by Tara Knott | Jul 16, 2011 | News Slider
Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Invisibilty cloaks. Butterbeer. These are the images most people conjure up in their minds when they think about Harry Potter. But as Neville Longbottom says in the eighth and final installment of the film series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” Hogwarts has changed. Before the title appears on the screen, the camera zooms in on Voldemort thrusting his wand into the air and casting the Warner Brothers logo into the sky, letting the audience know from the beginning that the tone of this movie is much more sinister. Most of the film takes place at night or on overcast, gloomy days, and the darkness hangs like a pall over the theater as Harry, Ron and Hermione hunt down Voldemort. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson turn in their strongest performances of the series in this film. At one point, Ron and Hermione share a passionate, relief-fueled kiss after a brush with death in the Chamber of Secrets. Grint and Watson’s comedic timing is so spot on, the audience can’t help but smile. And when Harry realizes he’s ready to die if that’s what it takes to save his friends, Daniel Radcliffe looks like he’s aged a decade in three minutes. But the trio can’t carry this movie alone, and the supporting cast complements them perfectly. Maggie Smith absolutely kills it as Professor Minerva McGonagall, adding some levity to the heavy film with her subtle, knowing smirk. As she works her magic to bring some stone guards to life and they begin leaping over her head, she says, “I’ve always wanted...
