The Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Harry Potter – review

Got to see the new Harry Potter movie Friday night for $5 at the very local historic movie theater – pretty good deal to get five of us in for $25!!

If you are looking for an action packed, visual powerhouse with lots of spills and chills and excitement – you’ll love this movie! It takes the characters we have grown to love through the years and puts them through the most terrifying ordeals ever! Fires, falls, battles, death – this movie packs it all in. No one is safe. If you’re that kind of movie goer, you will love this picture and have a great time!

But…

if you’re a big fan of the books and if the minute details and the intricacies of fine story telling woven together in to a beautiful tapestry of plot and characterization are what interest you – this ain’t that movie. Let’s face it – there’s only so much you can do in 2 hours and 10 minutes. This is fast food story telling; it fills you up and makes you feel full, but deep down you know that there’s something missing that might have been better for you!

There were a lot of disappointments in story telling for me in this movie.

• Tonks and Lupen announce they were pregnant in Deathly Hallows Part 1. They both die in part 2. If I hadn’t been familiar with the book, I would have thought Tonks died whle pregnant. But at the end of the story when Harry sees Lupen’s spirit they talk about Lupen’s son.  The movie totally glosses over the fact that Harry is the godfather of this baby and the parallels of man who grew up without his parents being the godfather to a baby who is now also an orphan. Why mention it at all if they weren’t going to go there in the movie?
• Fred Weasley died.  In the book, that was a tear jerker. In the movie- not so much.  Couldn’t even really tell which Weasley died.
• There is a rich, rich history given of Dumbledore and his family including his parents and siblings.  It’s briefly alluded to in the movie, but it was one of the most interesting parts of the book.
• Likewise the Lilly, Petunia, Snape scenes were too short and just. If I hadn’t read the book I’m not sure I even would have understood them at first viewing.
• Neville Longbottom’s scenes aren’t at all like the books and frankly the book handled Neville better including the sorting hat and the killing of Nagini. It would have been nice to see Neville as a professor at Hogwarts as well at the very end.

I could go on but those were my biggest gripes.  I think this book would have made a great t.v. series.  I’m not sure the movie format did it justice but if it was just for general entertainment, it’s probably fine.

Now… ever since I first read The Deathly Hallows, I have been very much looking forward to the scene where Mrs. Weasley kills Bellatrix LeStrange. Molly Weasley is the epitome of what a mother should be -a cross between Michelle Dugar and Samantha Stevens with a bit of Ma Joad for good measure. I love this mild, gentle, common sensical character and I especially love the way Julie Walters portrays her.

So it is quite a stunning moment in the book when Mrs. Weasley screams, “Not my daughter you bitch!” when she kills Belatrix for attacking her daughter. Love it! My absolute favorite part of the book and a part in the movie got applause last night at the show I attended.

If you really want to know the Harry Potter story, you have to read or listen to the unabridged books.  The movies only give you the bare bones of the story. Deathly Hallows Part 2 is no different. But for an overall enjoyable movie experience, it’s not bad.

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