Pick of the Week: Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows II

By Horacio Garcia

So finally is here: the second part of the seventh part of the longest running most profitable series in the history of movies. Boy, did they squeeze it dry! Fortunately, the Harry Potter series has proved something that is not always truth: if you got a great story and you put a lot of money into it you'll get great movies. Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows 2 is a great movie.

Like the characters, during the seven years of attending Hogwarts School of Magic the series grew up and got darker and more mature -one book at the time- and I have to say with no little surprise, that so did the production. When the first two films, directed by the wizard of children movies, Chris Columbus, were very much for kids, from The Prisoner of Azkaban (directed by Robert Rodriguez) and on the series became darker and more serious, following the same dramatic evolution of the books.

This two part grand finale is a worthy culmination and I have nothing but praise for producers Heyman and David Barron and the people of Warner Bros.

The movie itself is a roller coaster of nonstop action and if ever there were good reasons for splitting a story in two (money being the other one), the dramatic structure improved a lot, because the truth is that Deadly Hallows is very long and clearly divided in two distinct parts: the first halve is a typical "road movie" concerning the search for the Horcruxes and the Deadly Hallows (I'm sorry, but if you haven't seen the first part you will be lost here…) and this second part is the Final Confrontation between The Dark Lord Voldemort and The Boy Who Lived.

So director David Yates, who has being doing the job for the last four films, had the rare opportunity of unlimited money and resources and a cast of superstars eager to work with him. The result is visually stunning and truth being told, dramatically perfect.

The battles are impressive, with photography by Oscar nominated Eduardo Serra, taking maximum advantage of his experience in the two previous movies. The script (with some minor changes) manages to catch the spirit of J.K. Rowling's books that even in its darker moments manages to never stop being funny; a remarkable feat that the author of the books kept till the very end.

But the real success of Deadly Hallows (and of the entire franchise) is simply the depth that the three main characters achieved and the merit here goes to Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint; that is: Harry, Hermione and Ron. We saw them for the first time when they were 11 or 12 and since then they have grown into three excellent actors and (apparently) three great young persons. They grew up with their characters and the final result is a pleasure to the eyes and ears.

Thank you J.K. Rowling; that was a great series of books! And thank you Daniel, Emma and Rupert for being such good actors and great kids. This was really an exhilarating ride!

Tags blogger: Horacio Garcia, Daniel Radcliffe, David Yates, Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows II, Ralph Fiennes, Rupert Grint