Harry Potter's over. And what a way to go!

Rating: 9/10 (15 July 2011)

I was excited to go see this, and went to the midnight premiere. I knew I wouldn't be disappointed judging by the last 3 movies. It ended great, with most of the movie being a battle and destroying horcruxes. All the actors gave the last installment their best, especially Alan Rickman: During the penseive memory sequence toward the end, we actually see the truth behind Snape and Dumbledore, and ironically Snape was Harry's true guardian at Hogwarts. But we learn more about his past and why he resented but also cared so much about Harry. We actually see Rickman get out of his drone and interact with Gambon in these scenes. We get to see his vulnerability.
The biggest issue I have does not lie with this movie: It lies with the whole series. All 8 movies are great, but not very consistent with each other, the reason being the constant change of directors. It makes you wonder how the end would have been if Chris Columbus stayed for all of them, or if David Yates came in early and directed all of them. Fortunately none of the actors were replaced, even the small characters, (with the obvious exception of Dumbledore, which was unavoidable.) although many actors considered leaving which I'm personally grateful that they stayed. It was the only thing really keeping consistency. Of course the major complaint by everyone is all the things cut from the movies, which I'm not a fan of either, but at least it all worked.
The Deathly Hallows Was by far the best of all the movies, because it stayed true to sources while keeping the dark edge that was needed. The first two movies (Sorcerers stone and Chamber of Secrets) stayed true to source but were very childish. It makes sense, since as the characters mature, the movies mature with them, but going from bright and happy straight to dark and ominous in Prisoner of Azkaban...maybe they could have made the transition a little better. Regardless, these last two were fantastic, and the best ending I've seen to any franchise, especially since we get to see more of the characters get involved in the fight.
So definitely worth going to the theater, and definitely worth buying. So as a conclusion-Deathly Hallows 1&2 (since they are basically one long movie) 10/10. The Harry Potter series as a whole-7/10.