Guilty Pleasures #18 - Harry Potter Month: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

In my Death Note review I posed the question "what makes a good adaptation?" I never really answered the question, the answer is different for every person. My personal opinion is that it must capture the tone and feel of the source material and contain just enough of the plot to satisfy any future stories, whilst telling a complete story in its own right (it should never be a requirement to read a book or watch a series to understand a movie). It cannot be an exact copy of the source material. With a book, you can be content reading it for hours, maybe even days, that’s not the case with a movie, where 3 hours is pretty much the limit and even then it has to be a special movie that can last that long.

The Last Airbender is a terrible adaptation above all because it fails to capture the tone and feel of the source material. It’s a terrible movie for its cr*ppy pacing, constant exposition, lack of character, nonsensical plot elements etc. Death Note fails to me to capture the feel of its source because it fails to capture Light in the manor it was hoping to thanks to its ending plot-twists. I realise some of these are subjective but we’re here to talk about the Deathly Hallows part 2.

The later Harry Potter stories have in some ways struggled with my criteria because filming started prior to the book series being finished (filming for the Philosopher’s Stone began in 2000, the final book didn’t come out until 2007) plot points that become relevant later are often left out. Prime example is Bill Weasley whose appearance in part 1 was rather out of nowhere.

Made with whatever was left of the $250million after the first part was done (they were filmed concurrently) this film broke box office records, breaking $1bn at the box office, the highest of any Harry Potter movie and why wouldn’t it? The series has always been a strong performer at the box office and naturally people would flock to see the final instalment in this very long-running franchise. But does that mean it’s any good? Well, let’s dive in. 

For this review, I will be drawing comparisons to the book but I stand by my opinion that a movie should stand or fall on its own merits as well.

We open with Voldemort procuring the Elder wand from Dumbledore’s grave. As some sad music plays we get our opening titles. We see that Hogwarts is now headed by Severus Snape and guarded by a heavy Dementor presence. He watches as the students march through the courtyard into the castle.

Good guys beware, I can make lightning!

We cut to Dobby’s grave where Harry is sitting, looking for the face in the piece of Broken Mirror. He enters the house, where Luna still lives. Bill exposits that it’s an Order safe-house that used to belong to their aunt. Harry returns saying he wants to talk to the Goblin, Griphook (played by Warwick Davies). He’s the same goblin that took him to his vault 6 plus years ago. 

They compare the stories of the swords; Griphook reveals that it’s a fake in Bellatrix Lestrange’s vault, planted there by Professor Snape. Harry says he needs to get into one of the vaults in Gringotts, and it might be possible with the help of Griphook. But Griphook wants the sword in exchange for his help. Harry believes that there’s a horcrux in Bellatrix’s vault, given her violent reaction to the idea of someone stealing something from her vault.

Harry then speaks to Ollivander, reprised by John Hurt. They have Bellatrix’s wand which Ollivander warns to be treated carefully. He examines Malfoy’s wand and claims it serves Harry now as it was won by Harry (via non magic combat since it was snatched) he asks what Ollivander knows about the Deathly Hallows, he exposits pretty much everything we already knew. Harry reveals that he knows that Voldemort has the elder wand.

He looks very much like he belongs there

Hermione uses a strand of Bellatrix’s hair to disguise herself using polyjuice potion with Ron disguised as erm… I haven’t got a clue. They apparate into Diagon Alley, where Hermione gives herself away almost immediately, which Griphook berates her for. Harry and Griphook hide under the invisibility cloak (nice of it to show up, finally) as the others visibly enter the vault.

The bank has human guards now, go figure. She goes to the bank clerk, who asks for her identification. Although her voice is so unconvincing pretty much everyone knows she’s an imposter. The clerk summons a manager who asks that she present her wand. She refuses, despite the fact that they have wand, as established in the previous scene, although maybe presenting that might’ve given them away if news had spread.

Harry uses the imperious curse on the manager and they get on the rollercoaster to the vaults. They pass an area known as the thieves' downfall, which breaks all magical enchantments, including the polyjuice potion, sets off the alarm and drops them to the ground. Oh and the manager is also removed from the imperius curse until Ron reinstates it (you know it’s kind of a weak security measure if you can just reactivate your enchantments the moment they’ve been deactivated)

Betya Hiccup and co can't train this dragon!

