No other movie franchise has held my attention for as long (10 years) and as often (8 movies) as Harry Potter. Well, there’s the Bond franchise, but that’s cheating ‘coz they’ve had, what, 6 different actors play Bond? Plus, none of those are related, whereas the individual Potter stories come together to form a gestalt – somehow bigger and more epic than its component parts.
You may recall from my review of Part 1 that I didn’t have many kind words for it. However, I’m happy to report that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a much more satisfying movie. It’s like the two were twins at birth, and one was sacrificed so that the other might live a better life; all the energy that was lacking in the former is present in spades in the latter.
I still make no apology for saying that the book on which it’s based was a travesty of lazy writing, but the authors of the screenplay have done extremely well to bring forward the strengths in the plot and hide the rubbish – again, by burying it in the first part – so that fans could enjoy a thrilling and satisfying end to the ride that they’ve been on for the last decade.
The cast and crew should be applauded for their efforts – unlike many others that received cheap, nasty cash-ins, Potter has been fairly reliable in delivering the goods. It’s had a good run, and as a fan, you couldn’t ask for more.