Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

It's odd to finally say goodbye to something that has been apart of my life for so long. The series of Harry Potter truly ended four years ago with the release of the seventh and final book, something we all anticipated with baited breath. That came out when I was making my transition from High School into College.

Now I have graduated College, and so it seems like fitting timing for the final of the Harry Potter films to be released, and for me to finally lay to rest and bid adieu the series that will define my generation. Truly, there have been few things in pop culture to rival the popularity of Harry Potter. We may never again have a book series so exciting that it causes all ages, kids to adults, to line up at midnight to purchase the new entry in the series.

And the films themselves are a remarkable achievement. True, they don't come close to rivaling the books, but the fact that the same core stuck with the film for so long, and that the only recasting came from Richard Harris' death is remarkable. The films have been magnificently successful, and the fact that Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson have grown to embody these three iconic characters is owed in large part to the casting. Ginny Weasley is one of the few characters who was ill cast (Bonnie Wright has never been particularly compelling).

And how does the final film hold up? It opens right where the last one left off, with Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) stealing the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's grave. Then we pick up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione staying with Ron's brother and plotting their next move, a break-in at the great Wizarding Bank Gringotts to infiltrate Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, in the hopes they will locate another Horcrux.

After the first five minutes, the remaining two hours take place over a single 24-hour period, as the trio infiltrates the bank in a wonderful sequence that finally, FINALLY gives us the scope of the caverns that lie beneath Gringotts, something that many criticized film one for leaving out. There is also a dragon, that owns its screen time and becomes quite a sympathetic character, yearning for sunlight and savoring its freedom once obtained. It's moment that could easily have been overlooked, but the CG wizards make it an emotional instant that works.

Harry then returns to Hogwarts to locate another Horcrux, and inadvertently begins the final standoff with Voldemort. It's a rather well executed final battle, and my only nitpick is that we don't get to see more of the resistance against Voldemort's onslaught (his army indeed outnumbers the forces at Hogwarts by 10-1). But there's also so many loose ends and back story to tie up that this can be forgiven.

Rather then continue summarizing, I will instead break off and mention what worked and what didn't. Probably the most important element that they nailed was Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), who is above all the most complex character in the Potterverse. The emotional impact his story has, the final revelation of his true colors, nearly brought a tear to my eye and definitely choked me up. It drives home the central theme of the entire series, that love conquers all. To see Snape's undying love for Harry's mother, and his allegiance to Dumbledore to protect her and her son, is a touching yet heartbreaking moment.

And Fiennes is finally given a lot of screen time (after being absent in Half-Blood Prince), finally making Voldemort the terrifying, fantastic villain he was meant to be. Not only does he strut about, sure of his immortality, but he is also allowed to express vulnerability as he realizes Harry is slowly wearing him down. The villain is always more fun to play, and Fiennes makes Voldemort a truly frightening presence.

There are also other great British actors, though Jim Broadbent (Slughorn) and Emma Thompson (Trelawney) are decidedly wasted and do nothing significant. But others including Maggie Smith, Jason Isaacs, Robbie Coltrane, Gary Oldman, Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt, Warwick Davis, and Michael Gambon are put to good use and round out this terrific, powerhouse cast.

But the real pleasure has been seeing all the kids in the cast, including Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom, grow up into capable adults. Their lives have been presented to us in a sort of shortened Up Series, progressing from 11 to 21 (all the actors are around the same age as me). Years from now, they have the rare ability to look back upon these films, a time capsule of their youth (and ours).

Now, what the film did wrong: The whole final ten minutes, including Voldemort's death, is slightly underwhelming and doesn't quite pack the epic, satisfying punch that I was hoping for. Sure the movie delivers several cheer worthy moments, including the destruction of Voldemort's snake, but Voldemort's demise is more of a fizzle then a bang, though Harry and Voldemort's final duel is decidedly more action-packed then the novel (Harry talked down Voldemort for a solid ten minutes and explained a lot of things). But Voldemort simply dissolves into the wind and the next scene is simply all the characters sitting around drinking tea and recuperating, instead of joyously celebrating the fact that Voldemort has died. It's a moment that should have the audience on their feet, crazy with applause, and instead Voldemort just disappears. Disappointing.

