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Warner / 130 Minutes / 2011 / Rated PG-13 / In Theatres Now
Let’s get this out of the way: I am a Harry Potter fan. Not the armchair “Hey, I read all the books once” type of fan, but a full-bore Gryffindor scarf-wearing, first edition of the UK books-collecting, weeping in public at a café when I read the part where Dobby dies, completely irrational fanboy.
With that in mind, what can I say about the Harry Potter series - both book and film - that I haven’t already scream-typed at an 8 year-old on a chat-board at 3 a.m.? Nothing, that’s what, so I’ll settle for a little bit of comic nerd navel-gazing and call it a day.
The second part of the Deathly Hallows picks up where the first one left off: With the death of Dobby the elf and the trio of Hermione, Ron and Harry hiding out in a beachside cabin belonging to the Order of the Phoenix. Fans of the books will notice that this puts the beginning of Deathly Hallows, Part 2 at around two-thirds of the way through (page 385 of 607 in the UK version) the final book. From a structural standpoint that makes the first movie Act 1 and 2, while the final film is almost entirely made up of Act 3.
To put it another way HPDH2 is basically one long two hour nerdpocalypse of an action sequence. While this may not make Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 a terribly functional film it sure as Hell gives fans everything they could possibly want in a denouement - and then some.