Bittersweet ending

Rating: Null/10 (18 July 2011)

Personally, my main complaint was that the movie could have been longer. It seemed that they tied up all of the loose ends too quickly. At shortly over two hours, I think they should have put the mark closer to 2.5 hours and not rushed some of the scenes. Especially for the fans that have only watched the films and not read the books for clarification of events.
That being said, since I have read the books, I thought what was there was very well done. The young ones in this series of films have grown up in front of us, and had unbelievably talented mentors in their costars, and their acting talents have astronomically improved from SS to DH2. Daniel, Rupert, Emma, Bonnie, Tom, Evanna, Matthew, James, Oliver, etc really were brilliant in their roles. How could they not be, when they have the likes of Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman, Julie Walters, Ciaran Hinds, etc to teach them their craft.
I must say that Alan Rickman was utterly brilliant, as always, as the tormented Professor Snape, but he was particularly phenomenal in this one. Absolutely breathtaking. Maggie Smith's Professor McGonagall was courageous and strong. I just adore Julie Walters as Molly---that is absolutely one of my favorite characters in the books that was so masterfully portrayed on screen. Ciaran Hinds as Aberforth was a welcome addition to the cast in my opinion. He's awesome.
I will undoubtedly see it again. We saw it in 3D for the first viewing and will likely go to a 2D showing next time, but it's a fantastic tribute to the fans of the series. I highly recommend it.