The epic finale has come..and we have a perfectly mixed bag here. Part 2 was and still is an amazing end to the long running book and film series. The only problem is we have to watch the two and a half hour exposition dump known as Part 1 before the awesomeness comes. Part 1 doesn't suffer from the setup game nearly as bad as 'The Half Blood Prince' in terms of complete boredom, but it does share a lot of the same problems. I am not one to normally criticize a film for being primarily dialogue, but when its supposed to be a movie about wizards banning together to ward off evil you don't want to see that for an entire film. You want some action, fantasy elements mixed in there and yeah they are there but nothing like the previous entries and the talking and storyline after storyline butts in too frequently.
Okay, I want to be more positive about this review so I won't linger on the negative too long this time. Part 1 does have some stand out moments for the franchise, including a beautiful animated sequence explaining what the titular 'Deathly Hallows' are. It's one of my favorite sequences in the series and always comes to mind when thinking of this film. I do also enjoy the conspiracy/runaway mystery vibe the first half gives us with some fun scenes involving spying on the Ministry of Magic and infiltrating Bellatrix's home to retrieve the Sword of Griffindor. We also get some more scenes that help flesh out Snape and more Alan Rickman always makes me happy.
Part 2 is the highlight here though without a shadow of a doubt. It's an all out Wizard War, with special effects and action all around, but the benefit of the writing of J.K. Rowling is that during all of this you also see the tragedies of war. The loss, the sadness, the sacrifices for the greater good and this unfortunately means we have to say goodbye to many favorite characters to many's chagrin. There's so many scenes here that stand out: The fight between Mrs. Weasley and Bellatrix, Snape's Revolution, Prof. McGonagal fighting, and of course Neville ultimately saving the day. The film also has a great ending to the ending, where we get to see the children of the characters. Brief, but a nice touch nontheless.
Overall, it was really fun watching these over again to review them for you. With the final two films in the series (until tomorrow of course) I'd say it was a great final curtain. The first half does have its problems for sure, but man that second film just blows it and many other sequels out of the water. It was damned impressive so overall if I had to review the films as one entry I would give it the rating you will see below. Thanks for checking out my 'Harry Potter' week reviews and be sure to check back soon for 'Fantastic Beasts'.
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