Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010 and 2011)

Elevator Pitch: Since these two movies are really one I am trying to describe them together. So in Part 1 The evil Voldemort gradually takes over everything despite the three friend’s resistance. The house elf, Dobby, dies. Various ceremonies take place to enable Voldemort, who we might remember has been the cause of the deaths of Harry’s parents. In both films the trio have been looking for “Horcruxes” which will possibly disable Voldemort and in Part 2 they break into a vault where there may be one. The are required to escape on a dragon which takes them back to Hogwarts, so that they can engage in the final battle with the dark lord. Harry finds that he has to die in order to overcome Voldemort and after a battle which more or less destroys Hogwarts surrenders. But is it the end?

Content: Well what wasn’t there? There wasn’t any nudity or sex, although towards the end some characters kiss. Good for them. The two films contain a number of set pieces ones I remember include Harry being attacked by death eaters, strange ethereal beings which float through the air. And in part one a number of minor wizarding events and a gloomy ceremony bringing Voldemort back. In part two the plot progresses rapidly, via a visit to a magic bank and the dragon flight to the showdown at Hogwarts, where the wizardry of the combined tutors and pupils are ranged against Voldemort and his followers. So there is a lot of pointing of wands with a variety of effects. It is almost as if everybody had machine guns. If I’m honest, at this point I consulted the Wikipedia entries, but found the plot description so complex that I could not retain any of it.

A View: Part 2 took over a billion dollars at the box office and achieved a 96% rating with Rotten Tomatoes. It is also 173 on the IMDb best films list and won three Oscars. But let’s be realistic, the finale is not really very clever, just a matter of whose wand is bigger and how wonderful the CGI is. By the time we have got to this point in the franchise the director has more or less dispensed with the rather charming minor wizardry which used to be entertaining and has substituted very harrowed looking people pointing their fingers at each other. Perhaps that’s how the books go. Anyway if you have go to this point probably a watch. If you are considering the franchise go back to the beginning.

I’m tired out after trying to summarise these two films so I’ll leave it to my programme to recommend alternatives. Go to the bottom of the page.