There is a very dangerous dragon on the lower levels which they use a bell to get around, the dragon expecting pain from the sound (barbaric as Hermione calls it) they find and enter the vault, filled with many treasures. They ask Harry if he can feel the Horcrux and he begins to get a feeling, it’s in a cup at the very top of the vault. However the gemino curse has been activated, everything they touch will multiply (must be a bad day for the wizarding economy when that happens) Harry manages to grab the cup but Griphook grabs it off him, saying that he’ll give it back in exchange for the sword.

They exchange but Griphook double crosses them. He agreed to let them in, not let them out. Griphook slips by the dragon and alerts the guard. They’re only way out now is to ride the dragon. They jump on and Hermione breaks the chains. The dragon climbs his way through the cavern, killing several guards in the process (our heroes) the dragon crashes into the foyer and breaks its way out before finally taking flight.

As they fly into the country, the dragon begins to lose height; they jump off into the lake. Harry sees Voldemort slaughtering those at the bank in knowledge of the robbery. He knows Harry and his gang are hunting Horcruxes. He also says he’d seen one of them at Hogwarts, with some connection to Rowina Ravenclaw (added for plot convenience as the scene that actually revealed the Horcruxes was cut out of the last movie) they need to get there now but have no way into the castle with Snape in charge.

2 guys taking off their shirts, I hope that got your attention

Harry recommends that they apparate to Hogsmede and use the Honeydukes secret passage (from the third movie) to enter. Voldemort walks by the entire dead bank staff, talking to his snake. Griphook is among the casualties (why did he elect to stay?) and the sword disappears from his dead hand.

Remember, this act of mass murder is made possible only because Harry stole the Horcrux, you can thank him later

The trio apparate to Hogsmeade and set off some sort of screeching cat alarm (I know it’d get my attention). A couple of snatchers investigate but they’re saved by the man from the mirror. Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus’ brother. They pass a painting of a young woman and see the broken mirror. Aberforth had purchased it from Mundungus fletcher, yet another of Sirius Black’s properties to have been stolen by the thief.

Aberforth claims that Voldemort has won and any who say otherwise are kidding themselves. Harry needs a way into the castle; Albus gave him a job to do. Aberforth enquires about the job and notes that Albus expected a lot of them at so young an age: it’s a suicide mission. Harry asks for Aberforth’s help and he sends the portrait off to find help, her name was Ariana, the sister of the Dumbledore and there’s some stuff about how Albus mistreated her that really doesn’t mean anything because we never get the full story

Ariana returns, opening a secret passageway revealing Neville. This passage was created this year thanks to room of requirement. Neville was injured by the new disciplinarians, the Carrows, for refusing to practice the cruciatus curse on first years (who weren’t in other lessons because…) Neville introduces Harry to the other people hiding in the Room of Requirement (Luna, Ginny, Dean, Seamus, etc.) He’s asked what the plan is and… oh for heaven’s sake! Tell them the truth! Voldemort already knows what you’re up to, there’s no need to keep it secret any more.

Psst, should I tell Harry I'm dating Ginny now?
Best not

Luna suggests that the object they’re searching for might be Rowena Ravenclaw’s lost Diadem, which has been lost for centuries (hence the name). Ginny shows herself for awkward staring. Snape knows about Harry being spotted in Hogsmeade and has called the students to the great hall. (Which now involves walking through the courtyard? Where are the other common rooms anyway?) Snape says that any helping Harry will be punished and any that do not act upon knowing something about Harry will be equally be punished.  

He asks if anyone knows anything and Harry steps out of the crowd (subtlety, what’s that?) however he’s backed up, not only by those from the room of requirement but by the half the order as well. Harry is angry that the man who killed Dumbledore stands where he once stood. Snape draws out his wand (you are outnumbered 20 to one!) but Professor McGonagall steps in, they briefly duel, with McGonagall knocking out the Carrows in the process but Snape escapes.