And a moment that didn't work in the book or the movie is the 19-years-later epilogue, which while it provides the necessary wrap-up, feels like something out of an SNL sketch showing these characters nearing middle age (especially Radcliffe's make-up). It does provide a sweet moment between Harry and his son, and brings the series full circle, but I've always felt it make everything too perfect. Harry and Ginny stayed together, Ron and Hermione stayed together, and all was well. For a series with such a dark view of the world, the ending is decidedly optimistic.

These quibbles aside however, one must applaud David Yates, the man bequeathed the task of taking Harry into the final run by directing four of the eight films in the series. If he hasn't come out as a stylist, he has successfully created a continuity between the universes of the films, and ended the series as satisfyingly as he could. Alfonso Cuaron, director of part 3, still made the most stylistic Potter, and the most filmic. His hand has never been rivaled and everyone wished he would have helmed more, but hey, you can't always get what you want.

The films may have never achieved what the books did, but you have to admire Warner Bros. for sticking it out, through and through (how could they resist 7 or 8 easily marketable and definitely profitable films). Plenty of other popular children books have failed to translate (including the wonderful The Golden Compass), and the fact that this series made it is a feat in and of itself.

Harry Potter's end serves, I guess, as my final closure to the world that I have embraced for 12 years since I first discovered the books. I have left college now, and must look on to a terrifying yet exciting future, without any more Harry Potter films to look forward too. I have grown with these movies; I was 11 when the first movie came out, and am now in my early twenties, ready to bid adieu to the series. There will be no other film series like Harry Potter, that takes us through such a long, emotional journey that spans ten years and actually ends on a mostly fantastic note. This type of thing is once in a lifetime, and though I hate to do it, it is finally time to say a heartfelt farewell to the characters, the actors, the books, the movies, the entire world of Harry Potter. Thank you for providing escape to a magical, far off world, something that I will share with my children in years to come.

The Human Centipede: First Sequence (2009)

This movie came out a while ago, and while I normally don't review films that are not currently in theaters, I feel this one kind of merits a review. Maybe.

I never actually planned to watch this film: I heard so much about it through various reviews and friends that I decided there was no point. But, ultimately, curiosity won out and I sat down with a group of friends to review what is one of the most talked about films of the year.

For those of you that really don't know, The Human Centipede tells the story of two American girls (Ashley C. Williams and Ashlynn Yennie) on a eurotrip who find themselves stranded in the middle of Germany at some creepy guy's house when their car breaks down. They are drugged and awake on a make-shift hospital room in the man's basement, who happened to be Germany's most skilled surgeon (he is Dr. Heiter, played effectively creepy by Dieter Laser). They learn they are to be joined, ass-to-mouth, with another man (a Japanese guy played by Akihiro Kitamaru) to create a human centipede. Why? Who knows, but let's just say you don't want to be stuck in the middle.

When I went into this film, I was expecting to be completely grossed out, revolted, and slightly shaken by the movie. And you know what? I wasn't. True, the film displays some horrific acts against humanity, and the sheer depravity of the whole idea makes one sick, but the film achieves this through what most will agree is very little violence. That's not to say what happens isn't sick; the good doctor makes the human centipede a sort of pet, and the graphic nature of the attachment is gross. But there are no ruthless beheadings, or endless torture scenes. Once you get over the idea of the human centipede, it becomes easy to swallow.

Speaking of swallowing, the films most sickening sequence involves one member of the centipede swallowing excrement (with the good doctor yelling, "Swallow it, bitch!"). Yet this scene is achieved by the actors performance, not by actually watching someone swallow make-shift poo.

