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

Transitioning from last fall's quaint, lovely and insufficient preamble comes this summer's theatrical, smothering finale. Whereas Part I of this protracted and bisected conclusion felt congenial yet anticlimactic, Part II is the deluge. Regardless of your preference (upon recollection, I prefer the serenity and desperation of the first), neither film feels wholly complete.

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Surely part of the blame lies at the decision to split the final 759-page novel into two disparate films, (which regardless of obvious profitable benefits, have severely crippled the continuity of the series in this writer's opinion) but also at fault is the architect of Hogwarts herself, J.K. Rowling, whose stuttered and bathetic resolution shapes the foundation of this eight and final film.

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Just take the series of events eventually leading to the final confrontation between Harry and his destined nemesis, Lord Voldemort, in which all manner of silly castle sieges and menial gidget searching cloud the main objective at hand. 

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But perhaps the biggest flaw in the film is its lack of real sustained emotional density (there's certainly none in that dud of an epilogue). The biggest moment in the film comes during the reveal of a certain memory and honestly, the dueling, glass-shattered showdown in the ministry at the end of Order of the Phoenix had more urgency and exigency.   

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And I say this as someone who has a general fondness (even slight infatuation) with this line of screen adaptations overall, but Deathly Hallows: Part II is easily the worst film in the series since Chamber of Secrets - a prolonged climax that nevertheless feels like an inadequate conclusion. [C]