Harry feels faint as they get a message from Voldemort. He is within the vicinity and wants Harry handed to him and will reward those that do. Miss Parkinson of Slytherin tries to capture him but with half the order backing him up, she hasn’t got a hope. Mr Filch arrives complaining about students out of bed, McGonagall asks him to lead the house of Slytherin to the dungeons (and you wonder why there aren’t any bad witches or wizards that weren’t in Slytherin, just to reference in the book, she says it’s time for Slytherin to decide on their loyalties)

She asks what Harry needs, Harry says he needs time (pity they don’t have any time turners nearby, isn’t it?) McGonagall agrees to secure the castle. Ron and Hermione think they can get more basilisk fangs to destroy the Horcruxes, Harry lets them go, giving them the marauders map so they can find him once they’re done. Neville is given permission to set magical explosives to blow up the bridge, told to consult Seamus as pretty much everything we’ve seen him do over the course of these movies has resulted in an explosion.

Be glad no-one was under this thing when it landed

McGonagall animates some of the statues to help defend the castle to a rather aghast Mrs Weasley. Flitwick, Slughorn and the others project a massive shield around the castle, knocking away any nearby dementors. Harry heads to the Ravenclaw common room, with Luna pursuing to advise him to talk to a dead person, as no one in living memory has seen the diadem.

And so it becomes so, he consults with Helena Ravenclaw, aka the Grey Lady: the Ghost of Ravenclaw tower. When she refuses it he claims he wants to destroy it, which is what she wants as well. Voldemort and his forces stand united and begin bombarding the shield, it holds but cracks begin to form. Many years ago Tom Riddle also said he could destroy it but instead defiled it with his horcrux. Wait, what? I get it why she wants it destroyed now but why when Tom Riddle offered? This was not in the book.

In the book; we hear about Helena’s life. She stole the diadem and hid it in Albania, an area where Voldemort would travel. It was hidden in Hogwarts when he came to apply for a job (another scene omitted from the 6^th film) he did not ask for it to destroy it. Harry chases after Helena, promising that he can destroy it once and for all. Helena says that she reminds him of Tom in some ways, so naturally after being scorned once she doesn’t tell him where it is, oh wait, yes she does, it’s in Room of Requirement, the place where everything is hidden.

We see glimpses of the others as Ron speaks parselmouth to enter the chamber of secret’s main room. Harry talks in his sleep (because, of course he does, the plot says so). The Quidditch pitch burns but the shield is still holding, several snatchers are killed trying to breach it at the bridge Neville is guarding. Neville taunts them in way that’ll likely come back to bite him

Ron takes a tooth from the long dead and decaying basilisk (and the teeth have decayed in no way whatsoever) and gives it to Hermione to destroy the Horcrux. Hermione does so and Voldemort feels it (oddly enough, he did not in the book) as Ron and Hermione make out, for many awkward seconds. Voldemort fires a blast that destroys the shield around the castle. There seems to some cracks forming in the wand from that attack.

With the shield down, the snatchers charge the bridge, Neville makes a run for it, activating the explosive they’d planted earlier, bringing the bridge down along with any of the snatchers that had attempted to cross. Neville makes it, just. The death eaters begin their assault. Joined by trolls and dementors but the stone statues do their duty. McGonagall calls the students inside.

Yeah... He should die, he's way too close

Love conquers all, as Malfoy holds back his two followers, Goyle and erm… the Black Guy? What the heck happened to Crabbe?

Ah, yes, I do not feel any remorse calling him a colossal <censored>

So, Malfoy, Goyle and the Black Guy (what? They don’t actually refer to him by name in any scene) enter the room after Harry. Harry finds the diadem but he’s soon confronted by team Malfoy (who have about the same success rate as Team Rocket at this point) Harry asks why Malfoy didn’t tell Bellatrix that he was Harry at Malfoy Manor. Ron and Hermione arrive and in the ensuing battle Goyle unleashes fiendfyre (not called that in the movie, but…) Goyle has no means of controlling so just throws his wand away. Team Malfoy try to climb to safety by Goyle falls into the flames (in the book, all of this was Crabbe but see above for why that wouldn’t happen)

2 men on a broom. Insert your own puns here folks

Harry, Ron and Hermione find brooms to fly over the fire but Harry can’t bring himself to leave them behind.  They grab Malfoy and the Black Guy and get them out, then destroy the diadem and kick it into the fire for good measure. Voldemort’s feeling weaker than ever and kills someone to vent his rage. He needs to keep his snake safe, Harry takes that to mean that the snake is the last horcrux. Ron encourages Harry to look inside Voldemort once again to find him. They’re in the boathouse.

