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The end of an era says farewell to ‘Harry Potter’

By Rohan Keith Andresen ’12
THE ROUNDUP

Daniel Radcliffe, from left, as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger in Warner Bros. Pictures' fantasy adventure "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2," a Warner Bros. Pictures release. (Jaap Buitendijk/Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures/MCT)

On the summer night of July 14, many students and fans of all ages lined up around the world to experience the last bit of magic of the “Harry Potter” series.

Through the swishing of cloaks, the uttering of spells and the excited conversations, the world waited anxiously for the last movie in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part II.”

Beginning in 1997 with the bestseller “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” J.K. Rowling’s enthralling series profiles the teenage life of wizard Harry Potter and his quest to vanquish evil from the wizarding world.

The books hit the silver screen in 2001 and added to the already teeming amount of popularity in the United States and abroad.

The final book was split into two separate films, making it easier to include the details of the 753-page novel in the movies.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part I” was released in November 2010 with a flood of excitement and applause.

Part II of “The Deathly Hollows” opened to the public July 15 and marked the closure of a story that many teens have grown up with their entire lives.

The movie, 130 minutes long, was captivating and thrilling and was an amazing end to a terrific series.

It boasted breathtaking special effects in addition to its already talented cast.

Many “Harry Potter” fanatics were afraid the movie would wander too far away from the books and that the production would leave out details and information that was otherwise essential to experiencing all that the book has to offer.

Though, admittedly, the movie left out details, it adequately portrayed the book and included a story-line that stayed pretty on track with Rowling’s novel.

I would rate the movie on three different fronts: entertainment, consistency with the books and emotions.

For entertainment value, the movie was thrilling and captured audiences from the very abrupt beginning. I would rate it a 9 out of 10.

The movie stayed consistent with the book, and didn’t leave anything out that made well-read fans unhappy; however, it did leave out some interesting details that added to the allure of the book.

For example, left out are Dumbledore’s relationship with the dark wizard Grindewald and many of the rumors from Rita Skeeter’s biography that slash Dumbledore’s reputation. These were important because they made Harry doubt who Dumbledore was and if he should truly carry out the feat of defeating Voldemort.

Also, Malfoy’s friend Crabbe dies during the battle at Hogwarts in the book version; however, in the movie his character is nonexistent and instead replaced by an actor who doesn’t resemble him in the slightest.

Additionally, the Malfoy family nobly sides with Harry’s group at the end of the book but in the movie they cowardly slink away.

All that being said, I would rate the story consistency 7 out of 10.

Lastly, it elicited laughter, nostalgia and tears out of many of the members of the audience. The emotions that it extracted from the audience displayed how connected many of the fans had become with the characters.

In flashbacks, the audience remembered how much the characters had changed and looked longingly to the trials and tribulations that Harry and his friends endured.  When characters valiantly died, the audience returned with sobs as though a close friend was dying.

Many of us had known the characters longer and better than we have known our own friends, and we felt the pain. I would rate the emotional value 9 out of 10.

It was an overall well-executed movie, and I would advise anyone who has been enchanted by the decade-long Harry Potter saga to finish it off with this amazing movie.

What do you think about the last installment of the “Harry Potter” series? Leave your comments on the movie, the books or the entire series below.

Related News: Click here to read a review of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 1”

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