This is the final chapter to the extremely successful Harry Potter series, and it is arguably the best installment in the series since Chris Columbus’ The Chamber of Secrets. That being said, J.K. Rowling’s fascinating concept of a villain splitting his soul and hiding them in multiple objects in order to stay alive is the stuff, the best kind of stuff, of the original Star Trek. In a couple of episodes of Roddenberry’s series, beings maintain their existence using computers in order to save a version of themselves after death.
Here, Harry Potter must put an end to his lifelong enemy by destroying the last of these “horcruxes.” The first horcrux idea was introduced in Chamber in the form of a younger version of Voldemart a.k.a. Tom Riddle existing in an old school diary. What are also interesting are Harry’s realizations that he may be a pawn in a far larger game between his late headmaster Dumbledore and their enemy. Like life, Harry must understand what is in store for him. And like great fantasy, all the characters must band together in order to fight the good fight.
There are some fantastic crowd-pleasing moments as well as some beautifully tender scenes including Harry finally visiting his parents’ graves and some wonderful realizations involving the misunderstood Professor Snape (a fantastic Alan Rickman per usual) and his overall role in Harry’s life. From a technical standpoint, the film delights us with many audible excerpts taken directly from John Williams’ scores to the first two films integrated in Alexander Desplat’s original score. With the series now wrapped up, Rowling and screenwriter David Kloves were finally able to utilize a philosophical concept of science-fiction for audiences to ponder over while completing characters arcs in a satisfying way. After all, a number of real-life kids grew up watching these kids. Now, they’re all grown up.
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