With the long running Harry Potter series of films drawing to an end the final film had to be something truly remarkable and director, David Yates (Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1, Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince) certainly delivers. While Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1 dipped a little due to the fact that it was largely a road movie, Part 2 is very much a ‘battle’ movie and holds the suspense of the audience from start to finish… even more so if you haven’t read the novels and have no idea who is going to live or die.
In this finale we find Harry (Daniel Radcliffe – Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1, Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince), Ron (Rupert Grint – Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1, Wild Target) and Hermoine (Emma Watson – Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1, Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince) still looking for the remaining Horcruxes in an effort to destroy Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes – Page Eight, Corilanus). However, when Voldemort takes the fight to Hogwarts Harry realises that it is time for him and Voldemort to battle face-to-face.
David Yates has obviously watched The Lord Of The Rings triology as he and screenwriter Steve Kloves (Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1, Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince) knows that a film that consists mainly of battles can still be kept interesting and that characterisation doesn’t need to be thrown out the window and replaced with special effects. And while Yates and Kloves do a fabulous job with the film there is still one minor gripe. The series still doesn’t deal with death in a satisfactory way. As we saw in Part 1 with Hedwig’s death, the death of some key characters in this film certainly aren’t dealt with the respect that the audience would expect.
Acting-wise Radcliffe, Watson and Grint once again show that they have the skills to become fine actors long after this series is just a memory, however a big surprise this time around is the performance of Matthew Lewis (Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1, The Sweet Shop) who plays Neville Longbottom. Neville gets more screen time this time around and Lewis embraces it with an effort that leaves you hoping that we see more of him in the future. Once again the other standout is Alan Rickman (The Boy In The Bubble, Alice In Wonderland) who has been superb throughout the series… it really has been a testament to what a fine actor he really is.
As the door closes on Hogwarts (dare we say it) for the final time the fans can only be left well and truly fulfilled by this magnificent finale. A stunning film that will be long remembered.
DIRECTOR: David Yates
STARS: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
RATING: M
RUNTIME: 130mins
BUZZ RATING: 
Available on DVD from 16th November, 2011