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Review:
I have to give this film five stars even though I wasn't completely satisfied with it. To be fair when critiquing this film, you need to judge the film on its own merits and not just compare it to the book it was based on. Even though the film adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two" took many, many, MANY liberties with J.K. Rowling's book, the end result is still a spectacular and entertaining film that really delivers everything audiences have been expecting. It's filled with action, drama, suspense, and an amazing ending to a story that's captured moviegoers' hearts for the past decade.

And then there are the fans of the books. Like me. And although I recognize that "Deathly Hallows, Part Two" succeeds as an entertaining movie, there are some things about it that really bugged me.

I understand that things always need to be cut for the film versions of books, and I also realize that filmmakers often change things just to make them a bit more entertaining when they transfer to the big screen. Some of those things I take no issue with (spoilers are ahead, so consider yourselves warned). For example, little things that were changed for the movie (altering Ron and Hermione's big kiss, adding a little Neville and Luna romance, etc.) did not bother me. Other changes actually were for the better (showing the scenes where Ron and Hermione seek out the basilisk's fang and where Neville kills Voldemort's snake), because the audience got to see these moments that were never described in detail in the book.

However, certain things about the movie were changed for absolutely no reason and added no value to the film whatsoever. The thing that annoyed me the most was the way Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix. When Bellatrix died, she sort of shattered like a piece of glass. What was that all about?! And the end sequences with Harry and Voldemort were so different from the way they played out in the novel: still entertaining for the movie version, but different for no apparent reason. I also thought the Fred Weasley death scene was glossed over way too quickly. The way the scene was shown, you didn't even get a good look at Fred's body. Unless people read they book, they may not realize who it was that died. It just did not do them moment justice. I thought that was the problem with a lot of the changes in the movie...and there are many more that I haven't mentioned here. The film tried to make many of these moments "bigger" for the movie audiences...more action-packed. But the result was that the scenes lost some of the emotion attached to them, weakening things that were so powerful in the book and making certain aspects of the movie a bit anticlimactic, in my opinion. It was unnecessary and disappointing.

My favorite parts of the movie included the whole Snape pensieve flashback sequence, which was definitely a bit different from the book but was so incredibly well-done that it didn't matter. The epilogue was also fantastic. I was a little worried about how successfully the film's makeup artists would be able to age these young actors to make them look like they were in their 40's, but they did a fantastic job and the final scenes of the movie are absolutely brilliant. (I will say, however, that I wish the film included info about what Harry, Ron, and Hermione were doing in for their professional adult careers. That was something that was entirely omitted from the movie.) I also really loved the way the film included flashbacks from the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." It was great to see those scenes of the three main characters when they were so young, and then see the amazing young people they've grown up to be.

Conclusion: So, all in all, when viewing the movie just as a movie itself, I give it five stars. It's a very well-done and entertaining film. However, Harry Potter purists like myself may be a bit disappointed that so much of the material from the book was tampered with.

Where to buy:
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