HOME | DD

Description
Lets continue the Wizarding World series with the final chapter in the story of Harry Potter as he makes his final stand against Lord Voldemort.

Picking up immediately where Part 1 left off, Harry Potter asks the goblin Griphook to help him, along with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringotts bank, suspecting a Horcrux may be there. Griphook agrees, in exchange for the Sword of Gryffindor. Wandmaker Ollivander tells Harry that two wands taken from Malfoy Manor belonged to Bellatrix and Draco Malfoy, though Draco's has changed its allegiance to Harry. In the vault, they discover another Horcrux: Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Harry retrieves it, but Griphook snatches the sword and abandons them. Trapped by security, they release the dragon guardian and flee on its back. Harry has a vision of Lord Voldemort at Gringotts, furious at the theft. Harry also realises that there is a Horcrux at Hogwarts which is somehow connected to Rowena Ravenclaw. The trio apparate into Hogsmeade, where Aberforth Dumbledore reveals a secret passageway into Hogwarts. Severus Snape hears of Harry's return and warns staff and students of punishment for aiding Harry. Harry confronts Snape, who flees after Minerva McGonagall challenges him to a duel. McGonagall gathers the Hogwarts community for battle. At Luna Lovegood's insistence, Harry speaks to Helena Ravenclaw's ghost, who reveals that Voldemort performed "dark magic" on her mother's diadem, located in the Room of Requirement. In the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione destroys the Horcrux cup with a Basilisk fang. In the Room of Requirement, Draco, Blaise Zabini and Gregory Goyle attack Harry, but Ron and Hermione intervene. Goyle casts a Fiendfyre curse; unable to control it, he is burned to death while Harry and his friends save Malfoy and Zabini. Harry stabs the diadem with the Basilisk fang, and Ron kicks it into the inferno to be destroyed. As Voldemort's army attacks, Harry, seeing into Voldemort's mind, realises that Voldemort's snake Nagini is the final Horcrux. Now it's up to Harry to assist in the final battle to defend Hogwarts, and destroy Nagini to ensure Voldemort's fate.

Pros:
1. Harry is still an amazing protagonist, and is character arc goes full circle.
2. Ron and Hermione are both still great supporting characters.
3. Snape and McGonagall are well done side characters.
4. Dumbledore, Fred, George, Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Percy, Bill, Oliver, Neville, Luna, Cho, Fleur, Lavender, Griphook, Flitwick, Ollivander, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Sprout, Filch, Sybill, Aberforth, Kingsley, and Nymphadora are all very memorable and likeable minor characters.
5. Voldemort, Bellatrix, Draco, Lucius, Narcissa, Nagini, and the Death Eaters are all amazing villains.
6. The sets, locations, costumes, makeup, and visuals are still very neatly crafted.
7. The creature effects are still very well done.
8. The action scenes are an intense blast.
9. The performances are excellently acted.
10. The blend of action, adventure, comedy, drama, fantasy, and suspense is still amazingly done.
11. Stellar special effects.
12. Alexandre Desplat delivers a stellar score for the final film.
13. The story is brilliantly well written, and is very faithful to the book, and wraps everything up without leaving any loose ends. It's also filled with lots of intense and dramatic moments.

Cons:
1. There are a couple of moments that drag.

Overall:
This is a fantastic finale to the series, and the best film in the franchise. An absolute must watch!

