It All Ends

I've seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 twice now. It's kind of like reading the books. When a new HP book would come out I'd race through it, eager to see what happens. Then I'd have to read it again to pick up on the stuff I missed the first time around. I felt the same way about the movie. I was so excited to see how they wrapped everything up that I wanted to go back and watch it again. David Yates and David Heyman did such an excellent job, but what really stands out for me is the score. Alexandre Desplat created something magical. I discovered that the first time I saw the movie. I ran out and bought the soundtrack. Everytime I hear Lily's Theme I want to weep. It's so haunting. The score has always been done well for these movies, but Desplat really outdid himself this time.

As for the acting...the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione were excellent. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, have grown so much in these roles. We've literally seen them grow up on screen. Their acting talents have only gotten better. The real stand outs for me though were Alan Rickman and Helen McCrory. In the books, up to the point of Half-Blood Prince, Narcissa is portrayed as cold and unfeeling. Helen McCrory does an excellent job of portraying that icy reserve, except where it comes to her son - Draco. You can see it in her eyes. One of the most memorable scenes is towards the end as Voldemort starts to realize his downfall. His followers start to disperse. Narcissa takes Draco's hand and the walk away from Hogwarts, not once looking back. Their walk is determined and purposeful. Lucius meanwhile is unsure and continually looks back as he stumbles to keep up with his wife and son.

And now on to Alan Rickman as Snape. Amazing scenes. His anguish is palpable. You get a sense of it from Jo Rowling's excellent writing, but Alan Rickman puts incredible feeling behind it. The pensieve scenes after his death are some of the most poignant, engaging, heartbreaking moments in the film. More so than Harry's conversation with Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus with the Resurrection Stone. Movies like this don't generally get awards consideration except in technical categories, but Alan Rickman is deserving of some kind of recognition for how well these scenes turned out.

If I had one bone to pick it would be this. All through the books, from Book 1 to Book 7, from Movie 1 to Movie 7.2, they make a point of noting how Harry has Lily's eyes. Everyone says it - Sirius, Severus, Remus...so why then could casting not hire a young Lily with the same color eyes as Daniel Radcliffe. She was a darling sprite of a girl with the cursory red hair and dark brown eyes! Dark brown! The first time we see Daniel in movie one it's a close up of his scar and his blue eyes! So casting went with a brown eyed girl. In editing and with all the CGI effects, they couldn't make her eyes blue? They completely missed this in editing. A small point in the grand scheme of things if it weren't for the fact that it's mentioned all the time! It's not a throwaway line by one character in one book.

Apart from that, it's a great movie - they really wrapped up the series well. Points of humor, moments of sadness and resignation, and a point of moving on. Well done.