Dir. David Yates, UK, 2011, 130 mins
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes
Review by Carol Allen
The new and last Harry Potter film is critic proof. Nothing is going to stop the dedicated HP fans from going in their hordes and if the previous ones are anything to go by, the amount of money this film will earn for Britain should go some way towards wiping out the national debt.
If by some chance you’ve never seen a Harry Potter film, this one gives no quarter in terms of filling you in on the story so far. We just go straight in, where Part 1 left off, and you’ll have to work it out for yourself. It’s not difficult though. After ten years and nine films, the climax to the franchise is inevitably concerned with the final confrontation between Harry and Lord Voldemort (Fiennes), the classic good versus evil battle of the comic book movie. And in terms of spectacle and fireworks in the sky, it doesn’t disappoint. Radcliffe is both assured and vulnerable as Harry and Fiennes snarls and booms nicely as his arch enemy, while Grint and Watson, who don’t actually have as much to do as in some of the previous films, support their best friend loyally.
Most if not all of the star names from the previous films show up, some of them in what are little more than walk on parts, though the indomitable Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall has an impressive battle of the wands scene and the now deceased Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) comes back from the dead to throw some light on the past. In fact one of the most effective sequences dramatically is an extended flashback, which illuminates the character of Severus (Alan Rickman) and gives us new information about Harry, his past and his mission. And young Potter regular Matthew Lewis as the rather nerdy Neville has some good opportunities in this one.
If though I may be allowed a few small observations. Good though Fiennes is as Voldemort, now we see so much of him, he’s become just another comic book villain with a weird looking face, whereas when he was a figure of mystery, merely glimpsed and occasionally heard, he was much more menacing. As the story and the franchise have developed, it has lost a lot of the quirky imagination and originality of the early films. Remember Fiona Shaw and Richard Griffiths as Harry’s monstrous, suburban foster aunt and uncle; the Grimm like village where young Harry is taken shopping for his first wand; and our introduction to Hogwarts itself, with it’s Escher like ever changing staircases – now in this last film totally devastated by Voldemort’s forces and reduced to what at times looks like a First World War field hospital. The films, along with their three young protagonists, have also become increasingly adult and this last one fully merits its 12A rating for, amongst other things, the very scary murder of one character by Voldemart.
It’s not only farewell to Potter for us of course, but for Radcliffe, Grint and Watson, who’ve grown up in the roles – and become millionaires in the process. The transition from child star to adult is a tricky one, both personally and professionally, but Radcliffe (22 this month) in particular has already demonstrated in other roles that he’s firmly got the hang of this acting business – December Boys (2007), his excellent stage performance in Equus, also 2007 and earlier this year on Broadway in the classic musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, while next year we’ll be seeing him starring in the film version of The Woman in Black.
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