Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Review
I've always had a strange relationship with Harry Potter: the books. I always felt that J K Rowling sold out in book six and seven and the pace got very uneven. That's not to say I didn't appreciate the world she created and the characters I came to love and the way that part of my childhood is caught up in each books pages. But having said that, this is the reason I went to DH:p1 with so much trepidation as I didn't like Book 7 all that much. I was pleasantly surprised when I found it to be the strongest movie that had been released so far. I also was given an extra treat in that I thought Bellatrix Lestrange truly elevated herself above EVERYONE and really, really encapsulated the essence of evil. It was an astonishing performance from Helena and I think it is now impossible to seperate her from the character. I really feel that Helena brought a lot to the role of Bellatrix, she was born to play the part.
Actual film under cut link for part two:
In this film however, and even though I hung onto every single Helena scene like there was no tomorrow because she is my favourite actress and always will be, it was definitely Alan Rickman's show. Again, I've always liked Alan in the part as Snape- another actor born to play the role but finally, the waiting for the reveal paid off in the most heartbreaking and beautiful of ways and I found my heart ripped out of my chest. I felt Snape's pain over Lily. I really did. I know that the awards never take Harry Potter seriously, but I actually felt that Alan's performance was near award worthy.
Other stand outs were Maggie Smith (I'd been missing her a lot), Neville and Luna. I like Neville and Luna as a couple so that scene addition really didn't bother me. Helena was as skin crawly as ever, particularly when Neville limped forward towards Voldemort and Bella mocked him cruelly and Helena's convincing turn as Hermione playing at being Bella. But it wasn't Helena who really took the scare cake this time round. Finally, finally after seven movies of me thinking poor Ralph Fiennes was just never going to get there (no slight to the actor intended. I am well aware of his considerable acting ability but I felt that a lot of the time Fiennes was too restrained for the part and got overshadowed by other actors like Jason Isaacs and particularly Helena)I was actually afraid of Voldemort more so than Bellatrix. The way his voice echoed around, the mannerisms Ralph adopted, the pain he felt each time a horcrux went down and finally the palpable fear when he realised time was running out; I was sold.
I thought Daniel Radcliffe played Harry strongly in this film as Hermione and Ron took a bit of a back seat. I found his performance to be quite nuanced and cried in the scene where he speaks to the dead for one last time. The theme is a good one. The dead are never truly gone, they exist forever as a part of us, in our hearts, as Lupin and Sirius reminded us. In the resurrection scene I was reminded of Ambrosia in one of my favourite childhood films Merlin who said to a young Merlin, "magic has no power over the human heart." Voldemort had no power over the heart and that was shown very strongly in this film, especially with Neville and The Malfoy's. I was struck by Voldemort's question to Lucius of "how can you live with yourself?" and Lucius has no answers. I liked Draco's obvious confusion and the reluctance with which he had to make a choice between the side of good and his own family (and ask yourself honestly, which side would you choose in that circumstance?). I liked Narcissa as played by Helen McCory (despite the still crap wig which I can never get used to) and her love for her son (ruled by the heart) triumphing over her fear of Voldemort as she lies to save Harry and how in the end The Malfoy's simply walk out of the story, a moral grey area enigma to the last. Dumbledore's small part in King's Cross with "Help is always given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it," particularly stuck in my head as a great dramatic lynchpin, held together by the movie's focus on the destruction of Hogwarts. It kind of served as a personal metaphor for me too. Hogwart's is finished with, but as J K Rowling said in a very emotional speech at the premiere "Hogwarts will always be waiting for those who want to come back to it."
I think the last two films have been the strongest because the art direction really picked up (very Burtonish I noticed), the storytelling cut straight to the heart of the books even if that meant adding in or taking away scenes from the source material and finally, the atmostphere and the drama was exactly right. Deathly Hallows Part One and Two succeeded in a way the previous Potter's haven't done. They convinced me that these were movies in their own right with strong themes and performances that had real lasting dramatic resonance.
Actual film under cut link for part two:
In this film however, and even though I hung onto every single Helena scene like there was no tomorrow because she is my favourite actress and always will be, it was definitely Alan Rickman's show. Again, I've always liked Alan in the part as Snape- another actor born to play the role but finally, the waiting for the reveal paid off in the most heartbreaking and beautiful of ways and I found my heart ripped out of my chest. I felt Snape's pain over Lily. I really did. I know that the awards never take Harry Potter seriously, but I actually felt that Alan's performance was near award worthy.
Other stand outs were Maggie Smith (I'd been missing her a lot), Neville and Luna. I like Neville and Luna as a couple so that scene addition really didn't bother me. Helena was as skin crawly as ever, particularly when Neville limped forward towards Voldemort and Bella mocked him cruelly and Helena's convincing turn as Hermione playing at being Bella. But it wasn't Helena who really took the scare cake this time round. Finally, finally after seven movies of me thinking poor Ralph Fiennes was just never going to get there (no slight to the actor intended. I am well aware of his considerable acting ability but I felt that a lot of the time Fiennes was too restrained for the part and got overshadowed by other actors like Jason Isaacs and particularly Helena)I was actually afraid of Voldemort more so than Bellatrix. The way his voice echoed around, the mannerisms Ralph adopted, the pain he felt each time a horcrux went down and finally the palpable fear when he realised time was running out; I was sold.
I thought Daniel Radcliffe played Harry strongly in this film as Hermione and Ron took a bit of a back seat. I found his performance to be quite nuanced and cried in the scene where he speaks to the dead for one last time. The theme is a good one. The dead are never truly gone, they exist forever as a part of us, in our hearts, as Lupin and Sirius reminded us. In the resurrection scene I was reminded of Ambrosia in one of my favourite childhood films Merlin who said to a young Merlin, "magic has no power over the human heart." Voldemort had no power over the heart and that was shown very strongly in this film, especially with Neville and The Malfoy's. I was struck by Voldemort's question to Lucius of "how can you live with yourself?" and Lucius has no answers. I liked Draco's obvious confusion and the reluctance with which he had to make a choice between the side of good and his own family (and ask yourself honestly, which side would you choose in that circumstance?). I liked Narcissa as played by Helen McCory (despite the still crap wig which I can never get used to) and her love for her son (ruled by the heart) triumphing over her fear of Voldemort as she lies to save Harry and how in the end The Malfoy's simply walk out of the story, a moral grey area enigma to the last. Dumbledore's small part in King's Cross with "Help is always given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it," particularly stuck in my head as a great dramatic lynchpin, held together by the movie's focus on the destruction of Hogwarts. It kind of served as a personal metaphor for me too. Hogwart's is finished with, but as J K Rowling said in a very emotional speech at the premiere "Hogwarts will always be waiting for those who want to come back to it."
I think the last two films have been the strongest because the art direction really picked up (very Burtonish I noticed), the storytelling cut straight to the heart of the books even if that meant adding in or taking away scenes from the source material and finally, the atmostphere and the drama was exactly right. Deathly Hallows Part One and Two succeeded in a way the previous Potter's haven't done. They convinced me that these were movies in their own right with strong themes and performances that had real lasting dramatic resonance.