Oh, the childhood

Rating: 8/10 (24 June 2012)

10 years after it began, the Harry Potter films concluded with a two- part finale. I grew up with Harry Potter: there are pictures on my wall of me as him for Halloween, I remember going to several Harry Potter- themed birthday parties, and I have specific memories of reading the first and last books. So I was prepared for an emotional conclusion. Hell, if Lord of the Rings (something I liked but was never been invested in) could move me, surely this backbone of growing up could.
Not quite. Part II gets a lot right, but I feel like many things didn't live up to their potential, and the film didn't take itself seriously enough.
The good: there is a well-done conclusion for one of the best literary series of all time. The key points are there. Visually, everything is stunning as it has always been. And the performances, something I never paid attention to, are excellent. Harry, Hermoine, Ron... all admirable, but the standouts are Ralph Fiennes, maybe the greatest villain actor of all time, as Voldemort at his strongest and most terrifying. And Alan Rickman as Snape, arguably the best character from the whole series, tragedy and true loyalty personified.
Major points for including a throwback scene to my favourite of the films, The Chamber of Secrets. I remember seeing that one and being scared silly.
But then the issues... first of all, the film is short. There was time to expand aspects of the film. Which leads to the next problem, which is that the support cast doesn't get very much screen time. Hagrid offers two lines. The aforementioned Snape, in his most important book/film, sees three scenes. But the cuts don't end there: the final battle doesn't feel as satisfying as it does. The Weasleys have two emotional scenes during it, and both are glazed over. Neville's time to shine also doesn't feel proper.
And then there's the ironically distracting movie magic. The hero climbing up from the destroyed bridge. How many times can Harry and Voldemorts wands' stop their beams right in the middle in an epic duel? By the end the effect is predictable.
Also the film adds humour where humour definentley should not be. I remember that starting with Goblet of Fire the change to tone to being much darker, and in fact I didn't quite like the change. But now I'm more mature, and feel that this one tried to lighten up the tone, but unsuccessfully. McGonnagel has some real bad lines in particular.
So Harry Potter is done, but I felt it went out with more of a flipendo than a rictusempra. The epilogue is nice and touching, but failed to have 'oomph' like Lord of the Rings. A legendary series with a satisfactory send-off. 7.7/10