Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (***1/4)

Unlike with other movies, I feel compelled to categorize myself in reviewing Harry Potter films, of which this is, as everyone must know, the last. And so, I declare myself a non-reader of the J. K. Rowling series. I have liked, but not been enthralled by, all of the previous movie adaptations. The series is in good hands in wrapping up, with David Yates returning to direct his fourth one and Steve Kloves, who’s written all but one of the films, again handling the screenplay. And, of course, the familiar faces of the primary cast; for once, no new major character is introduced.

The plot is at once devastatingly simple—Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) must locate the last of the “horcruxes” and finally confront evil Voldemort—and typically complex. That is, the big picture stays in focus, but, without having read the books, or at least having a deep recall of earlier installments, one is confronted with a succession of minor and medium characters with  dimly remembered back stories. Once or twice I had the sensation that a character was only present in the film as a sop to fans of the novels, and that there was a back story I was missing.

In temperament, though, the movie is plain spoken. It’s as dark as one expects, but without the sense of ennui and melancholia that pervaded parts of Deathly Hallows, Part 1. The three principals, Harry, Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint), though together for a great deal of the film, interact mostly in a functional way. “Brilliant!” and “That’s It!” are the sort of dialogue that most often passes between them. No time for post-adolescent angst when the devil’s afoot. Any emotional heft comes from the cumulative force of nine films in ten years, though also, later, from bloodied children. Yet you can’t help noticing the very “adult-ness” of these actors/characters first seen as pre-teens. It’s perfect that the series should end now.

Visually, the film is stately, emphasizing especially the imposing edifice of the Hogwarts school, where events take Harry, though he’s graduated. Special effects are not lacking, but in service of the plot, and only a few times drawing attention to themselves. There is quite a lot of wizardry, though; it’s a wonder there’s no “kill Voldemort” spell that would quite simplify the plot. Instead, we get smaller versions of this; no sooner does an obstacle present itself than a heretofore unknown spell, substance, or magic object provides a way out. Most magical of all, though, might be Helena Bonham Carter as…Hermione, in disguise, doing an uncanny Emma Watson imitation and supplying the limited comic relief.

The most wicked and satisfying plot turn has little to do with spells, a lot to do with creepy professor turned nasty headmaster Snape (Alan Rickman), and everything to do with human qualities good and not. Harry’s inevitable face-off with evil is almost unavoidably trite, simply for being so inevitable, just as Voldemort himself is trite and unsatisfying compared to the evil in one’s imagination. It’s something like the gun battle in High Noon, both the whole point of what’s come before and not the point at all. Wisely, the film doesn’t quite end there. It ends right, finally.

IMDB link

viewed 8/7/11 at UA Riverview and reviewed 8/7/11 and 8/8/11