Harry Potter by: J.K.
Rowling
The latest Harry Potter film picks
up where the last left off: Voldemort has just recovered the Elder Wand from
Dumbledore’s grave, while Harry, Ron and Hermione plan their next move in Shell
Cottage. They theorize that the next Horcrux- a series of items which hold a
part of Voldemort’s soul- is in Gringotts, a bank where the only even remotely
successful robbery so far resulted in the theft of nothing. Factor in the fact
that said Horcrux is in the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange- Voldemort’s most
devoted and deadly follower- and it becomes nigh-impossible. All of this leads
up to a final battle in Hogwarts- A battle that takes up the bulk of the film.
What always makes a Harry Potter
film enjoyable is the balance between drama and comedy. Even in this- the
darkest of the series- there are moments of comedy and- by and large- they feel
natural. Even the usually stern Professor McGonnagal has her moment, joyfully
remarking how she’d always wanted to cast a particular spell which brings an
army of statues to life. These moments do an amazing job of relieving the
tension.
Simultaneously, it’s also the
saddest of the eight films. Beloved and hated characters die left, right and
centre and- while their deaths will come as no great surprise to those who have
read the books- still have the same effect.
The acting is impressive, with Matthew
Lewis, Alan Rickman and Emma Watson standing out. Helena Bonham-Carter once
again displays her skills to amazing effect, and in this film she plays both as
Bellatrix and, briefly, Hermione, and inhabits both roles perfectly.
The weakest point in the film- as
with Part 1- is deviations from the books: One glaring example is the mirror
which was introduced in the fifth book, but suddenly appeared in Harry’s
possession in the seventh movie. Rather than coming up with a new escape from
Malfoy Manor which wouldn’t require a mirror, they instead bring it up again
with a lazy explanation that the mirror belonged to Sirius and leave it at
that. Other minor inconsistencies- such
as characters the year above Harry being Hogwarts students- are distracting, but
ignorable.
Despite this, this is probably the best of the Harry Potter
films, and a fitting finale to the series.