Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Ten years. Eight films. Billions of dollars in box office returns. The Harry Potter series comes to its satisfyingly epic conclusion with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2.

                When the decision came from down on high that the adaptation of the final book in the lucrative Harry Potter franchise would be split into two films, I was initially skeptical that this was little more than a marketing ploy; a way to squeeze every last drop of revenue from this soon-to-be-concluded franchise. With a scarcity of any sort of new ideas, it has become the sexy new thing to do as far as mega-franchises are concerned. The sure-to-be-success-no-matter-how-bad-I-don’t-want-it-to-be of the split conclusion of the Twilight saga is only going to add fuel to this already shitty fire.  After viewing the film last night during an IMAX 3D showing (a $12.50 experience) I came to the conclusion that it is exactly what it though . However, a cash grab can still be entertaining if it is as well-made and exciting as the eighth film in the Harry Potter saga.

                David Yates, who helmed the previous three adaptations, directs this installment with an intensity that brings to mind a long-form movie trailer. As viewers, we barely get a chance to catch our breaths before we are whisked off underground with Harry and Co. to break in to break into the Wizarding World’s equivalent of Ft. Knox. This narrative urgency is refreshing given the fact how often our heroes wandered aimlessly about in the woods in the previous film, full of teenage angst and jealousy. However, as tiresome as this got it was important to see the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione acting this way to appreciate the kick ass and take names strategy they employ during the film’s climax. To say the film has a climax though would be an understatement. The entire film is climax and rightly so. This is the culmination of ten years of hype and audience expectation, and the film satisfies most (if not all) of them.

                A majority of the film’s runtime is devoted to the siege of Hogwarts by Voldemort and his evil death-dealing Death Eaters. As the film moves breathlessly from one action set-piece to another every background and secondary character gets their time in the spotlight: my personal favorite being the return of Argus Filch and Professor McGonagall. Although while even Professor Trelawney and Professor Sprout get their own cameos the deaths of some major characters and fan favorites get awkwardly handled. Remus Lupin, the shape-shifting Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher from Alfonso Cuaron’s masterful Prisoner of Azkaban, and Fred Weasely show up as corpses after one prolonged battle scene with little to no explanation for their demise. This is not entirely the film’s fault as J.K. Rowling left these deaths unexplained herself, but in a series brimming with fan service it is peculiar that their deaths are dealt with in such an ambiguous way.

                Since this film was shot in traditional 2D and then converted in post-production to 3D it is something that needs to be discussed. While the 3D largely works, staying in the background and adding depth to the locales and characters, there are a few instances where the ghost of the post-converted mess that Clash of the Titans rears its ugly, cardboard cut-out head. This is especially notable in the early scenes inside the goblin bank, Gringotts, where it becomes apparent that Yates never originally conceived these scenes as 3D. As a result certain scenes suffer from it and ultimately the effect takes more away from the film than it adds. For example, the death of a major character was sullied for me when I got a headache because my depth perception was in a violent battle with my brain. Do yourself a favor and see it how it was originally intended to be shown…in 2D.

                Nitpicks aside this is a solid and well-made adaptation that lives up to the hype and marketing blitz of the modern Hollywood cycle. This is in part due to the superb acting chops of the principal characters as well as the amazingly well-cast peripheral characters. Alan Rickman dominates the screen when he is in frame, absolutely reveling in long pauses and stilted speech as he plays the slimy Professor Snape. Ralph Fiennes is also a particular stand-out as Harry’s arch-nemesis since birth, Lord Voldemort. Nearly unrecognizable underneath all his make-up, Fiennes appropriately chews the scenery as an unstoppable force of evil. If Academy Awards were given for best acting in one scene Fiennes would most certainly get it for his gloating one-man show outside of Hogwarts after Harry is presumed dead. Fiennes is obviously having fun in the role and we are invited to laugh along with him. 

Insidious: Creepy Kids, Big Houses, and Glenn Danzig

First of all, let me say that I do not like most scary movies. I can just generally do without the constant jump scares and barely explained supernatural explanations that usually needlessly complicate the plot. Apparently human insanity and weakness isn't scary enough so we need demons and ghosts to do the job for us. But I digress, Insidious is about 30% great, 30% good, and 40% terrible. All that terribleness comes towards the end when we are most invested in our characters which makes it all the more upsetting that the film fails to deliver in the second half.

The first half is an amazing exercise in restraint by the director, James Wan, best known for his involvement in the Saw franchise. Known as a flashy director for good reason (re-watch the scene in Saw where Cary Elwes saws off his own foot and then look up the word subtlety) the first half of Insidious is genuinely well-made in the tension-building department. It follows the struggle of one young couple, Watchmen's Patrick Wilson and Bridesmaids' Rose Byrne, as they attempt to solve the mystery of their son's coma after a terrifying trip up to the attic. Taking pages from much better directors playbook's, for the first half of the film the vindictive spirits are seen more than they are heard. In classic haunted house style, creaking noises are heard and doors are slammed without being touched. In our minds, the things making those noises are infinitely more terrifying than anything the director can show us. This is when Insidious is at it's best but it is also proof positive of the weakness of the second half of the film. Once the evil spirits and demons haunting the family begin to materialize and take on a more physical presence, Insidious slips firmly out of the terrifying into the ridiculous. 

Once a spiritual advisor of sorts arrives to do a spirit audit on the house, the film loses all credibility. Gone are the unseen threats and ominous sounds and in comes the talk of astral projection, a spirit world called The Further, and curses. Notice how awkwardly I introduced those concepts in this article. I swear the film does it worse. Most of the blame for my lack of investment of the second half can be placed on the unbelievable lack of imagination in the spirit's manifestations themselves. They are everything we have seen before and absolutely nothing we haven't. Red-faced demon? Check. Decrepit old lady? Check. Creepy smiling twins? Check. Glenn Danzig? Umm...OK, I guess. Check. My point being with the exception of the motorcycle jacket-wearing ghost who attacks the family repeatedly (and licks Rose Byrne's face in a scene that defines the saying "unintentionally funny"), there is nothing here to set it apart from anything that other movies have done much better.

To be fair though not many films live up to the expectations set by their first half. For my money, seeing Jack Nicholson slowly lose his mind in The Shining is more frightening than Jack Nicholson running after his wife with an ax. Give me the Gold Room Ball scene over "Here's Johnny!" any day. But, Insidious is criminal in the way it shapes expectations and then dashes your hopes. Honestly, it looks like they gave up from the beginning.