The movie frustrates, however, as characters make key idiotic decisions where, if they had made a different decision, they might have gotten out of the situation. Por example: one of the girls actually frees herself and the good doctor goes to attend to a power surge issue. But instead of running away, she rescues her unconscious friend and drags her out of the house (I should also mention she is bleeding profusely from a recent injury). Once, out the door, though, the good doctor finally shows up and tranquilizes her (and decides to make her the middle piece).

Now, on the one hand Tom Six, the writer and director, is most likely just making a commentary on most horror films, where characters make incorrect key decisions. That's all fun and good, but the Scream films have already made this pitfall of horror very well known, and so these character decisions come off as lazy writing.

Overall, I wasn't moved by the film either way. I actually forgot about it and have only just now returned to pondering it. It's technically well made, and there's no doubt the Human Centipede will become an iconic monster, at least for the midnight crowd. But I dislike these movies so much because I don't see the point in their existence. Who honestly finds this entertaining? Who will actually admit to looking forward to films like these? I don't want to know you. There are people who like the gross out stuff, and we all know this isn't real. But honestly, what's the point?

On one final note, Tom Six is making a sequel that is due out at some point this year. You'll notice the secondary title is "First Sequence." The next one is the "Full Sequence," and I guess we are going to get a 12-person centipede. There's already an amusing teaser online in which Six speculates about all the hate he's gotten from people calling it the most disgusting film ever made. Well that's giving this film too much credit.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Une (2010)

Harry Potter has come a long way from where he started as a wide-eyed child entering the magical gates of Hogwarts. Then, the magical world was a bright and happy place, with dangers lurking around corners, but easily solvable with a little determination and ingenuity. The films and books have become increasingly darker in tone as the characters age and the bright world shatters around them; indeed, a metaphor for all children growing up and realizing life is not the easy, happy experience they thought it would be.

Deathly Hallows opens with the cold-blooded murder of a Muggle Studies teacher, and the bodies begin piling up from there. Harry, Ron, and Hermione (do I need to tell you who plays them?) must set out to find and destroy Horcruxes, evil objects that conceal bits of Voldemort's soul. They start under the protection of their elders, but soon set out on their own and are stranded in the English countryside with nary a clue as to what to do.

As a Harry Potter adaptation, this is the film I have been waiting for. By splitting the book in two parts (also a clever ploy to make more money), writer Steve Kloves and director David Yates are finally allowed to take their time, and really let us get to know these people that we have seen grow up before our very eyes. The movie adds scenes that aren't in the book that help deepen the characters: in the opening we see Hermione erase her parents memories and Harry and Hermione share a dance when all is bleak.

Of course, the film neglects certain details that help flesh out other characters: Lupin's reluctance to stay with Tonks is something they eliminated, though I think that is a powerful scene that forces Harry to accept the fact that he really is on his own, and can no longer rely on adults. And Kreacher's development is thrown out, as he becomes a loyal slave to Harry Potter, someone he once resented.

Otherwise, this film is basically the book, even including long passages in the second half of the trio wandering aimlessly through the woods trying to decide what to do next. As far as a Harry Potter movie is concerned, it is decidedly quiet. There are explosions and chases at the beginning, and many deaths permeate the film; but the film lives and breathes with its quieter moments, including a scene between Ron and Hermione playing a piano, and Ron's continual monitoring of the radio to hear who has died.

The reason Prisoner of Azkaban has been continually lauded as the best in the Potter series is because Alfonso Cuarón gave the film a natural pace, and it flowed as a movie would. It also changed the landscape of the Potterverse and brought the series down to darker depths. Harry Potters 1 - 2 and 4 - 6 have always had a rushed sense about them, though I feel Yates found a better sense of pace in Half-Blood Prince.

When both films are combined they will probably total five hours or so, and will be glorious retellings of a story every Potterfan loves. The only real problem with the film is its eventual and unavoidable sudden ending, but that can be forgiven as it is only half a movie. People will be frustrated because it isn't the same Potter film of the past; its a slower film, and I loved that. And it raises the expectations even higher for Harry's grand finale next July as the Battle of Hogwarts takes place. Yates has delivered introspective Potter; now, the public is hungering for epic Potter.

