Gives meaning to the phrase, save the best until last

Rating: 9/10 (16 July 2011)

I have enjoyed all the films and love the books, and after how much I loved Deathly Hallows Part 1 this entry, continuing from exactly where the previous film left off, had a lot to live up to. It is less faithful to the mammoth but very interesting and wonderful book than its predecessor. However I found this, apart from one or two disjointed parts where you could tell that details had been left out and the arrival in Hogsmede and the duel between Mrs Weasley and Bellatrix seemed a little rushed, had more flow, was better paced and had more coherent storytelling and less of admiring the scenery than the previous entries.
What stood out for me was not only the darkness of it, particularly the last thirty minutes or so which was a tad anti-climatic but very intense too and also Snape's death, but also the emotional impact. Gringotts(especially for the effects, the dragon being the standout), the moving Ressurrection stone sequence and Harry's final scene with Dumbedore were very well done, but my favourite was the Snape's memory sequence, which was beautifully done and quite poignant. Not only that, it's my favourite Harry Potter scene alongside the Three Brothers animated sequence and the Cave Scene. The 19 Years Later scene was quite affectionate as well, with the use of the original music and all.
Once again, the production values are impeccable. The effects, apart from the odd ropey one in the Room of Requirement scene and Bellatrix's death, are excellent particularly at Gringotts, while the scenery and cinematography are magical with a touch of austerity too, and David Yates delivers his best directing job. There's also my favourite of Alexandre Desplat's scores, I loved his ones for Girl with a Pearl Earring and The King's Speech, the score was also one of the few good points about Twilight:New Moon and I found his score for the previous part very effective. What I loved though about this score was not just how beautiful, haunting and how incredibly melancholic it was, but also how much it enhanced the drama.
The script is very good a vast majority of the time, doing a noble attempt to stick to the spirit of the book. The humour is less stilted and corny than I can find it to be, and when the tone is tense and poignant the writing does an above decent job reflecting that. The pacing is never dull, if deliberately less rushed(Goblet of Fire) or glacial(Deathly Hallows Part 1) as some of the other entries, and the storytelling is always interesting and compelling while never convoluted.
The acting is very good. Rupert Grint is great as he consistently is, Emma Watson while not quite as good as she was in Deathly Hallows Part 1 gives one of her better performances of the series, Maggie Smith and John Hurt are always good value and while I didn't find him easy to warm to at first until Half-Blood Prince in his brief but relevant appearance Michael Gambon is also good. Helena Bonham-Carter, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman, Robbie Coltrane and Tom Felton while neither are at their best here bring a pleasing sheen to the film. Three actors in particular I found stood out and gave their best performances of the series. One is Daniel Radcliffe, at first I found him likable yet wooden with some questionable delivery, however overtime I think he's grown with more emotional range than usual. Two is Alan Rickman, while I have considered him one of the more consistent actors of this series him and the character of Snape really shine here, Rickman is especially good in the Snape's memory sequence. Three is Ralph Fiennes, I think it helps that like Snape Voldemort is given more scope here, that said Fiennes is appropriately sinister in the role and certainly looks the part.
In conclusion, a wonderful film and for me the best of the series. And I still stand by my initial feeling that it was better filming the book as two movies, it would've have felt far too rushed as one. 9/10 Bethany Cox