FINALLY FINISHED

FOR many people, it was the end of an era but, for me, it was simply the end of a franchise that took way too long to die.

As regular GulfWeekly readers will know, I am not a Harry Potter fan and with the addition of this film, have only seen two of the eight-part series.

Fortunately (a dubious use of the term) for me I had seen the preceding movie, Deathly Hallows Part 1, so I had a slightly better idea of what was happening than I did on my last outing.
 
It seems that the recent additions to the franchise have been geared strictly at devotees, leaving very little thought for casual observers like myself.

In Deathly Hallows Part 1, the Ministry of Magic was dissolved and taken over by Lord Voldemort, who wants muggles (humans with no magic powers) wiped off the face of the earth.

Harry (Radcliffe) and his friends, Hermione (Watson) and Ron (Grint) hunt down a collection of magical trinkets called horcruxes which, for the uninitiated, are bits of Voldemort’s soul implanted in various magical trinkets that need to be destroyed in order to defeat the Dark Lord.

Meanwhile, Voldemort attains a wand that wields immense power, capable of killing his spectacled nemesis, although thankfully for Harry, he has trouble utilising it.

That brings us to Deathly Hallows Part 2, the final instalment, with the stage set for the ultimate battle between good and evil.

The film opens with Harry, Ron and Hermione scamming their way into the vaults of Gringotts, the magical equivalent of an offshore bank. Here they search for one of the three remaining horcruxes in the hopes of destroying it.

With only a handful of horcruxes left, Voldemort is getting weaker and senses that the time has finally come to launch an all-out assault on Hogwarts to kill Harry.
 
At the heart of the story is the relationship between good and evil and the telepathic link between Harry and Voldemort is finally explained.

As the battle ensues and more secrets are let out of the bag, Harry comes to realise that the evil Snape was not who he and the entire wizard world thought he was. Fans will no doubt be shocked at this revelation which, as an outsider, I just didn’t ‘get’.

It seems like the director tried to wrap up all seven books in just two hours, which resulted in confusion, chaos and made very little sense … even to self-confessed Potter-holic Shilpa Chandran who came along with me.

Yes, the effects were amazing and the action was well choreographed, but aside from that, there was very little else keeping me awake for the two hours it took to wrap everything up.

Throughout this film I remember thinking to myself ‘where is the chase and how do I cut to it?’

At least now it’s all over and I won’t have to deal with anymore of the incessant hype that surrounds the franchise, or hear the phrase ‘my, how they’ve grown’. And, for those who loved all eight films, hey, now you can watch them on DVD to your hearts content without taking up valuable cinema space.

I know that my comments will cause outrage among Potter-holics in the kingdom, but as I said in my last Potter review ... I can conceive how people might feel attachment to Harry Potter, supposing they have never read the quality fantasy novels that permeate the literary world ... but that’s like loving McDonald’s because you’ve never tasted lobster.

I eagerly await your hate mail.

Showing in Cineco, Seef II and Saar Cineplex