We all grow up with something. You ask anyone what got them interested in books, film, or pop culture in general, they will have a few answers to give you. No one becomes interested in these things “just because.” If they say so, they are lying. For me, I’m not entirely sure I’d be writing this blog if it weren’t for the Harry Potter series. The first book came out in the late ’90s, when my age could still be counted on two hands. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration at all when I say that J.K. Rowling essentially taught me how to read. More importantly, it made reading interesting to me. Imperfections aside—and believe me, they exist—my fondness for this series cannot be overstated. I like to think that I go into every film with an open mind, and I am always ready to accept the possibility that something I am a fan of could turn out to be underwhelming. However, I’m not sure I could ever give a Harry Potter film a wholly negative review, as I feel too emotionally attached to this series to be truly objective.
I am not alone in feeling this. The record-breaking opening weekend for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 indicates just how important this series has been for an entire generation. It may be clichéd to say we grew up with it, but it’s entirely true. For us devotees, this finale is anything but a disappointment. In fact, it gets many of the key moments right. Yet I can’t shake the feeling that I wish I liked it more. I remember being 10 years old when I went to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and my younger self was so overjoyed to see how the world of Hogwarts had come to life. I had hoped the finale would remind me of my less cynical self, but it didn’t quite pull that off. That said, I cannot deny that this is a solid conclusion to what is likely the most important film and book series I’ve experienced in my young life. I wish it packed a little more punch, but ultimately I’m quibbling.
Where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was all setup and minimal (if any) payoff, the finale winds up being all payoff and no setup. For those unfamiliar with the Harry Potter mythology, watching Part 2 without context would be akin to watching a Norwegian film without subtitles. As such, splitting Deathly Hallows into two parts wound up being a detriment to both parts as individual films, as neither feels like an entire story. Perhaps they would each play better if combined into a single five-hour monstrosity, but I admit that this would not have been feasible. Harry Potter has some of the most devoted fans on the planet, but none of them could have sit through that. It just seems like neither film truly had a beginning, a middle or an end, and that does diminish the experience.
The good news is that most of the events found in Part 2 are vital. The first portion of the film continues the story of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) as they continue their search for the Horcruxes, which essentially keep the dark lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) alive. Once they destroy them, then Harry can get around to killing the guy already. In the film’s second half, our heroes must balance this journey with a massive battle on the grounds of Hogwarts, as it is there the forces of good and evil have their final showdown. That’s as detailed as I’ll make the plot summary, as those of you who wanted to see the film have likely seen it by now.
If there’s one key thing I felt the film lacked, it was a real sense of grandiosity. While Part 2 felt like a real finale on several character levels—and that is no small feat—most of the action didn’t seem to have the weight to match. When contrasted to other grand climactic battles—an example would be the Battle of Minas Tirith in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King—the battle of Hogwarts didn’t seem to be all that central to the plot. If anything, it was presented in a strangely fragmented manner while the kids ran around on their own adventures. While characters in Return of the King often did their own thing during the battle, there was always a sense that violence was around every corner. The Battle of Hogwarts is supposed to be a last stand of sorts, but how come it mostly felt relegated to the background?
Yet where director David Yates excels is in the smaller moments, and in many cases I think his Harry Potter films (he’s directed the last four) have handled the character stuff quite well. My favorite sequence in Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is a flashback that reveals the true motives of Alan Rickman’s Severus Snape throughout the films, and it shows Yates’ uncanny ability to lay out large portions of the book’s story without getting overly expository. Each of his films have been streamlined where past installments have faltered and stumbled because of their undying devotion to the source material. In my opinion, many of Yates’ changes have been for the best. Contrary to what the books’ devotees may say, a Harry Potter film’s quality is not reliant on its adherence to the book. What works in one medium does not necessarily work in the other, and Yates understands that. And wouldn’t you know it that the weakest sequence in Part 2 is the corny epilogue, which is incredibly faithful to the equally weak portion book. Once again, the movies have proven that aging makeup almost never works. (The only real exception I can think of at the moment is Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York.)
As far as a recommendation goes, it’s pretty simple, really: if you like the Harry Potter series, you will like the finale. If you don’t like the Harry Potter series, you’ll hate the finale. However, if you do dislike the series the one thing you should not do is dismiss it as merely a pastime for the nerds. That, frankly, is one of the more closed-minded opinions you can have. The Harry Potter series is something that has united an entire generation; people who would otherwise not talk to each other go out in droves just to see what their favorite characters are up to next. A piece of popular culture that unites so many people is nothing but a positive thing. (I would even extrapolate that to other franchises such as Twilight, even though I am not a fan.) If you think a bunch of people getting together to celebrate something of such innocence (and quality) is a bad thing, then I’m not entirely sure what joy you get out of books and movies in the first place. You certainly don’t like it for the reasons I do. Things like Harry Potter don’t come along very often, and for that reason alone they should be celebrated. I’m truly sad to see it go, but it sure was a blast while it lasted. I only hope that future generations of kids will be able to grow up with something just as popular. And—more importantly—just as good.
GRADE: B
SERIES GRADE: A-
P.S. - I cannot speak for the 3-D conversion, as I saw the film in 2-D. I can say that I’m glad I made that choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment