Cheers Harry! From a loyal Dumbledork!

It's taken me some time, but I've finally gotten my thoughts together about Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Part 2.

I must confess I was a little sad knowing this series in which I've invested not just ten years worth of movie watching, but over a baker's dozen going back to when I first started reading the books, was coming to a close.

My initial feeling was "WOW!" Followed by "they finally got it right." And these, I might add came to me long before the film ended. I could just sense early on this finale would not disappoint in the end.
Lastly, a specific and almost strange (and quite geeky) feeling came over me. In fact you might say it took hold of me like a spell during the final climactic battle between Harry and Voldemort.
I have my own little obsessions. I'm not a closet-geek, but I'm not out and proud with my nerd-fandoms either. I don't cosplay. I've never been to a con of any kind, unless you count stone and tile conventions or the World of Concrete (that was a doozy) back in my construction sales & marketing days. When I saw theater goers wearing robes and Hogwarts House scarves, I admit I judged. I scoffed at their silliness. But as the final moments of Deathly Hallows began to countdown, a voice whispered in my brain "this is my Star Wars."

Allow me to explain. There are many guys around my age give or take that are Star Wars fanatics. And not just the ones you see in the mall with the tinted glasses and ill-fitted fantasy t-shirts rolling 16-sided dice on Friday night. Professionals, salesman, lawyers, construction workers. The Lucas curse seems to infiltrate and infect all walks of Gen-X males (and quite a few females.) I worked with a guy who is in management at a multi-billion dollar International banking firm who looks as straight-laced as it gets, but mention the words "Jar Jar" and he's off on a twenty minute dissertation defending the prequels like the rebels defending the communications center on Endor. Or were they attacking it? I don't friggin' know.

See, I never got it. I enjoyed the original three when I was kid. Well the first one I actually found (and still find) kind of boring. (An audible gasp from the audience!) Cut me some slack I was 2 when it was released. I remember seeing the second film, or, well I guess it was what, # 5 or something . . . stupid Lucas . . . in a movie theater and being terrified of that little green gargoyle Yoda. I did really like the last one, with the Ewoks. Which of course, proves I'm not a Star Wars fan because as I understand it that's the least favorite among fan boys. Either way, I just never felt that connection to the franchise so many do. It didn't blow my mind. It didn't inspire me in any way. Other than, I suppose as an artist because I do love to draw weird creatures and aliens, and I suppose there's some Lucas-influence there.

And as for that other trilogy, the Rings deal. I really liked the first film. It could have stopped with that one and I'd have been relatively satisfied. But the second movie and the first 2/3rds of the last one are brutal to sit through. Butt-numbingly so! As Kevin Smith says, they're three movies about walking. I had no desire to strap on a helmet and wield a battle-axe after seeing them. In fact, I'm such a nerd the other way, my favorite scene, the one that sticks with me the most is from Fellowship of the Ring when Sir Ian goes to Bilbo's house in the very begining, and Lord Baggins offers the great wizard tea and cheese. Every time I see it I think "I'd like to live in that little house. Look at that big block of cheese he's eating there."
That's it. That's what the LoTR saga boils down to for me. A quiet little house in the ground with a big round door . . . and a wedge of old cheese.

With Potter, it was different. For starters, I was 4 books in before cameras even rolled on the first screen adaptation. The books, if you haven't taken the time, are brilliant by the way. It's not hype to say that J.K. Rowling is a master storyteller. What she has is a gift. There's no other way to say it. How she took what began as a children's book with fun adventures and fantastic creatures (admittedly with a dark undertone . . . I mean, it does start with a baby whose parents have been murdered) that crescendos into this mature, harrowing, epic with such a satisfying and emotional climax is beyond reason, except to say, again, that she posesses an other-worldly gift. When I closed the last book for the last time, I really felt like I'd been there with those kids all the way. I'd been there and back again, to steal from an aforementioned trilogy.
As someone who fancies himself a storyteller of some degree, I am not ashamed to admit I would kneel at her feet and swear my allegiance were I ever granted an audience. And she would no doubt call for security to have me forcefully removed from the premises.

The first 7 movies however had been kind of a mixed bag for me. I liked the first film, but was disappointed by how much was left out even if I understood the reasoning. I hated the second, Chamber of Secrets. I had read the book (albeit years before) and I was still completely lost. I couldn't fathom how anyone who hadn't read it could understand what was going on. Thought the third, Prisoner of Azkaban was nearly a masterpiece. Hated the Goblet of Fire. Thought Order of the Phoenix was better. Definitely loved seeing wizards using magic to kick a little ass at the end. Thought Half-Blood Prince was pretty good, although, as with that particular book, thought the title was at best a maguffin.
To be honest, I didn't even see Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 in a theater. With two young children, you don't get to as many movies outside the home as one would like. Not too mention, I'm getting older and much tighter with a penny. More often than not, I'm disappointed when I do make the small investment in a movie going experience. So I waited to rent the first half, and I'm glad I did. It was well-done, but not much happens as in the book. It is essential and sets-up the second act but it's kind of boring. If I'm being really honest, I dozed off about midway through.