One final note: the film contains a beautifully animated segment telling the story of the Deathly Hallows, narrated by Emma Watson. Its these touches that help the movie succeed.

Häxan (1922)

Silent films, to me, represent a very unique time in film's history; this is the time when the job of director, producer, and screen actor was being developed, and it is amazing that films back then were more daring then any single film you usually get in a year in this millennium. Filmmakers back then explored the newest possibilities, particularly the German Expressionists who were probably the best Silent Filmmakers (F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Erich von Stroheim, and Robert Wiene are among the best from that time).

Häxan is such a silent movie, adventurous, daring, trying new things, but it is also one of the only films that defies any convention, any labeling. It is part documentary, part drama, part comedy, and part horror. Yet this movie comes from a Danish director, not a German one, and exemplifies the limitless boundaries of the imagination from that time.

The movie is told in seven parts, though most of them really don't mark the ending of one story. Chapter One is basically a slideshow, as director Benjamin Christensen shows us a lot of researched history on the paranoia of people from the Middle Ages that led to their belief in Witches (Häxan translates, more or less, to The Witches). We get drawings that illustrate hell, where demons put the damned into cauldrons (I couldn't help but notice one of the cauldrons was marked "Judei"), and hot metal liquid is poured down the damned's throat.

Part Two on is mainly recreated scenarios involving witches actually existing. We see the horrible hags in their coven, plundering dead thieves' bodies from the gallows and using their remains in potions. One witch requests a love potion and we get two imagined scenes in which a portly brother of the church chases the witch, madly in love with her.

The film also highlights how witches were ousted: being thrown, naked, into a pond to determine their witchhood. If they floated, they were recovered from the pond and burned; if they sank, the fathers would thank God for sparing this girl's soul (though no remark is made as to whether this woman is rescued).

The only part of the movie I would call a running story, or thread, comes when a man falls ill and his wife blames witchcraft. An old woman stops by for food, and the wife immediately has her arrested by the church, who proceed to torture a confession out of her. And she describes the Witches' mass.

The Witches' mass is introduced to us in the film's first chapter, and it is mainly something you kind of have to see to really grasp how paranoid everyone was back then. To partake, the women fly high up into the sky to some castle and garden, and proceed to frolic with the devil and his minions. Probably the most significant moment of this movie involves the witches proceeding one by one to the devil and placing a kiss on his derrière. This marks them as witches, and allows them to continue on their evil wicked ways.

What message this movie is trying to put out, what lesson it is trying to teach is unclear to me. I was never certain if the director believed all the findings he researched, or he was merely laughing at how paranoid everyone was back then, and how that paranoia made everything a reality. Really, he seems to be presenting the second part as his main point, but he also has conviction in the scenes involving the witches.

The movie breaks the fourth wall a lot, and in Chapter 6 or 7, the director mentions that the actress who played Maria the Weaver (Maren Pedersen, another witch) turned to the director during shooting and said, "The Devil is real. I have seen him sitting at my bedside." Her conviction in this story is resolute, which is why Mrs. Pedersen probably partook of this film.

This film was made before there were conventions and clichés in film. There were no definite rules of story that we learn today in our classes, and Häxan is a movie breathing with life and invention from its director's limitless research on the subject of Witchcraft in the Middle Ages. Even by today's standards I would say this film is very daring and I have really never seen anything like it in all the other movies I have ever seen.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

The latest Harry Potter film is, if I may be so bold, probably the most well structured and paced movie of the six so far. How they pace the next two will be interesting, considering the massive amount of information that is revealed in those chapters. And they will be thrilling films, I do expect. But for now, we have this one.

David Yates, who directed the previous pic (one I consider the worst of the bunch), has finally found his footing and is much more assured in the director's chair. This film also benefits from being the first movie to be made since the final book was released, so the filmmakers now know what elements are the most important and can create the final three pictures as complimentary pieces.

