Farewell, Harry.

     So far, it's been a summer of sequels, and now, finally, we have the sequel.  The grand finale to a project spanning over thirteen years, seven books, eight movies (Despite my wishing they had made one long movie for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows instead of two short ones.  I mean, look at long and successful movies like Lord of the Rings and Avatar.), and a theme park.
     Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II begins right where Part 1 left off, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione finding and destroying Horcruxes (little bits of dark wizard Voldemort's soul).  You can tell that this movie is a continuation; there really isn't much of a beginning at all.  The rest of the film unfolds at a breakneck pace perfect for the film's action plot.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione break into Gringotts Wizard Bank (one of the movie's best scenes, involving Hermione's comical attempt at being Bellatrix Lestrange, scary multiplying fake treasure, and a breathtaking escape on a dragon), destroy the Horcruxes, and kill Voldemort -- boom, boom, boom.  This action is intensified by the soundtrack, a thrilling combination of old and new.  There are no pauses for breath, save a few for romance -- between Ron and Hermione, Harry and Ginny, Neville and Luna.
     This latest sequel also really showed off the talent of supporting actors we haven't seen since Half Blood Prince.  Brave Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) defends Hogwarts fiercely during the final battle; Seamus Finnigan (Devon Murray) returns as the funny character we saw and loved in the first film.  In addition, the Harry Potter world in Deathly Hallows Part II has lived up to the high expectations set by the previous installments.  The Gringotts set was especially captivating -- the treasure, the architecture, the roller-coaster ride that led to the vaults.

     Harry Potter book-lovers may have noticed that some scenes in the movie unwisely diverged from their corresponding parts in the book.  Such as the final battle against Voldemort at Hogwarts.  In J.K. Rowling's novel, Harry had killed Voldemot in front of a crowd of onlookers, who promptly started celebrating.  There hadn't been any fight between the two of them, just the one blow.  In the movie, Voldemort had chased Harry into some remote area of the castle, where they exchanged continuous spells before Harry uttered the pointless line, "Let's finish this the way we started it.  Together." grabbed Voldemort, and jumped with him out of the school from several stories up.  Then they hit the ground and went on fighting.  Huh?  While this scene may have been suspenseful for some to watch, let's not forget that Harry is a teenager facing the most powerful wizard alive.  Harry would never have been able to hold his own in a long duel against Voldemort.  And what was that with the jumping?
     Another part is when Harry told his old teacher, "I never wanted you to die, Remus, especially after you had your son."  What son?  Quite regrettably, the movie, unlike the book, didn't include the scene where Remus finds out he has a son and asks Harry to be the godfather.   And, though the movie's title is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the story of the Hallows remains unfinished with the movie's end.  Harry never realized, as he did in the book, that he owned the Invisibility Cloak from the legend.  Nor did he use the Elder Wand to fix his own broken wand.  Instead, he tore it in half, leaving himself wand-less.  These issues leave you with the feeling that the movie wasn't very well thought out.
     Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II concludes with an epilogue, taking place 19 years later.  The characters hardly look like married adults, but Ron and Hermione already have two kids, and Harry and Ginny have three.  The four of them are seeing their kids off to Hogwarts at Platform 9 3/4.  Here, in Harry Potter's final minutes, where the whole story began, is where the sentimentality and nostalgia lost after the first two films makes a rare appearance.  A good one, too; very fitting for this last good-bye.