But oh man! Part 2 delivers and delivers big! I love that it opens on the last scene of part 1 so that you could sit down and watch them back-to-back and it would be a seamless story. A very long story, but seamless. I was struck right away by the performances as well. It would be very easy for the actors to get lost in the fantasy and CGI and the goofy makeup. It takes a very talented actor to play a goblin seriously. To commit to it and say "this is a literary character, not a joke, and I will play it as such."
Warwick Davis gives such a subtle, dare I say nuanced performance as the goblin Griphook. I really watched his eyes, behind that latex, behind the black contacts. He wasn't playing a little monster or cartoonish creature. He was another character in the room, equal to those around him. I'm so glad he got to show his abilities in this part. Due to his size he's often thrown in these creature parts where he doesn't get to show his acting chops. They put some fuzzy mask over his head and say "dance!" (Hey, it beats sitting in a cubicle all day pushing papers around a desk!)
And most of the performances across the board are like that, especially in this final film. Those three main kids really came into their own over the course of 8 flicks. You can see in the first movie they're young and therefore green. It could have gone either way. Acting is a gift. Fortunately they all had it. Or we could have had 8 dreadful , 2 hour cue card reads.
Even the characters who get to be over-the-top, do it with such style that it's believable. Helen Bonham Carter almost seemed to be trying to over-do it, but it always worked. And as for Ralph Fiennes, well, what can you say that hasn't been said a million times over?
When reading the books, I was never really able to picture Voldemort. Ralph Fiennes along with some clever make-up designers created what is the definitive embodiment of that character. Perhaps I saw him as something larger, more brutish and physically intimidating in my mind. Fiennes does look a bit like some escaped, anemic mental patient, but it works. He manages to act through that make-up. You believe he's something no longer human, reborn from evil, down to his serpentine nose. Any distraction from when he first appears in the fourth film and your mind is trying to figure out what he looks like (it takes a minute) eventually melts away and you see him as the real Voldemort. In Deathly Hallows (both installments) he really brings it. Again, this part would have been so easy to take right over-the-edge. What makes him real, is how restrained he plays it. Most of the time, he's not loud or overly menacing. Voldemort's got no reason to freak out. He's winning. He's got the power. Everyone is terrified, even his followers. Life is good being that bad.

But perhaps the greatest performance in this movie, the biggest surprise, even when I knew it was coming, was from Alan Rickman. I love Alan Rickman. You tell me you've got a movie with Alan Rickman in it, I'm going to sit down and watch, whatever it is. Put Rickman in a Barney movie, I'm still in. But for most of the series, Rickman's performance as Prof. Snape the villain (or his he???) has been so dry it could be called one-note, or worse phoned-in.
If you ever watch Love Actually with the director's commentary track, Richard Curtis tells a funny story about having Rickman over for dinner and his children were begging Alan to read some Snape excerpts from a Potter book. Curtis said to him, "I've been reading it to them, but I'm afraid I'm afraid I'm just not putting my back into it."
Rickman allegedly replied; "That's alright, neither am I."
To some degree I might agree. It often seemed like he was showing up on set saying "Right, give me the wig, the cloak, and my paycheck and let's get this over with."
That is until this last flick. In a brief, but perhaps the most moving scene of the movie, we get to see the truth about Snape. And in those glimpses Rickman gives one of the most moving, gut-wrenching emotional performances I've ever seen, and most of it done with just a few simple (but oh so complex) facial expressions. We see the magic of Alan Rickman like never before. If you're someone who has been with these stories for over a decade as I have, and has known the payoff that was to come since the summer of 2007 and you don't roll a tear, you might actually be a Dementor.

If you've followed my blog in any fashion, you know I'm a horrible blogger. When I do post, I post the damn phone book. Blog posts are supposed to be short and sweet. Well, I could fill an entire year's worth of encyclopedias writing about Harry Potter (I'll explain to you kids what an encyclopedia was another time.) But I'll wrap it up.
When the movie ended, and thus did the entire series, the feeling was truly bittersweet for me. Spoiler alert: it has a happy ending. For those thinking "oh no, they'll come up with something. They won't let this cash cow die!" Don't expect a 9th movie. Rowling, in her genius included a perfect insurance policy against that. In the book, there is a line during that epilogue to the effect "Harry's scar never bothered him again." In other words, that was it. The dragon was officially slain. And thank God! Harry deserves to grow old in peace. I'd say he's earned a quiet normal life.
Now I'm not saying there won't be a return to the world of Potter. In the book, she does make a point to mention the child of the late Prof. Lupin and Tonks. So much so that I've always suspected we may see a new series someday about a young werewolf boy's adventures at Hogwarts.
But I'm pretty sure Harry, Ron, and Hermione are kicking back in a London "caf" reminiscing about how all that bad stuff happened once, but life is normal now. And I'm glad for it.

All the same, I couldn't help but be sad to see it end. It was like being a kid watching your best friend waving out the back of a station wagon as he and his family moved away. Or saying goodbye to your classmates after graduation, knowing you'll probably never see most of them again. I know that's dramatic, but these characters have been part of my life, and many peoples' for almost 2 decades. There won't be any more midnight trips to the bookstore (well, now there really won't) to get a copy of the latest book. No more opening weekends, hoping to see your lightning scarred hero knock those moronic Transformers out of the top spot at the box office!

I'm okay with that. Every good series has to end eventually. We need closure. Real life goes on and on. If books, movies, etc did the same, we'd go crazy. Or just become so frustrated we'd give up on them, which is exasperating as well. If ever there was a perfect way to end a series, I'd say this was it. Well done Warner Brothers, you really got one right. You did justice to Madame Rowling's creation. Now, please, I am begging you. Have some decency. Do NOT reboot the whole series in a few years. Recycle Batman all you want, I'll be there every time. Spend $200 Million dollars to make the same Superman story a third time. It's fine. But please, leave Harry alone. Let this work stand for a while. You ended with a bang. Be proud of that. We the fans are grateful.
But if you do remake it, I expect to see Peeves the poltergeist, and all the house ghosts subplots that were left out, and Hermione fighting for the liberation of house elves, and . . .