(Spoilers abound so you’ve been warned)
It would have been pretty hard for them to screw up the second part of Deathly Hallows. They got all the boring walking, arguing and trying to explain things like Horcruxes and Deathly Hallows out-of-the-way in the first part. All that was left were the action set pieces. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows was the first book I thought J.K. Rowling wrote with an eye on how it would look on the big screen. How else could you explain a series that was pretty low on action for the most part ending with a battle that could only be compared to Helms Deep in The Two Towers?
I thought Yates (directing his fourth Potter) did a great job with most of the action pieces. It was also good to see some of the Hogwarts staff which had been relegated to the background for the last few movies finally have some moments to shine, particularly Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall) and Warwick Davis (Filius Flitwick and Griphook). The all-important Snape backstory was filmed a little over-dramatically but worked mostly because of Alan Rickman’s performance. Continue reading →