the it's the end of an era, or simply the end of a journey which lasted for over 10 years (14 if you count the first book, back in 1997). There are no precedents like this in movie history... There's a certain poignancy that comes with it, because, as we all know, this is the last one EVER. There will not be any other Harry Potter, no matter what. The film clearly knows all that and consciously plays to it, tapping into our deepest-self, reminding us about this journey we've taken and how we've grown up with it. The previously-unknown David Yates has slowly been able to find his own voice with the latest 4 of the 8 instalments, by combining the sense of magic the first 2 films had, the darker tone introduced to us by Afonso Cuaron (with the third episode) but also that more grown-up approach to the story, which has been brewing and growing with each chapter (and book of course), but he also had the courage to actually hack to pieces the overly-written source and actually make a better film (clearly after book 3, no editor would dare to tell JK Rowling to cut anything out). In this last "Deathly Hallow", he was able to basically stretch the final battle over the course of the whole film, making it seem greater and more epic than it's ever been in the book (In the end, box office aside, it really did pay off to split the movie in two parts). Considering the incredible amount of expectations which a film like this can carry and, consequently, the almost impossible task of bringing everything to a close, HP 7.2 does a really good job! Yes, of course there will be some disappointed people, but I think the disappointment will come from the fact that secretly each of us would like this story to go on forever and, no matter what, you can never please everyone. Considering what a massive commercial machine Warner Bros is we must be so thankful for the way the franchise has been handled. Producer David Heyman is obviously a man of heart, who cares for his fans and set out to make the best films he could ever make, playing on the strengths of its (let's be honest) not-so-perfect source and in the end making it an even better product. In the end this film must be judged with that same heart and not so much with the brain, taking in consideration the series as well as this ending. And you know what? My heart can't stop saying "I just loved the journey, thank you so much for it