Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two

Muggles and wizards live in a wonderful world, we do, and last night I was smack dab in the middle of it. I knew I was in for a magical night when my first sight was a half dozen teens (quite normal looking really, except for the full-on Hogwarts robes and regalia). They were gathered around a table in the courtyard of the movie theater staring at a Sorting Hat (read the books). I was peeking in on a Sorting Ceremony of some kind. This would not be the strangest thing I saw last night. Besides the usual array of black robes and Griffyndor scarves, there was a fan dressed as the Hogwarts Clock Tower (no shit), a spitting-image double of Ginny Weasley complete with Weasley-red hair in a circular braid, and a six foot six Hagrid with padding and tangled beard. And the wands, dozens and dozens wands, casting imaginary spells. The girl next to me had her fingernails painted with HARRY POTTER lettering in the lightening bolt script, one letter per nail except for the middle finger of her right hand (two T's). How she could text with those nails I'll never know. You may never hear me say this again but I kinda wished I had a cell phone with a camera. It was a spectacular gathering. It made me feel young.
Now onto the film itself. If you aren't wrapped up in an invisibility cloak of all things Potter then you have missed the Hogwarts Express, because this film fulfills all the promises of the last four films. They were all prelude. The Deathly Hallows Part 2 is payoff. It has a mature feeling to it that has more to do with its tone than the chronological age of the lead characters. It's a more sophisticated action adventure, grittier, with darker and more complex themes. Mortality. Loyalty. Dedication to Cause. It's also a hell of a ride. It doesn't muck about for very long before the battle is engaged and boy, is it engaged. Spells fly and the wizarding world is in mortal peril. If you read the book you know who dies, but the film skillfully plants the seeds of doubt about what you've read. Could they, would they change the written word? The movie keeps us guessing, even with prior knowledge of the outcome, no small trick.
I have enjoyed every film in this series but until last night, I could never say that I enjoyed the film more than the book. That has changed. This film is clearer about what is happening and how its all going down than the book is. It's actually more skilled than the book. Rowling's strength has always been character and the detail of the world more so than plot. This film cleans up the ragged edges of the book's plot line. It answers all the questions seamlessly, flawlessly. And the Battle of Hogwarts takes your breath away. To see that place of joy look like a bomb-ravaged WWII city just breaks your heart.
The word I keep hearing about this film is "satisfying". Perfect. Any storyteller will tell you that the hardest thing to do is to end a great story greatly. That has been accomplished in the Harry Potter series, and that will ensure that more generations will fall in love with these young wizards. But me, I'm melancholy. I want more. I hate the mortality of these stories, even if that's the point of the whole thing. I think I'll drown my sorrows in a chapter of "Game of Thrones".

Return of the Prodigal Blogger

I have been away. My writing skills were needed elsewhere for a few months and it isn't easy for me to get out to a film these days. I'll try to play catch-up in the upcoming few months. So I'm back and what better way to reboot than with a trip to Hogwarts.....