Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Please lower your wands, I mean no offense nor does this review condone the recent opinions set forth by a certain author! Controversies aside, I recently revisited the final chapter of the Harry Potter Saga. I was curious to see if the initial fan craze or nostalgia was clouding my judgement of this film but was pleased to say this is not the case.

This film came out over a decade ago and I was amazed to see that the CGI and visual effects in this film rival movies in theaters today. Which is incredible and would definitely have been considered top of the line during its initial release. Comparatively, the final two installments of The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Pt 1 & 2, releasing within the following year left fans cringing at their CGI choices… but we’ll leave that for another review.

This film definitely has its fiercely passionate fandom, but looking at it objectively, the set design, costume design, score and incredible locations make Scotland’s Highlands feel… well … magical (da dum tsk!). The creatures and spell casting are very believable and dare I say beautiful alongside the star-studded cast that gave their all to the culmination of this dark epic tale. Action, adventure, friendship, courage and love…what more could you want?

Negatively, seeing that this is the end of a very long series, I feel that it is less accessible to someone jumping into the story late in the game. Many of the hardest hitting moments are strongly geared towards fans who have been along for the ride and would not resonate with someone who is missing lore from earlier films or meeting the highlighted side characters for the first time. Had they included the deleted scenes for this film it may have alleviated some of this because it would have added more depth to side characters who otherwise seem so minor or one sided, namely Draco.

Overall, the film quality still looks fantastic with its seamless editing but to the newcomer this may feel like a slower burn even amidst the massive war going on.

Fun Score – 4.0/5

QC Score – 4.5/5

Score – 4.25/5