By: Stephen Weigel Photography/Web Editor
November 11 will likely be bittersweet for Harry Potter fans around the world, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the movie based on the second half of the seventh book in the Harry Potter series, comes to DVD and Blu-ray, marking the end of a decade-long movie saga that began with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in November of 2001.
Director David Yates provides an ending fit for the occasion, finishing out the saga with undeniably the best movie of the series. Paired with Alexandre Desplat, who wrote the orchestral score for both parts of Deathly Hallows, Yates provides the audience with an experience unique from other films in the series. For once, it doesn’t feel as if we have been transported into a heavily make-believe world, but, instead, elements of that world have come into our own.
The feel of the movie is much darker than previous films in the series. Visually, the entire film has a cold feel to it, which is a stark difference from earlier Potter movies. Desplat’s music sounds more along the lines of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings score than John Williams’ whimsical work for Sorcerer’s Stone.
This all makes sense considering what is taking place. Things have turned from bad to worse in the Potter universe. Harry is no longer a child worried about quidditch or who opened the Chamber of Secrets. The secret is out. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back in force and wreaking havoc.
A major complaint about Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was that the film’s tempo was too slow. The already complex story-line of Deathly Hallows was made more so by plot details left out of prior movies that now needed to be explained. This left Pt. 1’s purpose to set the tone for Pt. 2, more so than being a fulfilling movie on its own.
The payoff is that when combined, the adaptation of Deathly Hallows is the most loyal movie to the book of any in the series. While it would have been impractical, and honestly pretty annoying, to split all the movies into two parts, it was refreshing for someone who enjoyed the books to come away from the final movie for once not thinking about how much was left out.
A unique aspect of the Harry Potter series is watching the characters grow from children to adults on screen. The main characters, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), began filming the series at the respective ages of eleven, eleven and nine. As the characters progressed through their teenage years, the actors followed suit, and the fans’ movie experience was that much better for it.
Watching the series from the Sorcerer’s Stone through the Deathly Hallows is not simply a moving yearbook for the actors but a journey through the advancement of film technology over the past decade. The visual effects in the Deathly Hallows are far more impressive, and believable, than anything used in the earlier films.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is what many Potter fans have been waiting for since the beginning. If by some strange circumstance you have managed to avoid Harry Potter up to this point, this might be the movie that enlightens you to what all the fuss is about.