Oh how great it is to feel like a kid again, which is exactly where I go every time I see these Harry Potter films that have meant so much to me over the last 10 years. Well Harry returns in the final installment of the most lucrative film franchise of all time. So i thought before I get going I would give my ratings for the previous films seeing that I wont get to talk about them ever again, hopefully anyway.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone: 7/10
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: 7/10
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 8/10
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 8/10
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 6/10
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: 8/10
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1: 7/10
Also I must point out that I love the book series and have really hesitated writing this review mostly cause I don't want to put this cap on my childhood but I guess as they say all good things must come to an end, and I have stalled long enough so lets get going.
Plot: 9/10
You know when you get right down to it the plot of the books and by extension the movies is kinda goofy and slightly far fetched. I mean a young wizard just learning his way around a world he never knew fighting off the most powerful dark wizard of all time and winning. So the job of the story is to make us buy it and I am glad to say they have done that perfectly the last few films. The story of this movie is simple Harry must not only find the last of the Horcruxes and destroy them but also upon doing so defeat Lord Voldermort and bring light to a dark wizarding world. They kept this movie short and too the point which meant that lucky for us we get a lot of action worthy of a Lord of the Rings sequel. The plot while of course taken from the source material is translated perfectly and even some things added even make you forget for a second that there was a book in the first place. The only downside was the unnecessary epilogue at the end of the movie which while in the book doesn't really have any thing of interest. Unless you didn't know the story ended on a Happy ending.
Characters: 9.5/10
I'll be the first to admit that even though I love this series the main character himself Harry Potter is completely boring. That being said over eight films Daniel Radcliffe has shown that he is a pretty good actor and has finally shown that he was a great choice to play the title character. Hermione is great as always yeah Emma Watson can really be over dramatic with her performance but I wont hold that against her and Ron is Ron like he has been for the last movies he is the typical side kick. So where does this high score come from you ask? Well like any great series its always the supporting cast that really helps tell a story. Lord Voldermort for me anyway is possibly one of the best villains I have ever seen on the big screen and Ralph Fiennes was possibly one of the greatest casting moves of all time. Severus Snape played by the always awesome Alan Rickman is for me the best character in this series, and I can admit to tearing up a bit at the scenes where we finally see what drives this character. Neville and Luna are great for the few times they show up on screen and the other teachers involved really get a great send off. Finally a shout out to Belatrix and Molly Weasly for only giving us an awesome fight but also the biggest cheer of the night.
Setting: 10/10
If you haven't seen a Harry Potter film first I don't know where you have been for the last decade, but I am sure you would recognize its distinctive look anyway. The film is shot really dark in keeping with the dark tone of the overall story. I really do love the look they have given these films, from bright and colorful like you would expect a children's movie to be. All the way to the grim dark tone you would expect of a coming of age fantasy story about the battle between good and evil. The magic looks nice but that's standard, Voldermort is designed nice but that's standard. I can't go on about all of this because well at this point most of you know what i mean when i describe a Harry Potter movie.
Dialogue: 9/10
You know the best parts of this series is seeing where they add spoken dialogue for scenes that it didn't exist in the first place. For instance they greatly expanded the battle between Harry and Voldemort and let them just destroy the castle. I mean its not like Warner Bros. is going to need it anytime soon. However I think where you really see the great screen writing is Snape's memory. Snape recounting his love for Lily and the task of watching over Harry even if he despises his father can only be shown through the great delivery of Alan Rickman. While like I said for the setting at a point everything becomes standard and you don't really have to describe something to fans any more this would be one of those situations.
Overall: 9.5/10
You know when I look back at my generation and how our pop culture is going to be defined by I know there are a few that are going to look back and think Twilight. However I think that my generations mascot is a boy wizard who discovered that not only is he a wizard but has a destiny to one day destroy the most evil wizard on the planet. This movie was the perfect ending to what was an amazing series, yeah it had its flaws but damn what a ride it was. To see this go from a child's book to adult fiction like it did and effortlessly and then to see them translate on the big screen like that is just short of amazing. This movie caped off not only one of the best film franchises of all time, but also but a great cap to one of the best parts of my childhood. This film will make a believer out of anyone who still doubts that there is no magic in this series. This movie to me is the best film I have seen since The Dark Knight.
On a side note I would also like to say that this film also has an awesome soundtrack that you should listen to now.
Good Night everyone.
