Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Rating:

Directed by David Yates. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Evanna Lynch, Domhnall Gleeson, Clémence Poésy, Warwick Davis, John Hurt, Helena Bonham Carter, Kelly Macdonald, Jason Isaacs, Helen McCrory, Tom Felton, Ciarán Hinds, Bonnie Wright, Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, Miriam Margolyes, Gemma Jones, George Harris, David Thewlis, Julie Walters, Mark Williams, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Gary Oldman, Sean Biggerstaff. Written by Steve Kloves, from the novel by J.K. Rowling.

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Still, it´s not perfect. I´m not so sure they should´ve broken J.K. Rowling´s final Potter book into two movies – Part 1, on its own, is still an overlong and ponderous film that sorely misses some kind of internal resolution – and Part 2 is all climax, with little concession made for non-fans; eight months after the previous installment, I kept finding myself playing catch-up (the slowish start, picking up after a strange choice for the break, helps a little in that regard.) For a series notoriously heavy on exposition, there´s a decided lack of it here.

Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is among the best-looking of all the Potter films: the CGI is the most accomplished, the cinematography (by Eduardo Serra) is often breathtaking, and the sets (including a number of surreal, dreamlike sequences) can be quite beautiful. It´s also an extremely dark film – that fits the tone here, but a lot can get lost in the shadows. I saw an exquisite 2D 4K digital transfer at CineStar Anděl, but I imagine the 3D, which adds another layer of darkness, might get oppressive.

Two climatic scenes elicited rounds of unintentional(?) laughter at my opening night screening: in the first, Fiennes’ Voldemort, gleeful for the very first time, seems to morph into Will Ferrell for a split-second. The second is the epilogue, set 19 years later; after watching these young characters age naturally over the course of a decade (a brief flashback to the first film – my, how young they were! – provides one of the more affecting scenes here), the cheesy (if slight) old-age effects in the epilogue are sure to induce giggles.