Monday, August 1, 2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part Two


It was a long journey with young Harry Potter. I’ve been there since the beginning and just as Harry and his classmates have grown and changed, my life is also different.

When the first film came out my kids were 8 and 5. Now, I’m the mother of an adult who was working and couldn’t go with me and a teenager who had no interest in attending the final film with his parents. The first film was a family event with my brother-in-law and close family friend in attendance. We kept that intact through the first few films. Slowly, things changed. Our busy lives found us struggling to make sure we saw the films on the big screen. My oldest stopped reading the books as school work became more difficult, but she’s remained a fan. My son doesn’t seem to care what happens to Potter and the gang, what are you going to do?

So it was my husband, me and my brother-in-law, no kids, to sit down and find out how it all ends. Lately, I’ve wanted to stay away from the 3-D gimmick, but since this was the last one, we all decided to go for it. I’m glad we did because the 3-D quality was top-notch.

I had a lot of problems with The Deathly Hallows Part One. Just because you title something Part One doesn’t mean you can get away with it not being a stand alone movie. The entire film was all build up without any payoff. If they wanted to do it that way then they needed to release the films much closer together.

However, the long wait was over and where part one was meandering, part two was a roller-coaster ride. Harry, Hermione and Ron are ready to do battle against the evil Voldermort and they will not back down.

What has always set the Harry Potter films apart is the fully fleshed out storylines. Nothing ever seems to be the easiest way to tie up a story. The characters are complex and while there were no knock me out of my seat surprises, the final installment did take me places I didn’t expect.

I’m sure I’m the last person on the planet to have seen this, but I’m still not going to give anyway any plot points. I will say that I think you will be satisfied with the conclusion. I have not read the books, I’m saving them for my retirement years. I’m sure the book readers did not feel all their desires were met, but how could you possibly cover all that materiel?

It will be interesting to see where Radcliffe, Watson and Grint go from here. I know Radcliffe is making quite a name for himself on Broadway. I like that he’s okay with being attached to Harry Potter and seems to appreciate the opportunities it has provide him. He’s also a pretty funny guy. Check out this great interview from The Daily Show.
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Daniel Radcliffe
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook

Check another review of Harry Potter over at Top 10 Films.

4 comments:

Karen said...

Whew - so I'm not the only only who couldn't get into part one.
I really liked part two though. Like you said, it was a roller coaster ride!

Castor said...

Glad you liked this. I think it helps to see Part 1 and Part 2 back to back. I really like Part 1 now that I have done so.

Colleen said...

You know Castor, my plan was to watch all of them again before seeing the final installment. Wow, that was a completely unrealistic goal! I'm looking forward to a BluRay boxed set. Of course I better get a BluRay player!

fogsmoviereviews said...

The best part of this post was your family contaxt. I think that really shines some perspective on just how long this franchise has been going! I think its quite an achievement.

I wasnt the biggest Potter fan outside of this movie, but this one was awesome.