Rating:
10/10 (Perfect)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. In the book, a significant number of characters who have not appeared since some of the earlier novels, reappear to defend Hogwarts in the large, final battle. Director David Yates said, "I want to get them all back", referring to his desire to bring back as many actors who have appeared in the franchise as possible for the climactic battle sequence in the film. Sean Biggerstaff, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Miriam Margolyes, and Emma Thompson reprise their roles from earlier films briefly during the battle scene. For the final scene in the film which is set nineteen years after the film's main story, the actors playing the main characters were made to look older through the use of makeup and special effects. After primary filming concluded in June 2010, Yates examined the footage, and concluded that the problem could not be resolved through editing or CGI, and had the sequence re-shot that December, with redesigned makeup.
2. Director David Yates, who shot the film with director of photography Eduardo Serra, described Part 2 as "operatic, colourful and fantasy-oriented", a "big opera with huge battles".
3. In an interview with Architectural Digest, production designer Stuart Craig remarked on creating sets for Part 2. Of the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, he said, "our banking hall, like any other, is made of marble and big marble columns. And it has great strength. The fact that the goblins are the bankers and tellers at the counter helps that feeling of grandeur and solidity and the big proportions. That was part of the fun of the set: we exaggerated the size of it, we exaggerated the weight of it, and we even exaggerated the shine of the marble." About the multiplication of treasure in one of the bank's vaults, he noted, "We made literally thousands of pieces for it and vacuum metallised them to be shiny gold and silver. John Richardson, the special effects supervisor, made a floor that was capable of rising on different levels, so there was kind of a physical swelling of the treasure on it."
4. Craig spoke about the Battle of Hogwarts to Art Insights Magazine, saying that "the great challenge is the destruction of Hogwarts. The sun rising behind the smoke ... the massive remains of destroyed walls, the entrance hall, the entrance of the Great Hall, part of the roof of the Great Hall completely gone, so yeah. A big challenge there and an enjoyable one really – maybe it helped me and the guys in the art department sort of prepare for the end ... we demolished it before we had to strike it completely." When asked about the King's Cross scene near the end of the film, Craig said, "We experimented a lot, quite honestly. I mean it was quite a protracted process really but we did experiment the sense of it being very burnt out very very kind of white – so we experimented with underlit floors, we experimented with different kind of white covering everything: white paint, white fabric, and the cameraman was involved in how much to expose it, and a series of camera tests were done, so we got there but with a great deal of preparation and research."
5. Visual effects supervisor Tim Burke said that "It was such a major job to stage the Battle of Hogwarts, and we had to do it in different stages of production. We had shots with complex linking camera moves from wide overviews, to flying into windows and interior spaces. So, we took the plunge at the end of 2008, and started rebuilding the school digitally with Double Negative." He went on to say: "It's taken two years – getting renders out, texturing every facet of the building, constructing interiors to see through windows, building a destruction version of the school. We can design shots with the knowledge that we have this brilliant digital miniature that we can do anything with. With a practical Hogwarts, we would have shot it last summer and been so tied down. Instead, as David Yates finds the flow and structure, we are able to handle new concepts and ideas."
6. On the quality of 3D in film, Burke told Los Angeles Times, "I think it's good, actually. I think people are going to be really pleased. I know everyone's a little nervous and sceptical of 3D these days, but the work has been done very, very well. We've done over 200 shots in 3D and in the visual effects as well, because so much of it is CG, so the results are very, very good. I think everyone's going to be really impressed with it, actually." Producer David Heyman spoke to SFX magazine about the 3D conversion, saying that "The way David Yates is approaching 3D is he's trying to approach it from a character and story point of view. Trying to use the sense of isolation, of separation that sometimes 3D gives you, to heighten that at appropriate moments. So we're approaching it in a storytelling way."

Description
Lets continue the Wizarding World series with the final chapter in the story of Harry Potter as he makes his final stand against Lord Voldemort.

Picking up immediately where Part 1 left off, Harry Potter asks the goblin Griphook to help him, along with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringotts bank, suspecting a Horcrux may be there. Griphook agrees, in exchange for the Sword of Gryffindor. Wandmaker Ollivander tells Harry that two wands taken from Malfoy Manor belonged to Bellatrix and Draco Malfoy, though Draco's has changed its allegiance to Harry. In the vault, they discover another Horcrux: Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Harry retrieves it, but Griphook snatches the sword and abandons them. Trapped by security, they release the dragon guardian and flee on its back. Harry has a vision of Lord Voldemort at Gringotts, furious at the theft. Harry also realises that there is a Horcrux at Hogwarts which is somehow connected to Rowena Ravenclaw. The trio apparate into Hogsmeade, where Aberforth Dumbledore reveals a secret passageway into Hogwarts. Severus Snape hears of Harry's return and warns staff and students of punishment for aiding Harry. Harry confronts Snape, who flees after Minerva McGonagall challenges him to a duel. McGonagall gathers the Hogwarts community for battle. At Luna Lovegood's insistence, Harry speaks to Helena Ravenclaw's ghost, who reveals that Voldemort performed "dark magic" on her mother's diadem, located in the Room of Requirement. In the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione destroys the Horcrux cup with a Basilisk fang. In the Room of Requirement, Draco, Blaise Zabini and Gregory Goyle attack Harry, but Ron and Hermione intervene. Goyle casts a Fiendfyre curse; unable to control it, he is burned to death while Harry and his friends save Malfoy and Zabini. Harry stabs the diadem with the Basilisk fang, and Ron kicks it into the inferno to be destroyed. As Voldemort's army attacks, Harry, seeing into Voldemort's mind, realises that Voldemort's snake Nagini is the final Horcrux. Now it's up to Harry to assist in the final battle to defend Hogwarts, and destroy Nagini to ensure Voldemort's fate.

