Brilliant. Absolutely bloody brilliant! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II represents to me the culmination of my entire childhood. I have looked forward to this moment for over a decade now and it has finally ended. It comes with a mix of sadness as well as content. It could never be any other way. I do not remember who introduced me to the first book as a child (probably my parents) but I do remember the impact it had on me. Chamber of Secrets scared me so bad that I had to sleep on the floor in my parents' room until I finished it but I would not put it down even though my mother asked me to. At school while other kids played soccer or basketball I spent my time browsing the books, writing down every spell and its effect and committing them to memory in order to play wizards with my friend Seth. The writing in the books improved as I grew up and my reading level increased, keeping me interested. The seventh book was and is my favorite. That is probably how a series should be. Ron, Harry, and Hermione have been with me practically my entire life and to see them on the big screen in these vivid scenes was more than a dream come true.
Now for the actual evaluation of the film. Hehe . . . . sorry for getting distracted.
The beginning of the film was a perfect transition from the first half. After that it had a few rough transitions that were choppy and I felt like they rushed just a couple of things. For instance, the scene with Aberforth was not fulfilling enough. The transition when Harry gets to the Room of Requirement and Ginny announced that Snape knows that Harry was spotted in Hogsmeade is abrupt and choppy. From the reaction of the audience they felt the same way.
When Harry steps out from the crowd and calls Snape out and the Order steps through the doors I just about peed my pants. It sent shivers up my spine. It was all about to begin. The epic continued with McGonagall facing down Snape. When the castle comes to life and the good guys begin preparing for the defenses I was tingling.
The battle itself, as expected, was amazing. It did not disappoint in any way, although they changed a few things about the way it all went down. I never felt like it dragged and I was genuinely concerned about nearly every single person shown in the frames.
Snape's death was well done and garnered a lot of sympathy points for the half-blood prince. This was closely followed by a quadruple combination of scenes that eventually made me teary. I was glad that the director chose to make the scene short where Harry sees Fred, Tonks, and Lupin. That scene led to Snape's memories where his love for Lily is clear and poignant. Immediately after that Harry knows what he must do and that he must go alone. As he leaves his friends Hermione wishes it could be any other way, cries, and offers to go with him. That nearly got me there. When Harry uses the resurrection stone to speak to his parents, Sirius, and Lupin I finally shed the tear that had been welling up over the past fifteen or so minutes. It was very touching to me.
Epic scenes unfolded from there. The death of Harry, Molly and Bellatrix, Neville and Nagini, and finally Harry and Lord Voldemort.
My friends will probably say that I am eating my words here but I enjoyed the epilogue and felt like it was very much needed. In the book I didn't really think we necessarily needed to see it and it didn't do much for me then but the movie really needed that boost of happy and alright with the word to counter all the pain and suffering that had just happened. The victory over Voldemort, at least in the movie, was not enough alone. I felt a lot of strength when Harry spoke of Snape's bravery to his son Albus.
10 does not even begin to describe this film. It undoubtedly joins the ranks of my all-time favorite movies. I feel it is unfair to judge its place in those standings just yet until this euphoria wears off. Otherwise, I would make it my #1 movie of all time this instant.
I hope everybody enjoys the movie. Here and a few pictures of my friends and me from the theater.
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