Least involving of the series.

Rating: 8/10 (22 July 2011)

'HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS: PART 2: Four Stars (Out of Five)
The eighth and final chapter of the immensely popular 'HARRY POTTER' film series. This one is based on the second half of the seventh (and final) book of writer J.K. Rowling's classic series. The script was once again written by Steve Kloves who has written every film in the series except for 'HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX' (which is arguably the worst one, possibly as a result). David Yates returned to direct the film (he also directed the last three installments) and of course Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson all reprise their beloved roles. The film is sure to please die-hard fanatics of the series but will definitely not win over any new fans as well.
The film begins exactly where the last chapter left off with Harry (Radcliffe), Hermione (Watson) and Ron (Grint) burying their fallen friend Dobby. They then set out to find the next of the three remaining Horcruxes (the items of magic which give Lord Voldermort (Ralph Fiennes) his immortality). At the same time Voldermort finds the 'Elder Wand' and learns of their plans. The entire magical kingdom is soon set for the biggest war their world has ever seen and Harry, Hermoine and Ron are once again caught up right in the middle of it.
I've never been a big fan of the 'HARRY POTTER' series, I've never found it incredibly interesting or involving, but I have always admired the craftsmanship of most of the films. The film producers have always been able to find high quality directors and crew for most of the installments (minus maybe the first couple). The acting has always been rather decent and for the most part (except for maybe really early on) the movies have seemed to live up to fans of the book's high expectations. You definitely have to give the films credit for that. What they have failed to do is involve or interest most other movie goers who are not familiar with the source material (like myself). The greatest book to film adaptations should be able to do that as well. With that said I have found most of the movies at least slightly entertaining and again being a fan of film I can definitely admire the skill that went into making them. I did find this last chapter the least interesting or involving of the series though (that's not to say it's the worst film of the bunch). Despite all the action I had no real emotional involvement with any of the characters or what was going on with them. I think this is due to the fact that, not being a fanatic of the series, I haven't seen each film more than once and have not kept up with the mythology for the most part. So not knowing what was really going on a lot of the time did make it hard to follow and keep interest in. All of the other chapters have been able to pull off a certain amount of stand alone storytelling as well as keep up the continuing saga whereas this one spent most of it's time tying all the other films together and wrapping things up. So for that reason I found it the least involving of the series. Still there are a lot of spectacular visuals going on and big fans of the series will eat it up. Everyone else might be a little bored.
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN5KZOE7p28