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

Despite basically the last half of this movie just being a giant action scene, this movie is surprisingly compelling. It’s kind of difficult to say why. Harry Potter has never been too interesting a character, to be perfectly honest, and a lot of the more likable characters throughout the series — chiefly Hagrid — are barely in this movie.

It’s because of Voldemort, isn’t it?

Despite the fourth movie — Ralph Fiennes’s proper introduction as the character — being my least favorite in the series, it’s clear th franchise took a turn with Ralph Fiennes’s casting.

Fiennes is a spectacular actor, and has given fantastic performances in In Bruges, The English Patient, Coriolanus, and many others. He’s even played maybe the best film villain in the last 30 or so years as Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List.

He definitely elevates this movie, as he does the entire series. And I’ll give special credit to Alan Rickman, who was outstanding throughout the series as well. We finally get the payoff to his complicated character, and it’s quite rewarding.

This is definitely a good movie, and one of the strongest in the series. It doesn’t do anything groundbreaking, but it’s solid.

Rating: 8/10