The End of a Wonderful Adventure

Harry and I
Almost ten years ago I came across Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and as soon as I finished the first book, I knew Harry would be a part of my life. Harry Potter defined my generation, it brought me closer to the world of books, fantasy and innumerable valuable life lessons from bravery and courage to friendship and death. Yes, as a 'full grown' adult, I can say these may be cliches, but let's be honest, anybody who grew up with me learned a lesson or two from famous boy wizard, even making a quote from the first book the quote on my senior yearbook page.

Today, this adventure came to an end. I wasn't a part of the phenomenon when the first four books were published, but became one of the millions of fans who joined Harry in his fifth year at Hogwarts. I remember being out of town when the fifth book came out, frustrated to have spend a few days away from the book that eagerly awaited in the mailbox back home. Then came the sixth book on a day were I was miserably sick, and the Half-Blood Prince was possibly the best medication. For the last book, I came all out, planned a trip to the nearest Barnes & Noble with six of my friends and together we traveled three hours to be a part of the magical midnight party, where silence followed for two days as everyone read their book. As each movie came out the excitement grew, culminating in one epic final movie. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is the glorious finale to ten magical years.

The Last Battle
Prior to seeing the last installment in the Harry Potter series, I made sure to watch all previous movies and reread the seventh book in its entirety. When the time came, just today at 12:15am, I was ready.

The movie theater, in Union Square in NYC was unreal. Crowds gathered outside. Fans came in in costume. The theater's multiple theaters were all sold out. I came prepared to cry through out the entirety of the movie, and most importantly, I came with a judgmental eye to really appreciate this movie - how true would it be to the second half of the final book?

For the most part Steve Kloves, the screenwriter for seven of the eight movies, did an exceptional job with the adaptation of JK Rowling's story. The dialogue was generally intact or true to its roots, most changes seemed to be made towards a greater good. Artistically the movie was beautiful, with its astonishing effects, beautiful cinematography and overall exceptional art direction.

The cast did an incredible job, and it is truly wonderful to have seen the cast intact for the most part since Sorcerer's Stone and all the young actors have blossomed into talented young actors - perhaps creating the exciting generation of actors, which the adult actors currently hold, for the future. Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint proved to be true actors, the characters grew with them as well as the talent and skill. Perhaps one of the most surprising things in this movie is how the director and producers managed to get all those actors from previous movies for quick cameos in this movie. Actors like Emma Thompson as the eccentric Professor Trelawney, Gemma Jones as Madame Pomfrey or Alfie Enoch as Dean Thomas, played no significant part in the last installment of the movie yet they were there, they belong at Hogwarts, creating true scenes rather than scenes full of extras. Alan Rickman was exceptional as Snape, exceeding all expectations one more time. But I must say, I was mostly excited for Maggie Smith's Professor McGonagall. This woman beat cancer between films, and she shined in this movie like never before. I have always been a fan of Professor McGonagall, and Maggie Smith was the perfect casting choice and her role developed beautifully through out this film. Although she always kept a distance from Potter, unlike many who treated him like part of their family, you could tell how much she cares for him, really standing up to defend him, to me perhaps one of the most exciting points in the movie. And one of the biggest surprises of the story, Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis), rose to the occasion and saved the day.

So was there anything that bothered me from the movie? (If you are planning on seeing the movie, better stop reading here). Of course, but overall this was a great movie experience. I knew the story by Aberforth about Dumbledor's past would be scraped from the movie, but to dismiss it by having Harry say he is not interested in his relationship with his brother is simply ludicrous, as through out the entire novel, Harry questions who Dumbledor really was, the man he knew as his mentor or someone else. Towards the end of the novel, Narcissa Malfoy has a change of heart, abandoning the Dark Lord's side to join the good side and protect her family. However, in the movie, the Malfoy's intentions seam to change out of fear, creating a the family to leave cowardly rather than thinking of the greater good. As many subplots in these movies, the return of Percy Weasley to fight alongside his family vanished from the story, which would have been a valuable moment to see the Weasleys together one last time before Fred's sad death. The fan loved line 'Not my daughter you bitch' was almost everything we could hope for, but where was the build up to this? Just a few more seconds of Ginny dueling Bellatrix would have been enough. I did enjoy Julie Water's smirk as Mrs. Weasley after killing Bellatirx; in my opinion it seemed as she broke the fourth wall just for a second and took a moment to take in the appraisal of fans. The final battle between Harry and Voldemort was an exceptional scene visually, but the book has some of the most personal dialogues Harry and the Dark Lord ever hold, and most of it was scrapped, truly a missed opportunity of both David Yates (director) and Kloves. Lastly, the movie needed a moment were Harry is applauded for his bravery and courage by his peers, and the ending scene in Dumbledor's office, where all the portraits of the past headmasters applaud Harry was sorely missed from the movie.

Many might disagree with me on this, but some of the changes from the book were the right moves, or at least welcomed changes. I for one did enjoy the change from the Shrieking Shack to the Boat House for Snape's death. Story wise, I don't believe it made a difference, and visually it did create a more poetic and visually stunning scene. Lastly, at first I was hesitant about the scene with the sacking of Snape, but in the end it turned to be one of my favorite scenes, having Harry confront Snape in front of the entire school, while having McGonagall there to be the first to fight for Harry as the battle approaches.

The closing installment to the Harry Potter series was an exceptionally well produced movie, where we see the story come to the end we've all been waiting for. Through eight movies we saw our favorite student witches and wizards grow and develop, and the birth of a wonderful generation of new actors for Britain. I cannot wait to see this movie once more and to share it with my children one day.