As I am sure everyone knows, I am, and always will be, a huge Harry Potter fan. I adore the books, and I usually enjoy the movies, but I have always had trouble looking at the two as separate entities. I just can not help but compare the two. If it seems as though I am being overly-particular, well I am, for that reason. Out of all the movies, however, I think that Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2, are the best because they most accurately follow the books. Extra screen time enables this, and makes me wonder how much better the other movies could have been if they too were separated into two parts.
Aside from book details, Part II was fabulous because it gave a lot of supporting characters a chance to shine. Maggie Smith (Professor McGonigal) gave a great performance. She stepped up as headmaster after dueling/scaring away Severus Snape, and even incorporated believable humor ("I always wanted to do that spell!"). Alan Rickman (Snape) gave a genuine performance, and was really able to bring across the emotion and inter-workings of Snape's mind, especially in the pensieve scenes. I actually began to feel sorry for him and his unrequited love for Lily Evans. Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort) accurately captured the vulnerability and pure madness of Lord Voldemort in the final film. He never usually has that much screen time, and never really ventures from the same few lines, until now. He manages to come across as menacing, yet scared for his life. Neville Longbottom is the second hero in the books, and Mathew Lewis is great, but I feel as though he was not given the chance to really emerge as a hero. Yes, he kills Nagini with the sword of Gryffindor, but the way at which the act occurs in the movie, is not as heroic as it is in the book. I was also disappointed that Ron and Hermione didn't get a chance to really stand out. I felt as though a lot of the dialogue and banter between the trio was sacrificed for random action sequences. Yes, it is a war film, but I missed their speaking parts! Ron had a few funny lines, but Hermione honestly did not say much! I did love their kiss in the chamber of secrets, though. It was passionate (unlike Harry and Ginny's) and their mutual chuckle afterwards made it really great! Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) was amazing. I think I was most impressed by her actually. In the Gringott's sequence, she flawlessly mimicked, Hermione's body language. It really seemed as though it was Emma Watson in disguise, but I knew it wasn't! She tripped over her shoes a couple times, and that was one of the subtleties in the movie that I really enjoyed. Other subtleties came from Tom Felton and Helen McCrory, as Draco and Narcissa Malfoy. They are alongside Voldemort, but you can tell by their facial expressions that they are not really all there. Narcissa's doubt is most visible after Voldemort murders all of the Gringott's goblins, and of course, is clearly demonstrated when she knowingly incorrectly informs Voldemort that Harry is "dead" in the forest.
I was impressed by the actors, but I was disappointed by some of the plot details. The beginning scenes, at Shell Cottage and Gringotts, were extremely rushed. After merely mentioning breaking into Gringotts, Hermione suddenly appears as Bellatrix. Yes, they show a piece of her hair, but you'd think they would at least discuss the polyjuice and Ron's disguise! The invisibility cloak is also M.I.A. for the majority of the film. When the trio apparates into Hogsmeade, watches the voldemort/snape confrontation, and when Harry journeys into the forest, the invisibility cloak is absent. Yes this is a small detail, but how hard would it have been to include the cloak! It may not be a big deal the for the first two scenes in which it is missing, but leaving it out of Harry's "confrontation with death" was a huge mistake. The Deathly Hallows were mentioned at the beginning, but the focus ventured away from them shortly after. The cloak is 1/3 of the hallows, and extremely important, why was it missing?! I also wish that Hagrid would have set "dead" Harry on the ground at the castle so that he could have slipped the cloak over himself. I love the sequence in the book where Harry sneaks off in the chaos. Yes, it was more dramatic in the movie, but I prefer Voldemort's shock when Harry emerges from the cloak. I also wish that Neville would have killed the snake in front of everyone, including Voldemort. I did enjoy Harry and Voldemort's duel throughout the castle, but I did not like part where they fell off of the edge, and I would have liked to see everyone surrounding the two when Harry finally finishes him off. It would have also been nice to see a celebratory embrace and maybe even a makeout sesh between Harry and Ginny when the battle is finally over. I was not satisfied with that tiny peck! There is one thing that annoys me more than anything else - Harry breaking the Elder Wand in half with his hands. What the heck? Seriously? Yeah, like the Elder Wand can really be broken with brute strength. No way! Even so, someone could easily say "reparo" to the "deathstick." Harry should have just fixed his old wand with it! It would have also been nice to see specific moments in the battle, instead of just general chaos. Like how did Fred and Lupin and Tonks die? What deatheaters did Kingsley kill off? That sort of thing. Dumbledore's back story was also absent, but I was not overly bothered by that.
As far as the epilogue goes, I loved it. I think they could have included more detail, like Teddy Lupin, and the fact that Neville is a professor, but I thought that the digital aging of the characters was AMAZING. I expected to cry when Fred died (I only teared up a bit), but I never expected to cry during the epilogue. I was unexpectedly overcome with emotion as soon as I saw the cast "all grown up." I wasn't just crying, I was literally sobbing uncontrollably. I could not stop. It was embarrassing. When I saw the trio and Ginny as adults, it struck a chord with me because that's when I finally realized that it is all over. The series that I grew up with is complete. There will be no more books, and no more movies, Deathly Hallows Part II is it. Even when I saw the movie for a second time, I was once again, filled with emotion and tears. So, in some ways, the missing details from the epilogue weren't such a big deal, because the visual impact alone was enough to wrap up this extraordinary series.
Yes, I may have been perturbed by some small missing details from the books, but overall, Deathly Hallows Part II was a fantastic film. It is only fitting that they saved the best for last. I will love you forever, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley <3
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