With only a few more Horcruxes to find and destroy, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) prepare to join their friends and loved ones in the final battle against the forces of the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

CRITIQUE

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 felt like half a movie, and so does this concluding installment. But unlike its predecessor (which this movie assumes you’ve seen; come to this one cold and you likely won’t know what in the world is going on), this one has an ending but no real beginning, starting in mid-step and picking up a few minutes from where Part 1 left off. That’s an improvement, though, as beginning in mid-step is generally preferable to ending in mid-step. And while the movie isn’t the slam-dunk capper you’d want from something in which you’ve invested this much time, it does send the series off on a very good note.

In a strange bit of symmetry, the fourth and eighth films in the series set themselves apart as the most emotionally involving episodes. But whereas Goblet of Fire (which is slightly better than this entry, as is the dazzlingly stylish Prisoner of Azkaban) earned its emotional response almost entirely on its own merits, what happens here is more of a cumulative response, a release that comes from seeing through to the end these characters you’ve spent so much time with.

As I suspected while watching the previous couple movies, some of the emotional impact of the sacrifice is muted, as characters the movies didn’t have time to fully develop fall in what’s almost a throwaway manner. And at least one major death occurs off-screen, which I have to admit ticked me off; not only was it one of the most memorable scenes in the book, its echo in a later scene (which is faithfully recreated here) is my favorite moment in any of the books.

But if it doesn’t exactly pack a wallop, I defy anyone who’s faithfully followed these movies to watch this one and not get at least a little choked up. We’ve reached the point where small looks and unspoken sentiments speak volumes; there’s a moment here where the three heroes part ways, and they don’t have to say a single word to convey exactly what’s going through their minds. You may feel slightly silly to find yourself so caught up in a movie that opens with a funeral for an annoying little elf that bore an uncanny resemblance to Keith Richards, but the fact that you likely will get caught up in it is a testament to this story’s primal power.

What you have here is the payoff movie. Most--if not all--of those things you’ve been waiting a decade to see finally come to pass. Poor Neville Longbottom spent the early entries being the butt of everyone’s jokes, and you just knew it was only a matter of time before he proved himself. He does so here, and in a pretty big way. The Malfoys finally show their true colors. All of that stuff Snape has kept bottled up is finally revealed. Mrs. Weasley gets to kick some arse (and for you fans of the books, she does say the line while doing so [I’d have been royally ticked if she hadn’t]). And the amount of action comes close to dwarfing that of the other movies combined.

If you were like me and kept waiting for all of that bloody walking around and talking in Part 1 to hurry up and end so the good stuff could start, a good chuck of this movie is that good stuff. There’s epic-scale action here (including one sequence that looks to be an homage to Dragonslayer and another that wouldn’t be out of place in an Indiana Jones flick), and the siege of Hogwarts (which the crew obviously had fun demolishing) is exactly the sort of big-time, effects-filled brawl it should be. The smaller encounters--specifically those between Harry and Voldemort--are also handled well, and I was pleased to see that director David Yates (who helmed the entire second half of the franchise) didn’t needlessly drag them out.

I still don’t think there was any real artistic reason to break the book up into two movies. Sure, it paid off in a monetary sense, with the worldwide grosses totaling up to something like two billion dollars, but I still think some judicious tightening (especially in the first half) could have resulted in a satisfying single-movie telling. But if they made missteps in other areas, I’ll give Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves enormous credit for perfectly handling two potentially problematic sequences, which existed in the book as lengthy chunks of exposition but here get smoothly translated into visual form. I do wish they’d lengthened the epilogue a bit, though. It would have been nice to see what the other characters were up to.

I doubt any movie could have completely satisfied fans. I’ve read the books, but I’m certainly no card-carrying devotee of the world J.K. Rowling created. So if I found the movie to be slightly lacking in some ways, you can only imagine what it would have taken to satiate those who are card-carrying devotees. But it has to be exceedingly difficult to bring any tale of this length and scope to a close, as you’re more likely to under-do or overdo it than you are to get it exactly right. Yates, Kloves, and their cohorts don’t get it exactly right, they do come close, maybe as close as was possible.

Now that we’ve reached the end, I’d like to commend Rowling for creating something that actually had something on its mind but didn’t forget to be entertaining or almost universally accessible. Better still, she taught a whole lot of kids (and more than a few adults) that reading is cool. As for everyone involved in the movies (and that includes Chris Columbus; he seriously mishandled the first two flicks but deserves credit for helping find three perfect leads and for surrounding them with great supporting actors), they should be proud of their collective accomplishments.

THE VIDEO

The 2.40:1/1080p transfer--encoded with AVC onto a 50GB disc--is almost a complete knockout; aside from minor, almost negligible aliasing and moiré (usually found on hard surfaces and in clothing patterns), there’s nothing to complain about here. As with Part 1, the image is very, very dark; only the opening scenes, a bit of arson, and the bright primaries of the various spells break up the gloom.

But the image here is an improvement over that of Part 1’s Blu-ray release, as the crush is nowhere to found; the blacks here are deep and rich, but they never intrude upon, obscure, or swallow any of the other elements. Clarity and detail are exemplary. The grays and browns that dominate look flat-out great.

THE AUDIO

Lossless audio comes in the form of a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Depending on who you are, you’ll either want to crank this one up or turn it down. The opening scenes are a little on the quiet side, but about ten minutes in things start to get loud and active, and after that there are only a couple of respites from the mayhem. The mix is completely immersive, thick with expertly crafted atmosphere and effects that seamlessly move throughout the entire soundstage. The low end is ridiculous, and I mean that as a compliment. Dialogue sounds completely natural, and it never gets lost in the shuffle. French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are also included; English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are available.

THE EXTRAS

On Disc One of this set you’ll find Blowing up Hogwarts, a Maximum Movie Mode track hosted by Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in all eight movies. A cornucopia of picture-in-picture material--including interviews, visual effects breakdowns, behind-the-scenes clips, and conceptual art--is used to provide a quite thorough overview of the movie’s production. Eight Focus Points featurettes are also integrated into the track, going into greater detail on specific topics. (As is generally the case, the Focus Points are also available for separate viewing.)

The only other extra on Disc One is Final Farewells (2 minutes, HD), which is footage of the cast and crew saying their goodbyes to one another at the end of shooting.

On Disc Two you’ll find the following, all of which are presented in high-def:

A few deleted scenes (7 minutes) provide character beats and help fill in a few minor gaps in the story.

A Conversation with J.K. Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe (53 minutes) is a catch-all chat between the author and the actor who portrayed her most famous creation, delving into many aspects of both the books and movies.

The Goblins of Gringotts (10 minutes) looks at the design and implementation of the makeup used to bring to life the employees of the Potter universe’s most famous banking establishment.

The Women of Harry Potter (23 minutes) is a series of talking-head interviews with Rowling and several of series’ actresses, who discuss the invaluable contributions of the numerous female characters.

WB Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter (2 minutes) is nothing more than a promo spot for the Potter attraction at Warner’s London division.

Pop the disc into a PS3 and you’ll be able to play a demo of the LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 video game.

Some early copies will also include a third disc that houses a DVD copy of the movie, as well as a code to access an UltraViolet digital copy.

FINAL THOUGHT