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Arts & Entertainment

Harry's Wild Ride: The Harry Potter Finale

Anna Socrates reviews "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" can best be characterized as a bumpy ride on a dragon’s back. Literally.

Though the brief opener was muted and slow, like the waves upon the seashore at Shell Cottage, very soon after the pace rocketed too fast, dark and loud. And it pretty much stayed there for the entire picture. This was a movie with a jam-packed agenda, and it stuck to its task.

If "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" was Emma Watson’s movie, this installment was owned by the technical crew, especially the folks in the computer labs. Not only did these clever Muggles create a flying dragon, they fabricated cursed fiend-fire, a toppling bridge and an attack on a besieged castle.

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And they were just getting started. Viewers also received a hurtling train ride through a subterranean complex of vaults, nighttime battle scenes, marching suits of armor and a daisy that blossomed in the palm of a girl’s hand. Now, that’s magic.

Despite all the technical entertainment, there was something lost along the way. I missed the interaction between the characters — those unexpected, sweet or humorous little moments that define relationships as much as they further plots.

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Deathly Hallows: Part 1 perhaps set the bar high on that score. Moments such as Hermione’s sorrowful eyes and trembling voice as she erases her parents’ memory, Harry and Hermione’s impromptu dance together when they take a break from their stressful mission, and Ron’s snarky wisecracks to relieve the tension, still stand out — even after these many months between the release of the first and second parts.

There were none of those moments in Part 2. Even the scenes fashioned from the strands of Severus Snape’s memories, a crucial turning point in the book, seemed perfunctory. Another agenda item clicked off, so we could get to the final confrontation.

It seems a shame, since the strength of J.K. Rowling’s story rested on just those moments of humor and sweetness. For me, the Harry Potter series was always more than just an exploration of the fantastical elements of the wizard world. It was about, in Hermione’s own words from the first book — “friendship, bravery and loyalty.”

Part 2 was saved from being a pedestrian romp through Hogwarts Castle, however, by the wonderful character and ensemble acting. Really, Harry Potter series has always been a showcase for the best actors in British cinema.

Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter really stood out this time around. But Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, Emma Thompson, David Thewlis, Michael Gambon, Ciaran Hinds, and the others made the most out of their all-too-brief screen time.

Honestly, you sense that they are all having way too much fun with these movies. And there were a few priceless bits. The matinee audience clapped when the long-suffering Neville Longbottom came into his own and chuckled at some of Professor McGonagall’s (Maggie Smith) acerbic asides.

I saw the movie at the Regal in Hyattsville, MD, but Greenbelters, take heart — "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" is playing at the at Beltway Plaza and the AMC Loews in Beltsville. At Beltway Plaza, there are no extra charges for seeing the movie in 3D.

I give this movie three solid tubs of popcorn but with a double portion of butter for the great ensemble acting.

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