Classic Review #56: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 & 2

Available on Netflix

It’s intriguing to evaluate the immense culmination of the Harry Potter franchise in tandem with its altogether more innocent first instalment. By the time the second half of the Deathly Hallows comes around, you are under no illusion that the days of fledgling wizards bonding whilst in the company of chocolate frogs are long gone.

Such a stark tonal shift poses something of a conundrum for director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves, who are tasked with delivering a finale that is suitably high-stake but also true to the series as a whole. Whether you believe they manage to do either successfully is a matter of personal opinion, but I’m inclined to give Yates and Kloves props for their efforts on the first of those assignments more so than the latter.

Part two of the Deathly Hallows certainly has all the characteristics of what we’ve come to expect from a blockbuster epic - an operatic battle between good and evil, shocking narrative twists and, of course, an excessive use of CGI. While the actual plot of J.K. Rowling’s final novel is contentious (particularly the inexplicable Christ-like resurrection of a certain character), you cannot argue with the pace of Yates’ finale and, in particular, the performances of veteran cast members such as Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, and Ralph Fiennes.

Such a bombastic conclusion is perhaps all the more necessary on account of the Deathly Hallows’ first instalment being as utterly forgettable as it is. The aforementioned tonal shifts of the Harry Potter franchise are typically most welcome, but this film veers rather wildly off track, it essentially being a near two-and-a-half-hour road movie whose only dramatic payoff is the death of a seldom seen, exhaustingly annoying animated character who is inserted into proceedings for no discernible reason. The only positive thing to be gleaned from this dreary picture is the dramatic turns of Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who both revel in the responsibility of their characters’ being something other than Harry’s steadfast sidekicks.

All in all, this is a denouement that is likely to delight Potter die-hards and, at best, placate less partisan viewers.