After “Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince” came out in 2009, Warner Bros. (WB for short) David Heyman & J.K. Rowling commenced development on the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter franchise known as “The Deathly Hallows.” Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint & many cast members from previous films reprise their roles one last time. Due to the length of the book, The Deathly Hallows was split into two parts similar to Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill” split into two parts released in 2003 & 2004. After a lengthy development of pre-production, filming, post-production, editing etc. WB officially distributed the grand finale worldwide.
Both parts Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows we’re separately released in 2010 & 2011. They both earned critical acclaim from critics, fans and movie goers alike. If you combine both parts as one, it made over $2 billion dollars at the box office.
Fantastic Beasts 3 is slated to start filming soon. Due to the ongoing coronavirus, not a single confirmation of development from WB or producers. To prepare for the of the Harry Potter franchise, I’d like to share my thoughts on what’s good or bad about this epic finale.
Today’s review contains no crucial SPOILERS. Some SPOILERS are light if you haven’t read the book. Feel free to read my non-spoiler article.
Magical & Cursed Elements
Magical: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson & Rupert Grint all did an excellent for their respective performances as The Trio one last time.
Many returning cast members including Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Tom Felton, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon among many others all did a fantastic job for their respective performances for one last time. The late Alan Rickman deserves every single point for his role as Snape. God bless his soul.
Final newcomers to the series Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans & Kelly McDonald all did a great job for their respective performances.
David Yates did an awesome job directing the final installment.
David Heyman co-produced both parts.
J.K. Rowling served as an executive producer. She used to be nice, until she made an ass of herself on Twitter.
Action Sequences were spectacular to witness from start to finish.
Special Effects felt immersive to see many things come to life.
Cinematography was shot very carefully without suffering from technical flaws.
The Deathly Hallows is set in 2007-2008.
A Plot Twist reveals a crucial character’s role throughout the entire series. It definitely deserves a truckload of Bonus Points. It shocked me when I was reading the book. When I saw it in the theater, everybody gasped.
Harry, Ron & Hermione embark on their last mission to destroy horcruxes in the hopes of defeating Voldemort once and for all. Tying up loose ends from previous installments all connected.
Chemistry between Harry, Ron & Hermione served as an important factor. Since the previous installments, they have matured gaining the spells and wisdom from their teachers.
Callbacks to previous entries are mentioned. If you have a great memory as I do, you’ll probably get em.
The Deathly Hallows brings back the series’ PG-13 rating with darker moments like characters getting killed, a gritty tone, dramatic tension and the stakes are drastically high than the previous books/movies.
Dobby The Elf comes back in the grand finale. It’s a shame he was cut from the other movies. He factored in “the books including “The Goblet Of Fire.” Why did WB removed him in favor of a ridiculous dance lesson that wasn’t in the book?
Both Harry & Hermione have a platonic moment as friends.
Both Parts contain many subtle pop culture references of movies released in 2010-2011 or others from different years. Hear me out, many of them are purely coincidental.
Part 1 & 2’s fantasy genre has all the genres wrapped in one mixing action, adventure, mystery, spy, heist and thriller all together.
I believe Christopher & Jonathan Nolan did uncredited re-writing as script doctors for The Deathly Hallows. They have ties with WB so they can fund their pet projects. Their signature trademarks involve a plot twist, a villain not motivated by money, darker tone, a bad guy betraying his comrades, dead spouse, psychological problems, thought provoking mystery among many others.
A villain meeting organized by the main villain is a subtle reference to “The Dark Knight.”
A motorcycle chase is shown. “Knight & Day” had one too.
Luna’s dad said “They took my Luna.” Liam Neeson played a father who mentioned her daughter was “Taken.”
Grindlewald makes a brief appearance. This means he lives after the end of the “Fantastic Beasts” series.
The Trio attend a wedding. Tyler Perry’s “When Did I Get Married Too” also had a wedding plot device in 2010.
