The protracted coming-of-age story of one Harry Potter and his role in an epic war comes to a breathless conclusion in the series finale. At just barely over two hours, it’s the shortest entry in a series of sometimes over-long and ill-disciplined films. I suspect its brevity will be much appreciated by the fans, actually.
Yates ditches the meandering narrative structure of Part 1 (where Ron, Harry, and Hermione walk and talk and walk some more before talking) to bring us the showdown between the good, the bad, and the protuberantly-challenged. There are plenty of action set-pieces, so much so that you think Yates must have been making up for the ponderous, almost somnolent quality of Part 1.
A fantastical heist scene and the much-awaited Battle of Hogwarts featuring huge armies of trolls, giants, and Deatheaters make up the centrepiece of this film. The bevy of CGI and special effects employed are a justifiably good excuse to watch this in 3D. The 20-minute battle works as a visual spectacle but may not pass muster when it comes to delivering emotional impact. If you are a fan of the book, you may actually howl at how a few beloved characters have been dispatched off screen.
It’s as though Yates and his screenwriters did not trust the fans of the Harry Potter films to have matured along the way. Several major emotional arcs are either truncated or missing outright – such as the dark history of Dumbledore. As usual, Alan Rickman’s Severus Snape manages to steal the show as the sole character in this film to receive a full character arc.
All in all, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 by far one of the best adaptations of JK Rowling’s writings, and a fitting end to a beloved series.
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