What Do The Critics Say?

"There's little time for those unfamiliar with the story to pick up the threads although it would be fair to say that the key audiences for this grand finale are the initiated aficionados who have been hanging onto every little detail of the intricate world of the boy wizard since the series began 10 years ago. I felt as though the filmmakers were so keen to dazzle one and all with effect after effect that the simple art of storytelling has suffered in the process." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "So many good films come to bad ends. The final episode of Harry's epic journey, 'part 2' of 'The Deathly Hallows', is the best possible end for the series that began a decade ago. Harry Potter movies: good and occasionally indifferent; though never bad—deserve thanks for inciting a sense of wonder in a generation of kids who've been shortchanged by the movie business." Joe Morgenstern WALL STREET JOURNAL "After ten years and eight films, Harry Potter’s cinematic saga has finally reached its conclusion: and it’s spellbinding. From the opening moments, which pick up the action where the last film left off, there’s a real sense of urgency about the storytelling. We're a long way from the hijinks and humour of earlier episodes. Be prepared instead for a dark and thrilling ride." Jason Best MOVIE TALK "The grand finale to the Harry Potter saga holds nothing back. The film has a few issues, not the least of which is the final fate of one of the most powerful artifacts in Harry Potter’s world; for inexplicable reasons, the film deviates from the better book ending and allows a ridiculous solution. Farewell, Harry Potter. You’ve done far more and fared far better than your creator ever required of you." Kevin A Ranson MOVIE CRYPT "It's a bit difficult even for me, a casual admirer, to reconcile that the series has come to an end. For Harry Potter and friends, the slogan du jour is "IT ALL ENDS", and while I, myself, was never a huge fan, never having read a single word from any of the books, I will say that this finale, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2", more than lives up to its advance hype. But it will never die. Author J.K Rowling has managed to transfix at least two generations of readers, and various directors have managed to faithfully bring the books to life on the big screen." David Kaplan KAPLAN vs KAPLAN

"There is a great sense of confusion in this final chapter, as if the story had to be stretched out and peppered with a zillion tricks. So much so I am not too sure of the details, but the arc of the story simply continues from what felt like an aborted end to Part I. This sense of the story being stretched is never more acute than in the final act, in which there are about three clear endings, after each of which the film sucks in new air and revives for another elongated ending." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE "Much like biblical films, they stand in the shadow of the revered texts they dramatize, and all complaints about tortured or nonsensical plot twists can be dismissed with the command, 'Read the books. They explain that.' It’s true. J.K. Rowlings nothing if not a master of lengthy exposition. The Harry Potter movies aren't really movies. They're the world's most expensive book illustrations. The movie illustrates your basic apocalyptic Good vs. Evil clash just fine." Margot Harrison SEVEN DAYS "The musical score is once again fantastic by Alexandre Desplat. During many of the action scenes things are slowed down visually, and accompanying those moments are tragically sad sounds making you realize what is at stake. The wands snap off spells to audio brilliance just like two lightsabers doing battle. This Harry has something the others don't: the power of goodbye." Jeff Bayer THE SCORECARD REVIEW "After all of the slow and careful buildup of last year’s 'Part 1', however, this movie feels like the three films before 'Deathly Hallows': stuffed to the gills with too much plot to get through for a feature film. Many of the movies, including this one, have merely summarized the books rather than actually interpreting them. It’s good to finally get a resolution: however underwhelming it is. But if Potter fans want to get the full experience, they’ll probably continue to return to the books." Eric Melin SCENE STEALERS "A magnificent conclusion to a stunning series of eight films, some better than others, but still a monumental success. What author J. K. Rowling did for the increase in reading worldwide, the films have accomplished for movie attendance. Director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves have done an exemplary job keeping the pace moving, but never losing the audience. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" is an unbeatable culmination." Jeanne Kaplan KAPLAN vs KAPLAN