Is it me or does The Ministry Of Magic’s interior design resembles production design from “Brazil?”
Umbridge taking over as a corrupt employee at The Ministry Of Magic, possibly references Gordon Gekko from “Wall Street.” A sequel came out in 2010.
A scene with a bunch of people impersonating one individual pays homage to “Being John Malkovich.”
Harry & his friends are being hunted by Death Eaters in the woods. A nod to “Predator.” A follow up titled, “Predators” was released in 2010 around the same time as Deathly Hallows’ first part.
A fight scene takes place in a cafe. Matthew Vaughn’s “Layer Cake” had one too.
One character is seeking medical attention from a nasty wound. You know that scene about treating a wound from “Three Kings?”
In Part I, The Trio go on a heist disguising themselves as employees. Taking notes from “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” back when it was in pre-production. To quote Roman Pierce from “Fast Five.” “It’s gone from Mission Impossible to Mission Frickin’ Insanity!” Part II also did a similar tactic with The Trio described as an amalgamation of “Inception,” “Mission Impossible” & Fast Five.
Without giving anything away, two people finally get a big darn kiss.
A dragon shows up. Game Of Thrones’ first season aired on HBO. “Skyrim” also has dragons too.
Harry suffers from haunting visions of Voldemort. Coincidentally, Inception has a plot element with Cobb having visions of somebody linked to his past.
A fight scene takes place during Christmas. Does Shane Black’s “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” ring an bells?
Without giving anything away, Harry & his pals fight like “Seal Six” against The Death Eaters. I’ll have you know the book & movies reflected The War On The Terror.
Hermione disguise herself as Bellatrix. Coincidentally, “X-Men: First Class” also had Mystique who can impersonate anybody.
The Trio going on a cart inside the bank mirrors “Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom.”
Harry & Voldmort’s spells connected to each other. A nod to Gohan & Cell’s battle from “Dragon Ball Z.”
A bridge blows up. Just like “The Bridge On The River Kwai.” A year later, “The Dark Knight Rises” also had a bridge blown up. Chris Nolan must’ve taken notes on both The Deathly Hallows & David Lean’s River Kwai.
A character dies by turning into ashes. Just like the ending of Coldplay’s music video “Viva La Vida.” Both David Yates & J.K. Rowling are Coldplay fans. By the way, a death scene with somebody turning into ashes predates “Avengers: Infinity War.”
Voldemort & Death Eaters shoot a volley of spells in the air. A nod to Jet Li’s “Hero.”
Ron’s mom paraphrases Ellen Ripley’s ” Get away from her you… (guess the last word) Somebody’s been watching “Aliens.”
I can’t tell you about the second part’s ending. It’ll make you cry. I’m gonna come clean, I was balling. That moment definitely deserves more Extra Points.
Cursed: The only thing that bothered me was a lack of what happened to the other characters from the book’s epilogue. I’m gonna give this a pass, because it’s very hard to adapt a lengthy novel on the big screen. Could’ve gotten an extended cut or bonus features on DVD/Blu-Ray showing which individual’s current status.
The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX!
As a lifelong fan of Harry Potter, The Deathly Hallows is my personal favorite movie/book of the franchise. All the things I’ve listed indicates why I think it ended Harry Potter on a high note. Before “Avengers: Endgame,” The Deathly Hallows was a big deal back then, an emotional swan song to characters we all know in love who have gone through the ups & downs in every book/movie.
Although J.K. Rowling is facing backlash. Ms. Rowling if you’re reading this, thank you for introducing me to book series I fell in love with that made me a fan of Harry Potter. I also want thank the cast including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, (one of my favorite actresses) Rupert Grint, the entire cast & last but not least, the late Alan Rickman for keeping me emotionally invested on all movies.
R.I.P. Alan Rickman. Thank you for being a part of my childhood. Your roles as Hans Gruber, Alexander Dane, Marvin The Android & Severus Snape will never be forgotten, your legacy will live on from one generation after another.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 