Not all that magical.

Rating: 6/10 (31 August 2011)

The magic is over. The spells, charms and adventures that enchanted the world for over a decade have all come to an end. And as one might naively expect, the cherry on the cake ought to eclipse everything else we have witnessed so far. Does the eighth instalment in this seven part series live up to its staunch expectations? Well, maybe. Maybe not.
Giving away the plot would be a grave injustice to the movie, the weight of which I refuse to carry upon my shoulders. Maybe it all ends well. Maybe Voldemort is revealed to be Harry's long lost father. Or maybe the Director goes completely bonkers, trashes the book and decides to introduce bad bunny rabbits who like eating pig foetuses for breakfast. Instead, it is the intricacies of the film that need to be talked about – some well appreciated and some deservingly ripped apart.
The first thing that strikes you as you enter the theatre laden with popcorn, Coke and other movie viewing paraphernalia is the darkness. The movie seems to have been shot in a perpetual absence of light, and though this might seem appropriate for the tense, evil atmosphere, there are parts when it gets onto your nerves and you feel like hurling your 3-D glasses into your neighbour's face and watching the movie in blurred, yet bright two dimensions, which is a better bet than viewing silhouettes of god-knows-what. But, let's not begrudge the movie for that.
The acting department is an area that I bear no complaints against; not major ones anyway. Daniel Radcliffe dons the clothes of Harry Potter with ease. He has grown with the viewers, with the story, but hasn't outgrown his role – something that is further highlighted in the movie. From the puny, eleven year-old a decade earlier, he has transformed into a heroic man with stubble and all. Emma Watson follows suit with her portrayal of the know-it-all Hermione Granger. Rupert Grint acts about as well as a dead horse; and a grumpy one at that, but thankfully the director has kept him much in the dark. Ralph Fiennes is impeccable as the Dark Lord and manages to instil fear in you even through the screen. But the real torchbearer is Alan Rickman as Severus Snape. Dark; cold and deadly, he bring life to character unlike anyone else in the film. However, the other characters that have been given screen time – the Weasleys, Hagrid, Lupin, Professor Flitwick – to name a few, seems rather forced because they have a very pettifogging role to play despite the fact that they are some of the most important and well-characterized people in the series. On the contrary, these along with others turn the movie into a reunion of sorts in which the viewer is reminded of what each character previously meant to him. Touching? Yes. Commendable? No.
The movie certainly isn't an epitome of perfection and has its own flaws. Though it successfully transcends the paper-to-screen barrier, something that its predecessors have miserably failed at, it does so rather painstakingly. There are times when the movies ceases to serve its purpose and pretends to be an ode to its own past, and though these moments will fill you with a fuzzy warmth, it doesn't aid the progress of the film. Also, the film lacks goose bumps-raising moments which ones would expect from an epic of this reputation, which is further worsened by a weak soundtrack. When a person is dying, ones tends to expect a lamenting dirge in the background, but here all ones hears are the victim's nauseating gasps and groans. As a result of which even scenes where beloved characters are slain give rise to ennui than to sympathy.
The battle of Hogwarts is a farrago of red lights, green lights, giants, gargoyles, people running around and chaos in general, in which even the cameraman seems to have a hard time following Harry. It lacks sentimentality and adrenaline-filled moments which the book brought along with it.
On the whole, the movie might serve as an entertainer for some, but hardly so for aficionados who have stuck with this saga from its inception onto the reel. A lot is missing, a lot is undone and you are left pitying Voldemort for being unable to get a nose-job. To think that something that began with a man killing a boy's parents would snowball into something this awe-inspiring is an achievement in itself and reason enough to watch the movie. The realization that it all ends once and for all does make for a befitting conclusion.