Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry has finally come of age, and finally started on his final journey to defeat Voldemort for good. The Durselys are forced to go into hiding so that Voldemort’s Death Eaters will not torture them for information, and Harry sets off with Ron and Hermione on a difficult quest to find and destroy the last of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Only once those have been destroyed, Harry knows, can Voldemort truly be killed.
It’s not easy. Harry is plagued with rumors of Dumbledore’s past, and begins to wonder if the Headmaster he so long revered might have had a much darker past than he ever let on. The three are frequently without food, and with winter coming their journey is no day at the beach. Because of their lack of plan, lack of food, and lack of progress, their spirits are often low, and Ron especially becomes argumentative. One night he and Harry get into an epic fight and Ron leaves to go back home.
Harry and Hermione are devastated that he’d abandoned them. They finally decide to revisit Godric’s Hollow in search of clues, and once again they’re almost caught by Voldemort. Every step they make, it seems, he is there anticipating them. They’ve almost died too many times to count, and their spirits sink even lower when Harry discovers his wand was broken in the battle.
Ron redeems himself a few weeks later by coming back and saving Harry’s life in the nick of time. They manage to destroy another Horcrux with Gryffindor’s sword, and they become excited again as they begin to learn about a mysterious trio of magical objects called the Deathly Hallows. Whomever possesses the three objects will be a master of death, and to Harry, it’s his one chance to beat Voldemort and live to tell the tale.
As his adventures and the danger he’s in increases, Harry begins to truly understand what Dumbledore intended him to do. He realizes, almost at the last minute, that his own life will have to be sacrificed in order for Voldemort to truly be vanquished. Filled with love for his friends, he willingly gives his life so that they may live.
His last act of heroism, however, saves his life. He meets Dumbledore again in death, and Dumbledore answers many of his questions. He is given a choice to stay or to go back, and he chooses to go back and fight.
It’s all over between Harry and Voldemort with just one spell. Harry is left alive, the true master of the Hallows, and Voldemort is killed for good. He now understands more than he ever has about love, and life, and sacrifice, and in spite of the loss of many of his friends during the last battle, is grateful for the second chance he’s been given at life, and love.

                                               

It's been just shy of ten years since first bringing Harry Potter to the big screen, but with $2 billion grossed so far, it's the most lucrative franchise in movie history. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, the eighth and final film, is sure to add to those lucrative numbers while also satisfying fan expectations.

The movie hits the ground running even before the Warner Brothers logo appears. There's a repeat of the previous film's final scene: Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) taking possession of the powerful Elder Wand. Then we see Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) on the beach mourning the loss of Dobby the elf. (If either of those elements are spoilers, you shouldn't be watching this movie!) And like a wizard disapparating, BAM!, we're on our way for a briskly paced, never dull movie experience, clocking in at just over two hours.

It's enough to catch you off guard if you're not fully prepared. Unless you're a fan with a strong recollection, consider re-watching the first Deathly Hallows movie, skimming through the first twenty-three chapters of the book, or at least reading a who's-who of the long list of characters in the Potter universe before seeing Part II.

The story continues as expected. Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) are looking for the Horcruxes—items in which the evil Lord Voldemort stores parts of his soul to become invincible. Their search leads them to a daring heist in the depths of Gringotts Bank for wizards, and then a long-awaited return to Hogwarts (largely absent from the previous film), where things stay for much of the film's remainder, as Voldemort lays siege with his minions, leading to all-out war on the school grounds.

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione, Rupert Grint as Ron

Part IIplays like The Return of the King in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in good ways and bad. This is easily the most epic of the films with higher stakes and intense moments to match. But who thought that Voldemort's followers numbered in the thousands—as if it were the equivalent of an Orc army? It leads to a couple spectacular sequences, for sure, including a heroic moment for nerdy Neville Longbottom that wasn't in the book. But the size of the spectacle is needlessly over the top at times.

There's plenty of drama, given the gravity of this story. Lots of characters—good and evil—die. But will Harry have to sacrifice himself in order to defeat Voldemort? Author J. K. Rowling brilliantly set the stage in her books to put Harry's fate in question, and this movie follows through on that uncertainty. Watch or read to find out what happens.

Many balked at the idea of splitting Deathly Hallows into two films, but the results are justified despite the four-and-a-half hour total running time. Cut out the first half, you skimp on the necessary buildup, character building, and thematic development. Short shrift the latter half, you miss out on the action and payoff.

Alan Rickman as Snape

As such, this is the most exciting film of the series, and probably the most satisfying after all the continuing threads from each predecessor. Tension is almost constant, and everything wraps up by the end.

There are echoes of Star Wars, The Return of the King, and Raiders of the Lost Ark in parts of the action scenes—and perhaps too much action. The book's finale was pitch-perfect with all of its confrontations and moments for major and minor characters to shine. Because the major characters are given more to do, it slightly diminishes the moments for the lesser characters. Still, our audience still cheered at all these moments.

The filmmakers deserve credit for handling other key scenes very well, such as the full truth about the history and loyalties of Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) in an appropriately messy flashback montage. And the film excellently explains something in the end that was hard to follow even in the book.

Best of all, the movie successfully follows through on its thematic material. This is a book (and series) that has largely been focused on death. How do we respond to it? Should we fear it? Are there things worth dying for? Why is death referred to as "the final enemy"? Can it be defeated by magic, power, and knowledge, or by the "deeper magic" that's touched upon in C. S. Lewis' Narnia series? Though the HP series isn't overtly Christian like Narnia, it's on equal ground spiritually with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.