Deathly Hallows 2 is a Superior Potter Swan Song

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No one is going to be happy when I say this. I fully acknowledge that I’m about to piss off a lot of devoted fans. It’s almost blasphemy to speak, but here goes:

I like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 better than the second half of the seventh book.

Now, I’m fully aware that comparing a book to its movie counterpart isn’t fair. The movie is simply based on the book, and both should exist as two separate, valid entities. That’s a philosophical argument for a perfect world in which people who read books don’t go to movies and vice versa, so I won’t go there. I will, however, attempt to present what I found favorable about the movie in comparison to the book.

Here be spoilers (that’s assuming you haven’t read the book, but if you haven’t, seriously? Why are you reading this then?).

This is not a movie for the faint of heart. It is just as dark, if not darker – both figuratively and literally – as the past four films. This is the movie for the hardcore Potter fans. Much of the action is not as true to the book as most devotees would like (look! David Yates explains some of that here!), but the changes I saw (and I apparently have a penchant for remembering obscure details) made the story flow more

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smoothly and let us focus on the plotline as
opposed to the action.

We left off with the evil Lord Voldemort robbing the grave of slain headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, while Harry Potter and his faithful companions attempt to locate horcruxes to destroy Voldemort’s soul.

Once we get to Hogwarts (only half an hour in), we get to see the real magic (in addition to killer special effects) – and by that I mean talented actors.

Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes and Matthew Lewis steal the show from our heroes: Rickman with his cynical, clearly exhausted and emotionally damaged Severus Snape, Fiennes as the fanatical, dark-humored and genocidal maniac Lord Voldemort and Lewis as Neville Longbottom, the hero we never saw coming.

Rickman is the perfect Snape, giving the character the proper respect. We haven’t seen enough of him in the other movies, but this is his show. He is bitter and tragic with a death much more dignified than in the book. This is his story, and no one could beat Rickman here. He is sinister and tormented until
the very end.

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