Review of film “HARRY POTTER [ = # 7 ] AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2” ( with DANIEL RADCLIFF reprising his role in the "Final" sequel in the story )

2011, 07-17:

Review of film:  “HARRY POTTER [ = # 7 ] AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2”

Remember Lord Voldemort (a French name meaning Flight or Cheater or Stealer of Death)?...  In Part 1 (released in 2010--  &, to-me, a slow-moving & disappointing movie in certain ways), he’d gained control of the Wizard school Hogwarts & the Ministry of Magic...

...  The Deathly Hallows were the Wizarding world’s three most dominant items.  They consist of:  the Cloak of Invisibility (gained before the end of the last installment by Harry Potter)...

...  The second item was the Resurrection Stone (which had “disappeared”), having the power to bring forth spirits of the dead...

...  And, the third was the powerful Elder Wand, which had been in the possession of Professor Albus Dumbledore (MICHAEL GAMBON) until he battled evil-acting Professor Severus Snape (ALAN RICKMAN) & his “boss” Voldemort (played by RALPH FIENNES) who’d finally gained possession of it...  

...  (The symbol of all 3 of the Hallows is the triangle below...)

...  Ralph (Voldemort) created three Horcruxes to cheat death (since they hold pieces of a soul)... 

...  In the previous instalment, Harry (DANIEL RADCLIFFE) joined with his Wizarding pals Hermione Granger (EMMA WATSON) & Ron Weasley (RUPERT GRINT) to continue Dumbledore’s work of trying to find & DESTROY the Horcruxes (& thus weaken Voldemort’s power)...

...  Towards the beginning of this “final” sequel, Dan (accompanied by Emma & Ron) go to talk to Ollivander (JOHN HURT) to try to get some needed information... 

...  They work to link-up with Griphook (WARWICK DAVIS), who they hope will help them...

...  Soon, we see them trying to break into the “vault” of the Gringotts who are allied with Voldemort’s group.  Joining a disguised Ron + Dan using the Cloak of Invisibility, Emma disguises herself as Voldemort’s assistant Bellatrix Lestrange (played by HELENA BONHAM CARTER), & is able to get the group INTO the “guarded” area...

...  The companions --  with difficulty --  are able to FIND one of the objects they seek there, but they have to FIGHT to stay alive & to escape from the area using a sort of fire-breathing DRAGON creature [as shown below]...

...  Naturally, Ralph is most ANGRY at how Harry & his group keeps causing him problems, & gathers together his various “BADDIES” group to devise ways to STOP them...

...  In time, Harry & his pals return to try to enter HOGWARTS...  They receive help from a surprising source as Wizard student Neville Longbottom (MATTHEW LEWIS)

alerts them to a secret way into the compound...

...  Everyone there is thrilled to see Dan & his group, especially his red-haired girlfriend, Ron’s sister Ginny Weasley (BONNIE WRIGHT)... 

...  At one point, Dan, Ron & Emma work to search for a needed object (a diadem / tiara) which Dan needs to destroy as a means of further reducing Ralph’s powers...

...  Trying to stop their search is Ralph’s assistant Draco Malfoy (TOM FELTON) & 2 of his friends [as seen below]...  That leads to various fights with WANDS & a need to escape fire started by Tom...  

...  Altho they know it will likely bring them very difficult times, the various Managers & other directors at Hogwarts agreed to try to HELP Dan & his pals...  They’re led by their old friend, Professor Minerva McGonagall (MAGGIE SMITH)...

...  Plus Professors Horace Slughorn (JIM BROADBENT), Pomona Sprout (MIRIAM MARGOLYES), Sybil Trelawney (EMMA THOMPSON), and short Filius Flitwick (WARWICK DAVIS, in a dual role)...

...  The leaders work to devise a plan to try to PROTECT Hogwarts from Ralph’s band of evil-doers (including the Death Eaters), by trying to construct a magical “SHIELD” around the area & the like...

...  Ralph warns the Hogwart-ians to give-up Dan & his partners into his hands, or he’ll DESTROY the school & those in it...

...   The “good guys” don’t WANT to give-in to Ralph, & thus begins various BATTLES between the “dark” forces of Ralph & the “good” forces of Dan & those congregated in Hogwarts...

...  Dan is able to use various “special powers” he’s gathered to see into the PAST & the FUTURE a bit (including by using the Resurrection Stone), & he realizes there has to be a personal fight between him & Ralph...

...  When Dan’s group has some successes, Ralph grows very angry & threatens his assistant Alan (including with his malevolent “sidekick”, the snake Nagini)...  This is overheard by Dan & some others...

...  Bit-by-bit, Ralph’s group starts to RUIN various areas of Hogwarts during their attacks...

...  To try to save his friends at the school, Dan goes out to personally CONFRONT Ralph--  although his old friend Rubeus Hagrid (ROBBIE COLTRANE) -- who’s in shackles in Ralph’s camp -- tries to dissuade him from doing that...

...  What is the “secret” of snake Nagini?...  What "unexpected" truth will be discovered about the Elder Wand?...

...  Will any of Ralph’s “baddies” turn out to be “GOOD” guys who might try to help Dan’s group?...

...  Will Ralph be able to KILL Dan with his powerful magic?...  Will others at Hogwarts continue to FIGHT ON, no matter what happens to Dan?...

...  What will we learn from the “postscript” at the end which is set “19 years later” than the battles we’d been witnessing around Hogwarts?...

...  I found this “final” sequel a quite SATISFYING one, especially because of the battles & the “19 years later” segment (which seems to sort of “forecast” a possible “FUTURE” group of stories from author J.K. Rowling)...

...  While some of the battling is a trifle “repetitious”, there are some WONDERFUL action scenes & impressive SPECIAL-EFFECTS magic in this sequel...

...  As usual, the acting is first-rate overall...  We’ve “grown-up” with these characters, & it’s somewhat sad to see them “go” (IF that really happens in the story!)...

...  There’s a 3-D version of this film, &, while it’s quite GOOD, I think it’s debatable whether it’s “worth” the extra ($ 3-5) “added-charge” over the 2-D version (in that it’s not an “extraordinary” use of the medium as it was in “AVATAR” & parts of “TRANSFORMERS 3”)...

...  All in all, it’s a FINE, enjoyable film, & I’m thus rating it at 8.75 stars out of 10 (for the reasons detailed above)...

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