The Inside Story "You’re a Wizard, Harry." Ten years ago, those four words signified the beginning of the extraordinary cinematic journey of a boy whose name became synonymous with magic: Harry Potter. Over the next decade, the film franchise that bears his name changed movie history while also changing the lives of its multi-generational ensemble cast and the filmmakers who devoted themselves to bringing J.K. Rowling’s seven-volume literary masterpiece to the screen. Commencing in 2001 with "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone" and culminating with the two-part adaptation of the final title, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", the films have become the top-grossing franchise of all time, capturing the imagination of audiences around the world. Additionally, both the books and the movies have been woven into our culture, adding words like Muggle, Quidditch, Hogwarts and even Expelliarmus! to the global lexicon. 2001 ShoWest Award Hall of Fame Award recipient David Heyman, who, in 1997, discovered the as yet unpublished Harry Potter manuscript and has produced all of the movies, acknowledges: "I could never have imagined when we embarked on the first film the level of response from audiences through the years. It’s been beyond my wildest dreams, so I look back on it with great pride and with gratitude, for the fans and especially for Jo Rowling." Producer David Barron ("Sahara") notes: "It really has been unique, but it was entirely dependent on having rich enough source material, and that, of course, began with the books." Creatively, states author and producer J.K Rowling, the single thread of the story was very much by design. "I had a very, very clear idea of where Harry was going to go. This was just one story that I wanted to tell. For me, that was key if the books were ever going to be made into films; it had to be done that way. When I met David Heyman, he completely understood." Rowling found another invaluable collaborator in screenwriter Steve Kloves ("The Fabulous Baker Boys"), who has adapted six of the seven books. "Steve really got the books. I was always accepting of the fact that changes must occur in the process of moving from the page to the screen. But even the scenes that were different were always very true to the spirit of the books." "We had one cohesive, bracing tale that literally had no end when we began, since only the first three books had been published," says Kloves, who directed "The Fabulous Baker Boys". "Although that sometimes made for challenging circumstances, my instincts were pretty true. But in those instances when I was in need of assistance, I had an ally whose counsel I felt was reasonably sound: Jo. While she was never explicit, she was always available and highly adept at gently nudging me in the right direction. In the end, one principle proved pretty reliable: follow the characters." "In following the characters," director David Yates (who came onboard with 2007's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix") says, "many of the values that Jo celebrates in the books come to the fore in the films: the value of loyalty and love and friendship and understanding versus intolerance and evil." "The power of love is a huge theme throughout the books and the films, as well," Rowling adds. "There are lots of different kinds of love expressed over the course of the story, but friendship is probably the strongest form of love that you see in the movies." The love between friends is embodied most in the characters of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They were portrayed by three young actors who literally grew up on the screen: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. "I couldn’t even attempt to sum up what the role of Harry Potter has meant to me, but I can say that I never took the opportunity to play him lightly," Radcliffe (2001 Golden Apple Youth Male Discovery of the Year) notes. "It may have been the same character, but like anyone else, Harry changed a lot over the years so, as an actor, I looked at each film as an opportunity to do something fresh and to develop another set of skills." "I feel very privileged to have played Hermione," says Watson, who voiced the character Princess Pea in "The Tale of Despereaux". "I think she’s someone young girls can look up to because she’s always true to herself. She’s very smart and an incredibly courageous and loyal friend who keeps a cool head in extremely difficult situations. It was wonderful to be able to bring across those elements of her personality throughout the films." "I know I’ll miss playing Ron because there was a time when I was him more than I wasn’t him," Grint ("Wild Target") laughs. "And I really liked the development of his character. He started out as a kid who was quite easily scared and it was nice to see him grow up to be brave and resourceful, particularly in this last movie where they are in such an unpredictable and dangerous place." "Over the course of these films, we’ve truly had the who’s who of British acting royalty on our stages, which was tremendous. But watching our young cast grow into fine actors and fine people has been one of the great joys of working on the Harry Potter films," Heyman notes. "We’re incredibly proud of them." Two time Seattle International Film Festival 'Golden Space Needle Award' winner Alan Rickman (1991 & 2008), who has played the enigmatic Professor Severus Snape in all of the movies notes: "In order for that to happen properly, there