Inside Lucius Malfoy requests that they call off the attack but Voldemort says that Harry will come to him with this many lives threatened. He calls upon Lucius to find Snape. The battle continues with it becoming clear just how much damage the fight has caused. They flee the trolls and spiders as they descend to the boathouse. Aberforth is also in the battle and helps fend off some of the dementors.

At the boathouse Voldemort claims that the wand resists him, Snape tries to discourage that thought. But Voldemort knows that the wand belongs to he who killed the last master. Snape. Voldemort then does the smart thing and sets Nagini on him. Congratulations, the wand now belongs to the snake.

Harry and remember at this point that he thinks Severus is a murderer and a fiend comes to check Severus is alive for some reason. Severus begins to cry out memories (because you can do that apparently) Harry collects them in a vial and Snape asks him to take them to the pensieve. He also comments about Harry having his mother’s eyes (you’ll see the problem with this in a moment)

Voldemort calls out once again, as we see one of the death eaters kill Fred. Voldemort tells his forces to withdraw and allows them time to treat their dead. He tells Harry to come to him in the forbidden forest, else he’ll annihilate everyone. Harry, Ron and Hermione return into the castle, where Ron grieves to the now dead Fred. He honestly seems to be grieving more than George or his mother, worryingly.

Yeah, there's only one appropriate response to that

Harry enters Dumbledore’s former office and drops the memories into the pensieve. He observes Snape's memories and oh my god, they had one job! We hear constantly that Harry has his mother’s eyes but they look nothing alike! Anyway, they met before school and he was disappointed to find her in Gryffindor with James. Years later, he confronts Albus, claiming the prophecy (from the 5^th movie) was regarding Lily’s son, he offers anything in exchange for Albus making sure they’re protected. Then we get a scene that could not possibly be from Snape’s memories where Lily tells Harry to be safe and strong.

Eyes are a doorway to the soul, hers must've gotten completely messed up

Snape agrees to keep an eye on Harry lest the Dark Lord returns as long as no-one finds out. Near the beginning of the Half Blood Prince finds that Dumbledore had put on a cursed ring that would kill him within a year. He asks that Snape kill him rather than have Malfoy do it. (Only then will the dark lord trust him completely? In the book it was more about saving Malfoy from committing murder as Snape killing would be more an assisted suicide)  Dumbledore then explains that part of Voldemort’s soul latched itself onto Harry the night the curse backfired, explaining why he can look into Voldemort’s mind and speak to snakes.

Harry must die at the hands of Voldemort in order to expunge this part of Voldemort’s soul. Harry leaves the office and bumps into Ron and Hermione on the stairs. It’s actually quite a touching scene that they didn’t have in the book. Harry enters the forest and finally the snitch he couldn’t open in the first movie opens, inside is the resurrection stone, he clutches it and sees those he has lost. Sirius, his parents and Remus (He didn’t even get a death scene! Tonks also died off screen)

Not even sure she has the same eyes as her younger self, so how does she have Harry's eyes?

As Voldemort’s patience begins to run out, Harry arrives on the scene, much to the horror of a captured Hagrid. Voldemort casts his kill spell and Harry awakens, minus glasses, in a lot of green screen. He looks underneath a bench and sees a thing (golem?) dying. Dumbledore arrives to congratulate him and talk some exposition but missing several key features like anything to do with the Deathly Hallows or Dumbledore’s history. At least with the second one, it makes you wonder why they bothered bringing it up if they weren’t going to properly explain it. They also don’t explain why Harry survived that deadly blow. (In the book it was down to the fact that Voldemort had Harry’s blood which somehow doubled his protection… go figure)

Voldemort had been weakened because of the attack. Narcissa checks to see if Harry is dead, she discovers that he is not but on discovering that Draco is still alive she elects to keep that quiet. Neville begins to brush up the old sorting hat as the death eaters arrive at Hogwarts, marching with Hagrid carrying Harry’s body. The Hogwarts crowd gather around the entrance and Ginny is devastated to discover Harry’s death.

