Well, the bittersweet moment has arrived.

Well, the bittersweet moment has arrived. That final installment in the popular wizarding franchise everyone has been waiting for; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The eighth film in the series based on the popular seven novel series by J.K. Rowling had to do one thing. Please the fans that have been there from the start. Those who read and reread the books, and waited with anticipation for each new film; they are the ones that deserved a fantastic finale. And they got it.

Part 2 picks right up were Part 1 left off and wastes no time getting in to the meat of the story and action. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) are in search of the remaining Horcruxes in order to destroy them and finally defeat Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). Hogwarts is under the ruling thumb of Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) and no one loyal to Potter is safe. This film is all about the final battle between Harry and Voldemort; the end has come.  And it is a doozy.

If words like Hogwarts and Horcruxes mean nothing to you then you are more than likely going to be lost in this film. This one gives little back-story or character description. It is a book fans film and even though you can keep up with the plot having watched the previous films it is important to have the book knowledge to appreciate it fully. But that has been the objective from day one and what has garnered such loyalty. It is as if the films were a gift given to the novel enthusiasts as a way to see their favorite characters come to life. If you have only watched the films and never cracked a book you are missing out on a lot of the heart and soul of the characters.

There is plenty of action in this film and as I mentioned they dive right in. The imagery and graphics play nicely with the battle of good and evil. I would have liked a little more emphasis on some of the minor roles. A number of the emotional moments from the book are lost on screen when it comes to these characters. But again this is all about the final showdown and there it delivers. This film needed to give all the fans closure and offer them something they could walk away with satisfied and content with. And it did.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence and frightening images. If you took your young one to part 1 then you are safe with this one as well. As with all the films it is a fantastic homage to the book and falls in line with the previous 7 movies. This series should go down in cinematic history as being one that delivered 8 stellar movies. Each film stood strong and all were fully entertaining and enjoyable. I give this final installment 5 out of 5 raised wands. It did exactly what it needed to, nothing more and nothing less. Since day one the films gave the fans what they wanted and this one closed it off perfectly.

Matt Mungle

Review copyright 2011 Mungleshow Productions. Used by Permission.