have to be some big themes to think about. What’s right and what’s wrong? Who do I trust and who don’t I? What does it mean to be brave: and, what does loyalty mean? It’s all in there." In "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2", the young wizards are now on the front lines of a world at war. "This is the final battle for Hogwarts, the final battle for the wizarding world and something we’ve been building towards throughout this series: the final conflict between Harry and Voldemort," Heyman declares. According to 2005 BAFTA TV Award winner Yates ("Sex Traffic"), "It was important to end the series with an epic finale, so we have battles and dragons, spiders and giants: but at heart, this is a story about the characters. Spectacle is important, but caring about the people in the middle of it is what pulls the audience into the journey with them." "There’s a lot more action, but the emotional core of the story has always been what these movies are about, and we would never want to overshadow that," Barron ("Page Eight") revealed. Heyman agrees. "The all-out war between good and evil is thrilling, but there is still an emotional underpinning. And because we’ve been invested in these characters for so long, it feels there is much more at stake." The final film brings the characters back to some familiar places, including the now-iconic Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which was not seen at all in "Part 1", marking a first for the series. Conceived by Rowling and realized by three time Oscar® winning production designer Stuart Craig, Hogwarts has been a home, a headquarters and a haven to its students and faculty. In this final chapter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is about to become a battlefield. At the beginning of "Part 2", Harry is a man rather than a boy and is ruthlessly sure of his task. He needs to kill Voldemort. He knows he must be the one to finish it and he is determined to see it through." A clue as to the whereabouts of another Horcrux comes from someone else Harry first met on Diagon Alley all those years ago: a goblin named Griphook, who works at Gringotts Bank. Warwick Davis ("Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace" & "Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi"), who had provided the voice of Griphook in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone", returns to portray the character in the final film. Davis is also known to audiences as Hogwarts’ Professor Filius Flitwick and says that playing both roles "really allowed me to stretch my acting muscles because the two characters are poles apart. Flitwick is a wizard and quite a warm character, whereas Griphook is a goblin who thinks wizards are untrustworthy. Then again, it’s Griphook who tries to manipulate the situation to his own advantage. If you encounter a goblin, beware. They’re very selfish and will do anything to get their way." For the Gringotts sequence, Davis did double duty, not only acting but casting. He explains: "I represent actors under five feet tall, so the filmmakers came to me and asked me to help them find more than sixty people to play goblins, who could also handle the extensive prosthetics. We had actors come in from all over Europe, so it was like the United Nations of goblins." Turning dozens of actors into goblins also entailed a multilateral effort from special make-up effects designer and 1998 BAFTA Film Award winner Nick Dudman ("The Fifth Element") and his team. They began by sculpting the goblin faces, with the caveat that no two could be identical. 2000 Saturn Award winner Dudman ("The Mummy") revealed they "had to carefully monitor the designs so they wouldn’t look alike because we wanted to make them each individual. We then mass produced all the prosthetic pieces, but every one had to be hand-painted and the hairs of the eyebrows had to be placed one by one into the silicone. It’s incredibly labor intensive." An assembly line of approximately one hundred and seventy make-up artists was recruited to apply the goblin's make-up, which took as long as four hours per goblin. In order to ensure that each one was done according to Dudman’s specifications, he ran a three day workshop, training a multi-national team to apply the make-up over and over again until he felt they were accurate. The Gringotts scene in 'Philosopher’s Stone' was actually shot on location, with the Australian Embassy doubling for the wizard bank. Harry Potter’s singular connection with Lord Voldemort has caused the young wizard fear and pain, but it has also provided him with a unique insight into the mind of the Dark Lord. Now it is showing him that Voldemort knows what they have been up to. Worse, instead of weakening him, the destruction of each Horcrux has made him like a wounded animal: desperate and even more dangerous. "When Voldemort discovers that Harry has been hunting Horcruxes, he realizes for the first time that he might be vulnerable and we see him start to fragment, not physically as much as internally," Yates notes. In a more literal sense, the visual effects team also brought to life the actual snake, Nagini, who is never far from Voldemort’s side. "He is very tender with her. It is quite possibly the most intimate relationship he’s ever had, like a fellow spirit," says Fiennes. The long-awaited showdown between Harry and Voldemort "brings them back to the place where they each became who they were," Rowling states. "It had to end at Hogwarts." What's It All About?

The battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war as Harry Potter continues his desperate search for the last of the powerful Horcruxes that are the key to Voldemort's immortality. He and his best friends Ron and Hermione are by turn the objects of Voldemort's evil plan: he wants to track Harry down and kill him. Harry now knows the legend of the Deathly Hallows, but Ollivander explains just how and why they are so crucial. He also discovers a shattering secret about himself and Voldemort, as he edges closer to the ultimate confrontation. Lord Voldemort now has the powerful Elder Wand and with the Dementors watching over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry must find another Horcrux hidden within the walls of Gringotts. With the casualties rising and Hogwarts under attack, Voldemort and Nagini prepare a trap to snare Harry.

The Verdict "Finally, according to all the hype, the end has arrived for the young wizard who, just a decade ago, captured the imagination of cinemagoers and the millions who fell under the spell of J.K.Rowlings books about a boy wizard named Harry Potter. One can only wonder what may have happened, had producer David Heyman not discovered the unpublished manuscript in 1997 and more importantly, not gone on to form a bond with the author. As history records, it led to seven stories and eight film. Only those who have never read the books would believe this is the end: after all; it's the most successful franchise of all time at US$6.5bn (the six "Star Wars" films grossed US$4.5bn) before you add-on 'Deathly Hallows Pt 2' in 3D. Dan Fellman, Warner Bros Pictures President of Domestic Distribution, called the massive tally a "stunning achievement." Perhaps the highest accolades that can be given to the films and author J.K.Rowlings, is that Harry Potter inspired millions to put a book in their hands, dragging readers of all ages away from the many distractions that plague modern society. As for the film industry, it certainly put 'bums on seats'! While 'Deathly Hallows Pt 2' may be the touted as the end of Daniel Radcliffe's Harry, I don't believe for a minute that we will never, ever, hear the words "Harry Potter" again, because as both the book and the film reveal, there is a legacy. So was the wait for the final installment in the seventh film worth waiting for and is it worth forking out the extra to see it in 3D? Well, only if you are a die-hard devotee of the books. For one, you can't walk in off the street and expect to make sense of it because you need to have seen Part 1. As for the 3D effects, well I suspect the 2D version would evoke the same 'thrill' for fans. There are some very good special effects; secrets are revealed; Hogwarts gets trashed; people die and heroes step up to the plate. On the other side of the coin, the film drags a little; the acting is still really wooden and the lines delivered by the three main characters come accross like 'one-liners' delivered in the style of method acting. Never the less, fans (like hapless Lemmings driven uncontrolably towards a sheer cliff) watching it in 3D through special Harry Potter 3D glasses they can purchase at the box-office, will love it: for in their eyes Harry and his cohorts can do no wrong. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" is a satisfying end (if it is the end) to a grand franchise and a remarkable body of work. Despite the fact that I've never rated the films highly, it's kudos to Rowlings and everyone involved. 3 1/2 STARS." Who Is Playing Who?

Daniel Radcliffe Rupert Grint Emma Watson Evanna Lynch Domhnall Gleeson Clémence Poésy Ralph Fiennes Helena Bonham Carter Robbie Coltrane Gary Oldman Michael Gambon Alan Rickman Maggie Smith Jim Broadbent Emma Thompson Warwick Davis Miriam Margolyes Gemma Jones Ciarán Hinds Hebe Beardsall Matthew Lewis

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Harry Potter Ron Weasley Hermione Granger Luna Lovegood Bill Weasley Fleur Delacour Lord Voldemort Bellatrix Lestrange Rubeus Hagrid Sirius Black Professor Albus Dumbledore Professor Severus Snape Professor Minerva McGonagall Professor Horace Slughorn Professor Sybil Trelawney Griphook/Professor Filius Flitwick Professor Pomona Sprout Madam Pomfrey Aberforth Dumbledore Ariana Dumbledore Neville Longbottom

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