Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the chosen one, the boy with the lightning scar, finally meets his fate. After over a decade of wands, wizards and witches, Harry Potter, his wizzarding friends and muggles everywhere prepared for the end of an era. Good versus Evil. Dumbledore’s Army versus The Death Eaters. Potter versus Voldemort. The final battle.
It is no secret how the story will end, as the book was released in 2009. Harry, Ron and Hermione (with the help of some favorite secondary characters) will find all the broken pieces of Voldemort’s soul and destroy them.
The more successful Harry is, the angrier Voldemort will become, leading to a race for survival and a battle to the death. Harry will die, or at least a part of him will, before he finally finishes off The Dark Lord. This movie is about the journey, the mental strife, the strains on the characters and the fight to do the right thing even when it isn’t the easy option.
Although some liberties were taken from the original book (Professor Snape’s death scene is moved from the shirking shack to a more grandeur location within a glass boathouse), the story line holds true. Viewers learn that Snape, a character cloaked in mystery, has been on Harry’s side the whole time. The reoccurring theme throughout the series, that love always wins, is what holds Snape loyal to the good fight, for he had loved Harry’s mother long before Harry’s story began.
Along with the death of Snape, long-beloved characters Fred Weasley, Nmyphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin lose their lives in the final fight. I challenge any person with even a mild awareness of the series to not shed a tear as the death toll is tallied in the Great Hall.
Although no expenses were sparred in the making of this film, the true beauty lies not within the special effects but with the development of some of the secondary characters.
In this film, fans finally get to see Neville Longbottom develop his courage and take the reins in Harry’s absence as the leader of Dumbledore’s Army.
Professor McGonagall, a fixture in all eight films, finally drops her polished report and shows fan a side of her personality they have never been seen before. She is a fighter, with fierce rage when Harry, Hogwarts and its student are threatened. She also provides a touch of comic relief in the tensest of scenes, another side McGonagall never showed before.
We also see some of Lord Voldemort’s most loyal followers betray him. Narcissa Malfoy, a quite non-confrontational character, risks her life by lying to Voldemort in an effort to reunite herself with her son, Draco. Her love for her son finally overcomes her fear of going against the grain.
Fans will also delight in the final battle where Molly Weasley, the worry-wart mother of the Weasley clan, joins the battle in defense of her children. It is the first time viewers see Mrs. Weasley use her wand for anything more than housework. She finishes off Harry’s long time enemy, Bellatrix Lestrange, with a killer one liner and a curse to match.
It was bittersweet to see these characters reach their full potential as muggles like myself will never again be invited into the hallowed halls of Hogwarts, at least not on the big screen. Pottermaina may have reached its peak; however, J.K. Rowling is not leaving her fans with nothing but a DVD box set to cling too.
Anyone not ready to say goodbye to the boy who lived can log onto Pottermore.com, a URL described as “a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books.” Rowling’s has promised additional insight into characters and places important to the series; however, she is very clear that Harry’s story is over.
If you happened to fall in love with one of series’s main actors, it won’t be long before you can see them on big screen again.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Daniel Radcliff, the actor who plays Harry Potter, will be on screen again in the 2012 supernatural thriller The Woman in Black.
Emma Watson, a.k.a. Hermione Granger, is finishing filming on the movie adaptation of Stephen Chobosky’s popular young adult novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
And finally Rupert Grint, also known as Ron Weasley, has finished filming a WWII drama entitled Comrade.
Keep your eyes open for these films, these actors has proven they are capable of truly bringing a character to life and are sure to not disappoint.