Really, this film represents to me what the first five could have been, had the studios waited until all seven books were released before chopping them into films. When Peter Jackson made the Lord of the Rings, he had all three books at his disposal, and was even able to shift part of the Two Towers storyline into the Return of the King. But alas, we are already past the sixth movie, and are almost at the finish line for Harry Potter (for when the final films are released, Pottermania will finally cease).

Yates does something bold here: he invents new scenes to help enhance the story, and sets up the climax of the film much better then the book did (with the vanishing cabinet). Yates knows we know what will happen, so why bother keeping it a mystery? Establish it! And this is what he does.

The sixth film is increasingly darker, even though it is laced with the various love stories that permeate the film. Harry and Ginny finally hook up, Ron and Hermione are well on their way to being together, and this all of course builds up love, the key ingredient to Voldemort's defeat. People may complain about the many awkward moments sprinkled throughout the film, but I felt they worked beautifully, and you need them to drive the idea home.

Added scenes include Harry flirting with a café worker at the beginning, which was a nice touch, and various scenes of Malfoy attempting to fix the vanishing cabinet. One addition that I did not care for was a scene at the Burrow where the inhabitants are lured away and then watch as their home is burned. Of course, this is being done deliberately to shave off events in the next book, but it was odd and pulled me out of the moment because I was watching a moment that was significant and not a part of the books.

I have never really liked Michael Gambon's Dumbledore; he has been a harsher, meaner Dumbledore then what Richard Harris created. But in this film he finally embodies Dumbledore as a mortal man, which he does best, and really helps break down a character that you realize really isn't invincible.

Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, the new Potions teacher, is another bit of dynamite casting, and really helps to buoyant the film in some of its darker moments. He is the key to finding out crucial information on destroying Voldemort, but he also really shines in his scenes, and will be missed since he appears very little in the next two movies.

My biggest problem with all the editing, however, was the flashbacks. This book is supposed to focus on studying Voldemort, what made him evil, what lead him down the path he took. Sadly, the movie decides that the only flashbacks worth showing are when Dumbledore first meets Riddle as a young boy, and the Slughorn memory that is the key to the next book's adventures. There are a lot more flashbacks that provide richer detail to who Dumbledore is, and I'm sad the filmmakers just didn't add another ten minutes to the film. This is honestly the first of the Potters that didn't feel it's length, mainly because it was well paced.

The biggest problem with this book and movie, however, is its anticlimactic ending. Dumbledore is killed by Snape, and the locket that Harry and Dumbledore retrieve is actually a fake one. And now Harry has to go and destroy Horcruxes. It reminds me of how I felt after finishing the sixth book, with a "wtf" feeling and wanting the next book in my hand immediately. Of course that is the nature of sagas, to leave you wanting more the next time around.

One change that I didn't expect and still haven't decided how I felt about it were the moments immediately following Dumbledore's death. The posse that Malfoy brings through the Vanishing Cabinet do no more then witness the event, and leave after trashing the Great Hall. Malfoy's original intention in bringing them was as defense as he went after Dumbledore, but since their presence is completely unnoticed by the "patrols" the fight that follows is gone. I understand they cut the fight for time, but really it made no sense because the castle was supposed to be "well guarded", so any breaches of security should have been noticed (they weren't even noticed upon departure).

Is this the best Harry Potter movie? No, I'd say not, but it's a definite step in the right direction to making the final two movies the best goddamn movies in the entire series. The film is the first Potter flick to feel like a real movie, and not a never-ending book adaptation. There is a dramatic structure and character arcs not always present the first two five times. David Yates has proved his sure hand, though, and needs to prove himself, in part II of the Deathly Hallows anyway, as a great action director.

Rating: 8/10

Harry Potter Re-cap: Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets

This Wednesday sees the release date of the 6th Harry Potter film, the Half-Blood Prince, and I thought it appropriate to dust off the DVDs and re-watch the previous five Harry Potter films in preparation for this sixth installment.