Voldemort issues the ultimatum, join us or die. Draco is one of few to join but even he seems hesitant. Neville is the next to step up, still limping from the battle scars. He makes a speech about how the battle will go on with or without Harry. Harry and the others are still with them in spirit. Voldemort, you’ve had ample opportunity, kill him already! Neville draws his sword and Harry reveals himself to be alive. Upon this revelation hordes of Death Eaters retreat including the Malfoy family (guess Death Eaters are cowards)

They duel on some non-changing stairs as Harry attempts to kill the snake; Voldemort destroys the basilisk fang and goes after Harry leaving the snake behind. Neville awakens in the great hall, seemingly oblivious to everything going on and eyes the sword he had pulled earlier. Voldemort grabs Harry using his tassels (go figure) Bellatrix attacks Ginny and Mrs Weasley happily kills her for it. Voldemort seems to be physically attacking Harry rather than just killing him. Harry pulls them both over the ledge, but Voldemort allows them to both apparate to safety. Back in the same courtyard every other shot is in, they both reach for their wand and priori incantatum happens despite the fact neither are using their previous dual-cored wands. Ron and Hermione are backed into a corner by the snake but thankfully Neville manages to kill it.

Good guys beware, I have tassels

Harry then easily overpowers Volemort, disarming him and allowing him to… him to… erm turn to something. Luna and Neville blossom their relationship (well start it anyway) as Harry walks through the great hall to find his friends. Many are telling the stories of what had happened in their battles.  Filtch is not pleased with the mess.

Harry explains that the elder wand served Draco Malfoy, not Snape, until he disarmed Draco at Malfoy manor. The elder wand belongs to him. Harry decides to destroy it so no-one can use it again (in the book he at least uses it to repair his former wand first) and then we get several seconds of awkward silence.

So, that was the Deathly Hallows part 2, not long spent on the aftermath, only about 4 minutes, but it’s not like they’re going to pad it out with a scene from 19 years later

Oh sonuva…

Was this really necessary? They left out half the intriguing elements of the chapter anyway. We don’t see James much, we don’t know why Albus is worried about being in Slytheryn, we don’t hear about Neville’s promotion to Herbology teacher, we don’t hear about Lupin’s child Teddy (who calls their child Teddy, anyway, that’s just asking to be teased) we don’t get anything out of this scene other than seeing some of the original cast trying their best to seem like grownups (Ron got a bit of a beer belly, didn’t he?) and some of the music from the first movie.

Hi, I'm a young actor looking for exposure through a cameo and a pay-check, any chance?

And there we have Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2, how does it fair as an adaptation?

The movies rarely falter in capturing the spirit and tone of the books. The mix of action, drama and just the right amount of humour make these stories joyous to watch. Thanks to a combination of CGI, models and great-looking set-pieces it looks fantastic from a visual standpoint as well, as for an audible standpoint, the music has never failed either. The spirit of these movies is totally captured in this movie and the rest of them.

The casting of these movies is usually fantastic, there aren’t new actors of note in this movie. Warwick Davies has already played several parts over the course of the series. But just about everything is as it should be in that department.

Where the movies sometimes falter is the plotting and deciding which elements to incorporate from the novels. I’d say in this case it’s handled rather well but the majority of the movie is action, the amount of plot required is fairly minimal. Any small errors and plot contrivances I’ve already pointed out in the review and I won’t waste time reiterating them.

For the record, I do understand why so much of the chapter with Dumbledore was omitted, particularly Dumbledore’s history with the Hallows. In the book it’s a long expository piece that would likely test an audiences’ patience especially with so many action scenes surrounding it. To remedy this they shouldn’t have been so heavy-handed in how they brought up this sub-plot in the first place. The odd reference to it or possibly just newspaper clippings would’ve sufficed.

I have a lot to explain to you, but I'm just gonna give you the cliffnotes version and be on my way

Some characters in the movie still lack development, Seamus and Dean are notable examples of characters lacking in that department. However the story has always belonged to Harry, Ron and Hermione, their acting, whilst not always perfect, felt real enough that every movie was a joy to watch. Big name stars like Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Michael Gambon, Robbie Coltrane and others only added to the great feeling of the movie.

This movie joins the rest of the Harry Potter movies as a classic, as much as the books themselves. For better and for worse they will all be remembered forever.

Rage Rating -10,000,000,000%

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Images used in this review are from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Bad Movie Beatdown and the Telegraph website and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use