The So-So Ending To An Amazing Adventure

Rating: 7/10 (29 July 2011)

I like many have grown up reading the Harry Potter books and fell in love with them all. The fact that the entire franchise ends with this movie is a very saddening thought, but I was still anxiously excited to see its send-off, especially after viewing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, which I thought was fantastic. Perhaps I set my expectations too high, but whatever the reason, I couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed after seeing this movie. Warning: Spoilers I'll start off with the good. Visually, the movie is spectacular. I felt that seeing it in 3D wasn't even necessary to get the full effect. The battle was everything I hoped it would be and more. The entire Gringotts scene was impressive as well. I also very much enjoyed how Neville was portrayed in the movie. After reading the book, I was worried that the movie wouldn't do his character justice, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was done. And lastly, Alan Rickman did a great job as Snape in this movie. After seven movies, we finally get to see him show some emotion. Now the bad. I felt that there wasn't enough emotion when the deaths of important characters were shown, such as Lupin, Tonks, and especially Fred. What disappointed me the most was that Fred's death wasn't even shown. All we got was a quick view of his dead body, a few tears from his family, and then on to the next sequence. Even Harry's supposed death lacked the proper emotions it deserved. Snape's memories also felt very rushed and I thought some of the most interesting parts of it were left out. Another thing was Voldemort and Bellatrix exploding into confetti. I guess it was done for flash appeal but to me it just felt tacky and inappropriate. And lastly, I Dumbledore's back story was never explained. Many might feel that it wasn't important, but it was very interesting to find out about the regrets and demons of a seemingly perfect person. All in all, this movie was not bad and considering the record-breaking box office numbers, it's already very successful. Many people will most likely enjoy this movie, especially if they haven't read the books. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but I just thought that a spectacular series deserved an spectacular ending, instead of the just okay ending that was delivered.