It was good, visually and technically... but something lacked.

Rating: Null/10 (27 July 2011)

Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in itself tugged to the heartstrings. Harry, with his friends Ron and Hermione, came back to Hogwarts to look for the remaining Horcruxes they have to destroy in order to weaken Voldemort. Some epic battle ensues.
In the technical level of how the film was shot and produced was skillfully well done. The score, by Alexandre Desplat, is excellent as always. It added to the dynamic of the film that is hard to ignore. The humor is not lost even if we're dealing with some serious business here. The actors all did their part justice. Seeing how the three leads all grew and mature and came to this point is a delight to watch. The support cast is also noteworthy, but that is expected since they are all masters of the craft. Special mentions to Ralph Fiennes for giving a riveting portrayal of Lord Voldemort and Tom Felton for making me sympathize with Draco Malfoy.
A particularly great sequence in the film is Harry looking through Snape's memory (called The Prince's Tale in the book) where he found out about what really happened about his past. The montage was great. In fact, I think it will be a great idea to have a spin off during Snape's time studying at Hogwarts.
Now where did it go wrong for me? Lighting. Sorry guys, but the lighting and photography in the battle sequences are too dark. I know the battle took place at night but can't they make the color scheme a little bit lighter? If we're talking Adobe Photoshop just put it in "Screen" mode at 100%? I know this is a stupid nitpick but sometimes it ruins it for me. I don't understand since in Prisoner of Azkaban, even at night setting, the cinematography is still clear and lively. Also the cinematography in Deathly Hallows – Part 1 is beautiful (and one of the better aspects of the film) in which I find it very contrasting with DH- Part 2. Anyway, if this movie will be out in Blu-Ray I bet it will be of better quality.
I find it hard to care for some of the characters. Maybe fleshing it out on the screen with minimum amount of screen time gives out a different result. The only characters I care about are the trio and Draco Malfoy. A little bit of Bellatrix Lestrange but that is a personal bias since I love Helena Bonham Carter. Even Snape didn't do much of an impact for me.
My major fault is that I expected too much out of this. Can you blame me though when almost all critics are in love with it?
It was a great family event, don't get me wrong. But the best Harry Potter film for me is still Prisoner of Azkaban.