First up, the Chris Columbus pictures, Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets. Of the four directors that helmed the Potter films (assuming nothing happens to David Yates on the next two), Columbus is the only one to capture Potter in an innocent, wondrous world where danger lurks around every bend, yet everything still seems exciting. Columbus' films are the only ones to see Hogwarts as a place of magical discovery, and regards everything with a childlike view (appropriate, considering the protagonist's age).

Both films clock in well over 150 minutes and are still the longest in the series. They try and pack as much content from the book as possible while shaving off as much material as necessary and in reviewing what I remember from the books, I think they did a pretty good job. Yes certain elements have completely done away with (Peeves the Poltergeist), but at least Columbus explains everything and makes sure there are no loose ends (except for the ones that will be answered at the end). I'll discuss more in my reviews of the later films how the directors and screenwriters overlooked some elements of the plot, major or minor.

Maybe the biggest complaint I have with Columbus' films is also one that can be easily dismissed: his films move at a breakneck pace, mainly in the beginning. Either you get used to the pace or it slows down by the middle, because the rest of the film feels right, but the first 30 minutes or so leading up to Hogwarts in both films feel rushed in every aspect. Characters come on, say lines, move on. Take the first film: Harry receives his dozen of letters from Hogwarts, and Uncle Vernon is finally so fed up that he exclaims they are leaving, and BAM! they end up on an island on a stormy sea. To the reader, this makes sense because we know the events that lead up to this, but to a virgin viewer, this moment probably feels random.

Of course these films have so much information to pack into their running times that you can forgive the odd pacing at the beginnings, but I wish the screenwriters had found more creative ways to restructure the happenings of the plot to fit the movie format. The script is basically the book with a lot of scenes cut out, and end up feeling more like chronicles of what Harry is up to then having a dramatic arc of film. True both end with a climax (well executed ones too), but the events leading up to it feel somewhat empty to me, plot wise. Granted I know the plots of these two very well, but it has been at least two years since I have read or watched these chapters, and I found little thrill in my revisit.

And what of the three actors, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger)? They are alright, as far as child actors go, but there have been better (the kids in Let the Right One In, or Sixth Sense). I could pick out a dozen scenes where Radcliffe and Grint sound like they are just reciting the lines without truly comprehending what they are saying, and some of Radcliffe's glares during Quidditch matches and such are laughable. Emma Watson nails Hermione's annoying manner fairly well in the first picture, but then is relegated to reciting her lines with maybe slightly more emotion then her male counterparts.

To be completely honest, though, I did like these films more now then I remember liking them. Maybe because it has been awhile since I've read the books, and I've forgotten really what they cut out: that was my big annoyance when I was younger, not appreciating what they had done but bashing it for what they had left out.

I firmly believe that you should never compare a book to a movie, until of course I am reviewing a movie based on a book I read. It is damn near impossible for me to objectively view these movies, unlike my dad who has no knowledge of the original source material. Prisoner of Azkaban, which I will review next, was the first to remain true to the source but not to a fault, unlike these two.

Huge kudos, though, to the art department for the fantastic costume and set designs in these films. Hogwarts is beautifully realized, and while some of the special effects are pretty awful (the centaur), most of it retains a spirit of awe and fascination before we plunge into the doom and gloom that fills the rest of the stories.

Of course the most interesting aspect of these films is watching the three young stars grow up. In the first film Radcliffe and Grint have young, high voices, and in the second you can hear their voices cracking. I'm sure they hate looking back on these films (I know I would), and I wouldn't be surprised if all three try to extricate themselves from the HP universe as much as possible when it is all said and done (Radcliffe is already breaking away, after starring in Equus, in which he was excellent).

As much as I nitpick at the first two films, they are what we have, and I appreciate them for getting the series off their feet. I remember in 1999 when I heard the movie was going to be made, and 2001 felt like an eternity to wait for the first movie to come out. They are magical adventures: the only two film as of current to feature full Quidditch matches (I don't count the World Cup), both brilliantly realized, and what is probably most fun is seeing everything that is happening and knowing the significance of it in the final book (for instance, Harry's invisibility cloak). They are, ultimately, good adaptations of the books that define my childhood.