Pros:
1. Harry is still an amazing protagonist, and is character arc goes full circle.
2. Ron and Hermione are both still great supporting characters.
3. Snape and McGonagall are well done side characters.
4. Dumbledore, Fred, George, Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Percy, Bill, Oliver, Neville, Luna, Cho, Fleur, Lavender, Griphook, Flitwick, Ollivander, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Sprout, Filch, Sybill, Aberforth, Kingsley, and Nymphadora are all very memorable and likeable minor characters.
5. Voldemort, Bellatrix, Draco, Lucius, Narcissa, Nagini, and the Death Eaters are all amazing villains.
6. The sets, locations, costumes, makeup, and visuals are still very neatly crafted.
7. The creature effects are still very well done.
8. The action scenes are an intense blast.
9. The performances are excellently acted.
10. The blend of action, adventure, comedy, drama, fantasy, and suspense is still amazingly done.
11. Stellar special effects.
12. Alexandre Desplat delivers a stellar score for the final film.
13. The story is brilliantly well written, and is very faithful to the book, and wraps everything up without leaving any loose ends. It's also filled with lots of intense and dramatic moments.

Cons:
1. There are a couple of moments that drag.

Overall:
This is a fantastic finale to the series, and the best film in the franchise. An absolute must watch!

Rating:
10/10 (Perfect)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. In the book, a significant number of characters who have not appeared since some of the earlier novels, reappear to defend Hogwarts in the large, final battle. Director David Yates said, "I want to get them all back", referring to his desire to bring back as many actors who have appeared in the franchise as possible for the climactic battle sequence in the film. Sean Biggerstaff, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Miriam Margolyes, and Emma Thompson reprise their roles from earlier films briefly during the battle scene. For the final scene in the film which is set nineteen years after the film's main story, the actors playing the main characters were made to look older through the use of makeup and special effects. After primary filming concluded in June 2010, Yates examined the footage, and concluded that the problem could not be resolved through editing or CGI, and had the sequence re-shot that December, with redesigned makeup.
2. Director David Yates, who shot the film with director of photography Eduardo Serra, described Part 2 as "operatic, colourful and fantasy-oriented", a "big opera with huge battles".
3. In an interview with Architectural Digest, production designer Stuart Craig remarked on creating sets for Part 2. Of the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, he said, "our banking hall, like any other, is made of marble and big marble columns. And it has great strength. The fact that the goblins are the bankers and tellers at the counter helps that feeling of grandeur and solidity and the big proportions. That was part of the fun of the set: we exaggerated the size of it, we exaggerated the weight of it, and we even exaggerated the shine of the marble." About the multiplication of treasure in one of the bank's vaults, he noted, "We made literally thousands of pieces for it and vacuum metallised them to be shiny gold and silver. John Richardson, the special effects supervisor, made a floor that was capable of rising on different levels, so there was kind of a physical swelling of the treasure on it."
4. Craig spoke about the Battle of Hogwarts to Art Insights Magazine, saying that "the great challenge is the destruction of Hogwarts. The sun rising behind the smoke ... the massive remains of destroyed walls, the entrance hall, the entrance of the Great Hall, part of the roof of the Great Hall completely gone, so yeah. A big challenge there and an enjoyable one really – maybe it helped me and the guys in the art department sort of prepare for the end ... we demolished it before we had to strike it completely." When asked about the King's Cross scene near the end of the film, Craig said, "We experimented a lot, quite honestly. I mean it was quite a protracted process really but we did experiment the sense of it being very burnt out very very kind of white – so we experimented with underlit floors, we experimented with different kind of white covering everything: white paint, white fabric, and the cameraman was involved in how much to expose it, and a series of camera tests were done, so we got there but with a great deal of preparation and research."
5. Visual effects supervisor Tim Burke said that "It was such a major job to stage the Battle of Hogwarts, and we had to do it in different stages of production. We had shots with complex linking camera moves from wide overviews, to flying into windows and interior spaces. So, we took the plunge at the end of 2008, and started rebuilding the school digitally with Double Negative." He went on to say: "It's taken two years – getting renders out, texturing every facet of the building, constructing interiors to see through windows, building a destruction version of the school. We can design shots with the knowledge that we have this brilliant digital miniature that we can do anything with. With a practical Hogwarts, we would have shot it last summer and been so tied down. Instead, as David Yates finds the flow and structure, we are able to handle new concepts and ideas."
6. On the quality of 3D in film, Burke told Los Angeles Times, "I think it's good, actually. I think people are going to be really pleased. I know everyone's a little nervous and sceptical of 3D these days, but the work has been done very, very well. We've done over 200 shots in 3D and in the visual effects as well, because so much of it is CG, so the results are very, very good. I think everyone's going to be really impressed with it, actually." Producer David Heyman spoke to SFX magazine about the 3D conversion, saying that "The way David Yates is approaching 3D is he's trying to approach it from a character and story point of view. Trying to use the sense of isolation, of separation that sometimes 3D gives you, to heighten that at appropriate moments. So we're approaching it in a storytelling way."