'Harry Potter...Deathly Hallows 2' - a shallow end (IANS Film Review)

Film: 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2'; Director: David Yates; Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes; Rating: **1/2

All good things must come to an end and so does the journey of the name that launched a trillion dollar industry and burnt countless fans down in lawsuit.

But there are only two problems - this is not the end of the Harry Potter franchise and neither were all the films in it good, including this last one that seems like an unexpected whimper if you are not a big Harry Potter fan.

Harry Potter (Danielle Radcliffe), with his friends, rushes to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes even as Lord Voldemort gathers forces against him. In a final confrontation between good and evil, good triumphs as Harry saves the day, Hogwarts School and a trillion dollar franchise that gave the world its first billionaire writer.

Carrying on with the tradition of the first part, the film stays closest to the book as compared to the first six parts. And therein perhaps lies its biggest problem. It is slow and dimwitted compared to the book and has lines that are at best, juvenile. Sample this: after seeing her daughter being attacked, a mother lets out a scream, 'Not my daughter, you bitch!', and saves her.

This is the sort of writing you'd expect in a B-grade movie, not a high-budgeted Hollywood blockbuster. Agreed that from a children's film, this has graduated to a teen semi-horror flick, yet, such atrocious writing will go well only with juvenile minds.

And indeed, minds soaked in the nostalgia of a franchise that comes to an end will gloss over the spectacular special effects in the film, and of seeing their imagination come to life and a satisfying conclusion on the big screen. They will not notice that the film is full of bad direction, terrible acting and completely childish plot executions.

And that is where the problem lies, not just with the film, but with its audience who have abandoned craft and quality to nostalgia and fame. Perhaps they are justified, after all, this film marks the end of the Harry Potter universe. But does it really?

After the fan base of Harry Potter swelled post the first book, the owners of the book and movie franchise have been overtly possessive and protective of what is obviously their biggest cash cow.

Fans of Potter who have come out with spin-off stories or content in the Harry Potter universe have been slapped with thousands of lawsuits worth millions of dollars in the last decade. Obviously, if they anticipated the end of Harry Potter, the owners wouldn't have gone through so much trouble.

And it is indeed not the end. Warner Bros. has already opened the first of many Disneyland styled theme park in Orlando, and the book sales have only intensified over the years with translations in many more languages in the offing. And though there's no indication, one can't rule out a TV series either.

So fans of Harry Potter can rest assured, Harry Potter fought the odds and survived in the end, and so will his franchise. Indeed, for all we know, this might just be the beginning.

Copyright  IANS

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